The playoff party was put on hold at the Bank, as Stockton goalie Andrew Perugini was on his game, and the Reign forecheck was not.
Craig Valette, Cleve Kinley and James Bates did all the scoring, and the Thunder went 2-for-7 on the power play. Jeff Zatkoff (15-12-1-1) did about the best he could against 46 shots on goal — four shy of the most the Reign have allowed in their inaugural season.
The good news: One win in their last eight games, and the Reign are in the playoffs.
Speaking of inaugural seasons, check out the “2008-09 INAUGURAL SEASON” banner hanging from the east rafters. It appeared tonight without any introduction, and is about 65 games late, but looks plenty classy and is full of indecipherable black-on-white handwriting. Let me know if you signed it, and what it says.
Rookie Doug Spooner made his CBBA debut and blended almost seamlessly into the lineup, flashing plenty of hustle for his size (6-3, 225). Karl Taylor said he didn’t get to play Spooner as much as he would have liked, because his side was so short-handed all night.
Goalie Linden Rowat also made his debut on the bench after dressing for the game as Zatkoff’s backup. A fifth-round draft choice by the Kings in 2007, Rowat just completed his Juniors season with the Regina Pats.
More details in tomorrow’s editions. Your official scoresheet is here.