Bakersfield 6, Reign 3.

Jon Francisco scored twice, and Jon Rheault added a short-handed goal, but the Reign lost in regulation for just the second time in the last 30 days.

A string of second-period penalties seemed to untrack the Reign as Bakersfield scored five unanswered goals. More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin, and check out Friday’s paper for a longer look at new defensemen Colten Teubert and Patrick Mullen.

Teubert (who was paired with David Walker) didn’t figure much into the final outcome. He saw some penalty-kill time, but decided to save his first earth-shaking hit for this weekend at The Bank. Mullen was paired with Chad Starling and figured into the scoring in the third period – for Bakersfield. He effectively sealed off the slot on a 2-on-1 breakaway, but accidentally deflected Adam Naglich’s centering pass between Curtis Darling’s legs.

Darling stopped 27 of 32 before giving way to Mike Zacharias (8-for-8) for the final 11:15.

Reign 4, Alaska 3, shootout.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: The Reign won in a shootout Saturday, as Mike Zacharias came on in relief of Curtis Darling to get the win and get the Reign a much-needed two points.

It’s a formula that the Reign have employed three times in the last five games and it worked again to clinch victory against the Alaska Aces. Jon Rheault scored all three Reign goals in regulation, and Michael Pelech and Chad Starling scored in the shootout.

Darling stopped 25 of 28 shots over 65 minutes before giving way to Zacharias, who stopped four of the five shooters in the shootout. Mike Egener had two assists as the Reign converted both of their power-play opportunities.

The Reign took four of a possible six points in the Alaska series, turning the standings into a real rat race: seven teams are separated by seven points in the battle for six playoff spots. With the win, the Reign moved a point ahead of the Utah Grizzlies into the seventh and final playoff position.

The Reign are now 9-1-0-2 in their past 12 games.

Manchester announces clearing-day roster.

Geoff Walker and Jon Rheault could very well spend the rest of the season in Ontario rather than Manchester, N.H.

Neither forward was listed on the Manchester Monarchs’ clear day roster released Thursday, meaning that neither will play for the Monarchs this season unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. AHL teams may also add signed junior players, or players on amateur tryout contracts, after their respective junior or college seasons are complete.

Walker and Rheault started the season with the Reign but were recalled to Manchester in late November, then came back to Ontario on March 5. Forward Dwight King, who began the season with the Reign but has been in Manchester since December, was listed on the roster.

The complete list –

Goaltenders (2): Jonathan Bernier and Jeff Zatkoff.

Defensemen (7): Drew Bagnall, Andrew Campbell, Thomas Hickey (injured), Alec Martinez, Patrick Mullen (injured), Joe Piskula and Viatcheslav Voynov.

Forwards (13): Justin Azevedo, Marc-Andre Cliche, Corey Elkins, Gabe Gauthier, Bud Holloway, Dwight King, Trevor Lewis, Andrei Loktionov (injured), David Meckler, Juraj Mikus, Oscar Moller, Kevin Westgarth and John Zeiler

In Residence (4): Shawn Bates (F), Tom Cavanagh (F), David Kolomatis (D) and Doug Nolan (D).

Las Vegas 4, Reign 3, shootout.

Another night, another shootout.

This time, Las Vegas got the only goal and walked away with the victory.

For the second night in a row, Karl Taylor switched goaltenders, pulling Curtis Darling in favor of Mike Zacharias for the skills competition. Zacharias stopped four of five shooters, but it wasn’t enough. Joel Gistedt, who replaced an injured Michael Ouzas in the third period, stopped all five Reign shooters to seal the victory.

Jon Rheault scored for the second straight night and Tim Kraus and Sean O’Connor also had goals for the Reign. Mick Lawrence, Adam Miller and Chris Neiszner scored for the Wranglers. Ned Lukacevic had the only goal in the shootout.

Darling stopped 28 of 31 in regulation.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Reign 4, Las Vegas 3, shootout.

Jon Rheault had a goal, an assist and a shootout goal as the Reign returned the favor for the Wranglers’ shootout win Friday.

They returned the favor in the penalty-minutes column, too. A night after totaling 48 PIM on 24 infractions, the two teams upped it to 56 minutes on Saturday.

But the most memorable call in another wild game was made by Reign coach Karl Taylor, who pulled starter Curtis Darling in favor of Mike Zacharias to start the shootout. All Zacharias did was stop all five shooters he faced, allowing Rheault’s shootout goal to stand up and give the Reign the win.

The Reign (25-25-3-5, 58 points) now lead Las Vegas (25-25-4-3, 57 points) by a point for the seventh and final playoff position in the National Conference standings. The rubber match is set for 5 p.m. tomorrow at The Bank.

Zacharias had not played since a 15-minute relief appearance on Feb. 14. Taylor called it a “very difficult” decision, one based on a “gut feeling.”

Geoff Walker and David Walker scored in regulation for the Reign, who for the second straight night couldn’t hold an early lead. Goals by Adam Miller and Chris Neiszner wiped out the Reign’s 2-0 lead by scoring 76 seconds apart in the third period.

Geoff Walker then scored with 1:39 left in regulation to give Ontario a 3-2 lead, but Vegas’ Jerry Pollastrone scored with 18.5 seconds left to send it to overtime.

Darling made 26 saves in regulation, but Zacharias was credited with the victory, his fifth of the season and first since Jan. 23.

More details in tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin.

Rheault, Walker on their return.

Jon Rheault and Geoff Walker practiced in Manchester, New Hampshire on Thursday morning, boarded a flight bound for Las Vegas at 1 p.m. Eastern time, then jetted to their new/old home in Ontario, California.

After Thursday’s whirlwind came another on Friday in the form of a 7-6 shootout loss to the Wranglers.

“It’s tough because you don’t want to disrupt things that have been going well. They went on a six-game winning streak, then we came in,” Rheault said. “I feel like we played well, but we didn’t win, and it kind of sits pretty hard with you when you see your team doing so well, you want to help them but you come and you lose.”
Continue reading “Rheault, Walker on their return.” »

Las Vegas 7, Reign 6, shootout.

This game could be summed up in one word: Crazy.

It ended in the 12th round of the shootout when Jerry Pollastrone scored on Curtis Darling, and Tony Voce missed on the other end, ending the Reign’s team-record-tying win streak at six.

The Reign gained a point in the standings but gave up two, leaving both teams tied for the seventh and final playoff position in the National Conference standings. Technically, the Wranglers are in seventh place by virtue of the higher winning percentage.

It was only possible because of Vegas’ four goals in the third period, which negated a 5-2 lead by the Reign and sent the game to overtime.

Continue reading “Las Vegas 7, Reign 6, shootout.” »

Rheault, Walker are back.

The Manchester Monarchs are sending forwards Geoff Walker and Jon Rheault back to the Reign.

The 22-year-old Walker has recorded five goals, 14
points and 55 penalty minutes in 37 games with the Monarchs
this season. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound winger picked up a goal and seven
points in 10 games with the Reign after co-leading the team with 48 points last season.

Rheault, 23, has appeared in 35 games with the Monarchs this season, notching three goals and six points. His 16 points (10 goals) through the season’s first 15 games were among the early-season ECHL league leaders. Rheault also appeared with the AHL’ Providence Bruins this season, going scoreless in four games.

Both will be expected to help the offense of a team that ranks last in the ECHL in goals scored (157).

What didn’t make the notebook …

In tomorrow’s notebook you’ll find a breakdown of the team’s franchise-record, six-game losing streak. New forward acquisition Sal Peralta has arrived in town and I expect to be able to catch up with him tomorrow after practice.


In the meantime, to tide you over, here are some notes that didn’t make the notebook …

Continue reading “What didn’t make the notebook …” »

Reign all-stars: Walker, Hogeboom, Lenes, Rheault

David Walker and Greg Hogeboom will start, and childhood friends Jon Rheault and Peter Lenes will come off the bench, for the National Conference all-star team at the ECHL All-Star Game on Jan. 20.

All four made the final cut, announced Wednesday and determined in voting by National Conference coaches, team captains, media directors, broadcasters and media members. Coaches also submitted the top prospects from within their conference to determine the final roster with each of the eight teams having a representative.

Continue reading “Reign all-stars: Walker, Hogeboom, Lenes, Rheault” »