Rheault is set to rejoin the Reign from the AHL's Providence Bruins, where he was held scoreless in a four-game stint last week. At the time of his recall, Rheault was leading the Reign with nine goals and 15 points in 13 games.

He had been a valuable part of the Reign's power play, on which he had two goals and four assists, and the penalty-kill, where he had a short-handed goal.

"We had other people step up when they've had the opportunity," coach Karl Taylor said. "Jon was a very important part on the power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5 he was playing great. Other guys are starting to step up, which is great. When Jon gets back tomorrow, we'll see what happens."

Walker, meanwhile, will rejoin the Manchester Monarchs after notching a goal and seven points in 10 games for the Reign. The Kings recalled forwards Andrei Loktionov and Brandon Segal from Manchester today. The NHL club is dealing with a long-term injury to left wing Ryan Smyth, and shorter-term ailments to center Jarrett Stoll and Rob Scuderi. Smyth was placed on injured reserve today.

Stockton scored on its first three power plays of the game and finished 3-for-4 with the man advantage, where the Reign finished 0-for-7.

Tim Kraus, Mike Egener and Greg Hogeboom scored for the Reign (8-8-1-1) and the standings point left them four behind Bakersfield for first place in the Pacific Division. Dwight King, Geoff Walker, Tony Voce and Jon Francisco picked up the assists.

Jon Francisco and Geoff Walker had two assists apiece, and David Walker (who engaged in two fights) fell one assist shy of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

The two teams will meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bank. More details in tomorrow's editions.

Here is the story that appeared in today's Daily Bulletin recapping the Reign's 4-3 shootout loss Wednesday in Bakersfield. And here is the game story from the Bakersfield Californian.

Looking ahead, the Reign face a very refreshed Stockton Thunder squad Friday at The Bank. The Thunder will have four days off since their last contest, a 3-1 loss to Idaho that completed a Steelhead sweep in Stockton. The Thunder haven't won in their last six; here was the reaction piece in Monday's Stockton Record.

The Reign are 1-2 against the Thunder this season, including a 7-1 blowout and a 3-0 loss in Stockton; and most recently, a 3-2 loss at The Bank on Nov. 4.

Michael Pelech scored his first goal of the season, and Tony Voce and Peter Lenes also scored for the Reign, the latter coming short-handed. Darling stopped 31 of 34 shots in net.

The game began at 10:30 a.m., part of an annual Field Trip promotion at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena.

Neither the Reign (7-8-1) nor the Condors (9-6-0) had participated in a shootout or overtime game this season. Greg Hogeboom, Tim Kraus and Andrew Martens were foiled in the skills competition by Bakersfield goalie Timo Pielmeier, who stopped 25 of 28 shots prior to the shootout.

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

The Reign (7-8-0) were outshot 51-18 by a Victoria Salmon Kings squad (3-10-0) clearly changed since getting swept out of Citizens Business Bank Arena last week. The line of Andy Brandt, Scott Howes and Adam Taylor accounted for three of the four goals on Curtis Darling, who made 47 saves -- often enough to win two games for the Reign.

Not too many Reign highlights in this one; they won't play again until Wednesday in Bakersfield.

Here's the story out of the Victoria Times-Colonist.

Jon Landry, Tim Kraus, Tony Voce and Dwight King scored for the Reign (7-7), who kept pace with the victorious Bakersfield Condors in the Pacific Division with the victory. Kraus and Voce each added a pair of assists, and goaltender Curtis Darling stopped 33 of 35 shots in his fifth straight start.

The Reign played for the first time without their leading goal-scorer, Jon Rheault, who signed a PTO with the American Hockey League's Providence Bruins. Kraus' goal was his first of the season to go along with 11 assists. Landry's goal -- his second of the season -- was the Reign's only power-play strike in six chances. King's third goal of the season found an empty net with 8 seconds left in the third period.

Check out the game story in the Victoria Times-Colonist.

"It was a back-door slide across [to Reign forward Tony Voce] and I reached back and felt it in my glove. I think he [Voce] thought he had a goal. He came up to me afterwards and said it was a great save."

It seemed to be a mere matter of time for Rheault, who had been enjoying a standout season with a team-leading nine goals and 15 points in 13 games. The 23-year-old played 24 games with the Manchester Monarchs last season, notching two goals and five points in his only prior AHL experience. Rheault played for Providence College from 2004-08. His nine goals tied for second in the ECHL, and his 15 points tied for ninth.

The Providence Bruins visit the Syracuse Crunch tonight, and Rheault is in the lineup.

The set-up: It's 5:02 into the Reign's game against the Alaska Aces. Greg Hogeboom is driving the Alaska net. Turek, a defenseman for Alaska, makes contact with Hogeboom and both end up on the ice. Turek takes a much longer time to get up, and slowly makes his way toward the Alaska penalty box.

Doyle Woody of the Anchorage Daily News takes it from here ...

Curtis Darling was stuck with the hard-luck loss, making 21 saves on 23 shots for the Reign (6-7-0). Dirk Southern and Andy Brandt scored for Victoria, which won just its second game of the season in 11 games.

More details in tomorrow's editions.

"The biggest learning experience for me last year was playing on a nightly basis, not just on weekends like in college," he said.

A close second in the life lesson department was to keep an eye on his vehicle. On the morning of April 1, Zatkoff awoke to find that his 2005 Escalade was missing from its parking space outside his apartment.

Since it was April Fool's Day, he assumed he was the victim of a prank. Zatkoff pressed all of his teammates, but none 'fessed up. Turns out the car was really stolen, and Zatkoff reported it to the police.

The 26-year-old started three games in three days and was 3-0-0 with a shutout, a goals-against average of 1.34 and a save percentage of .955 to help Ontario improve to 6-6-0 and move into a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with 12 points.

Darling turned aside 24 of 25 shots in a 4-1 win against Victoria on Nov. 6 and had 33 saves in a 4-3 win against the Salmon Kings on Nov. 7 before stopping all 28 shots he faced in a 3-0 win against Alaska on Nov. 8.

He is 5-2-0 and leads the league with 211 saves while he is tied for the league lead with five wins and one shutout. He is fourth in the ECHL with 451 minutes and sixth with a goals-against average of 2.40.

Darling has played in the ECHL each of his first four seasons and is 36-44-9 with four shutouts, a goals-against average of 3.35 and a save percentage of .904 in 94 games for Charlotte, Ontario, Reading and Wheeling. He has also played in the American Hockey League where he has not allowed a goal while making 16 saves in two games with Manchester and Syracuse.

And -- just in case you missed it -- go read the story from this morning's editions about the friendly competition between Darling and Mike Zacharias.

A physical game, and Jack Bauer himself -- Kiefer Sutherland -- was in the building. No terrorist attacks, though. More details in tomorrow's editions.

Said Karl Taylor, "we gutted it out."

"We weren't perfect," the coach said. "That was a hard game for us to win. Every time we got a two-goal lead, (Victoria) pushed back. They're trying really hard to get off this slide. We were very fortunate. I never felt safe. We were very happy to get that win and get out of Dodge."