ONTARIO—In case facing a first-round playoff exit wasn’t motivation enough for the Ontario Reign players, their potential future boss, Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi—along with other Kings brass—was in attendance for Game 6 at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Reign did not disappoint, forcing a Game 7 by beating the Thunder 4-3. Ontario goaltender Jeff Zatkoff was sharp early, shutting out the Thunder through the first 46 minutes of hockey. He has struggled in the series with a 3.61 goals-against average and a .879 save percentage. The Reign were able to get to Zatkoff’s counterpart, Stockton’s Parker Van Buskirk, with three first-period goals in his third start since being called upon to fill in for the injured Perugini. The Reign took full advantage of injuries to Stockton starting defensemen Matt O’Dette and Mike Lalonde, scoring four even-strength goals from below the hash marks. Both teams were scoreless on the power play, the Reign going 0-3 and the Thunder 0-5 with the extra man. After the teams traded penalties early, Reign center Tim Kraus opened the scoring at 8:25 of the first, finishing off a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from linemates Jeff Walker and Bud Holloway. The assist extended Holloway’s playoff point streak to all six games and his league-leading playoff point total to 12. Ontario was aggressive in the Stockton zone, winning one-on-one battles and scoring their second goal when a pinching Reign defenseman Andrew Martens shoveled a pass from behind the net to the right post where winger Jon Rheault banged it under the paddle of Van Buskirk. With time running out in the first, and Stockton apparently content to go into the first intermission down by two, a great individual effort by Rheault resulted in the third Ontario score with 11 seconds remaining. Gaining control of the puck in the left corner, Rheault muscled his way through the crease, pivoting and firing the forehand shot over the glove of an outstretched Van Buskirk. Ontario doubled up on Stockton 12 shots to 6 to end the first period. The Thunder came out swinging in the second, firing 13 shots, but could not solve Zatkoff, who made an outstanding save early on a 3-on-2 rush and denied Stockton’s Igor Gongalsky and Ryan Huddy from within the blue paint shortly thereafter. When Reign forward Mike Howe stole a clearing attempt, his rebound was jammed home by role-player Brad Mehalko for his first goal of the playoffs at 17:20. Van Buskirk made a brilliant sliding stop on Howe’s initial shot, but became entangled with his own defenseman, leaving an empty net for Mehalko and a 4-0 Ontario lead. But through six games, this series has proved that no lead is safe. After Stockton nearly squandered a 4-goal second-period lead in Game 2, Ontario returned the favor in the third period of Game 6. Ontario looked to increase their lead when defenseman Andrew Martens was awarded a questionable penalty shot at 2:45 of the third. Van Buskirk did not bite on the deke and turned away Martens’ backhand attempt. That would be a turning point for the Thunder. Stockton would finally put one past Zatkoff at 6:10 on the wraparound shot by Garet Hunt. Zatkoff was able to stop the initial shot by Cleve Kinley, but Hunt fought for control of the rebound at the left post and slipped around the back of the net for the score. Zatkoff and the Reign now found themselves under siege. The Thunder would cut the deficit to two with just under 9 minutes to play in regulation when the one-timer from the top of the right circle by Kinley bounced off traffic and trickled inside the right post. The goal prompted Ontario coach Karl Taylor to call his timeout in an effort to calm his rattled skaters. The timeout seemed to have the desired affect and the Reign went back on the attack. Rheault just missed his bid for the hat trick off a nice centering feed from captain Jon Francisco moments later. Stockton, now down 4-2, would continue to drive the net and moved within one with under 4 minutes remaining. Thunder center Judd Blackwater picked up his second assist of the night, setting up the James Bates wrister at 16:17. Despite the offensive onslaught of three Stockton goals in just over 10 minutes, the Reign were aggressive on the forecheck in the final minutes, hindering Van Buskirk’s attempts to leave the ice for the extra attacker. Cory Urquhart nearly tied the score with 36 seconds left on what would have been his sixth tally of the playoffs, but the shot from point-blank range was smothered by Zatkoff. Ontario controlled the ensuing faceoff and drained the final seconds from the clock to even the series. Game 7 will be Wednesday night in Ontario where one franchise will skate away with its first Kelly Cup Playoffs series win.
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