ONTARIO, Calif. – The Ontario Reign (20-10-2-4), four-time Pacific Division Champions and proud affiliate of the NHL’s 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets, struck early and often on their way to a 5-1 victory over the Bakersfield Condors (17-14-1-3) in front of a crowd of 6,246 on Wednesday evening at Citizens Business Bank Arena. 
After Bakersfield won the opening face-off, the Reign quickly recovered the puck in the neutral zone, eventually leading to Judd Blackwater taking a centering pass from Tyler Scofield and redirecting a shot past Condors goalie Frans Tuohimaa just 12 seconds into the contest. Matt White picked up the secondary assist.
Shortly thereafter, Ontario went to the power-play, and Blackwater grabbed his second of the night when he flew down the left wing and snapped the puck past the blocker of Tuohimaa at 2:52.
Bakersfield got on the board with a power-play goal of its own when Gabriel Levesque sent a pass to Josh Currie in the slot, who tapped the puck past Jussi Olkinuora at 7:27.
Ontario restored its two-goal lead later in the frame when Everett Sheen’s point shot from the left side deflected off the end boards to the right side side of the net, where Walker buried it underneath Tuohimaa at 15:57. That spelled the end of Tuohimaa’s night in goal, as Ty Rimmer then took over in net for the Condors.
Following a scoreless second period, Ontario continued to pile on in the third when Kyle Bigos stole the puck in the defensive zone and then sped down the ice with Rocco Carzo to create a two-on-one situation. As Bigos entered the attacking zone, he fired a wrist shot from the left circle made its way into the top corner of the net at 14:01 for his first goal of the season.
The Reign capped their scoring on the power-play when Blackwater knocked in a rebound from Walker at 14:48 to earn his third career ECHL hat trick, and first for Ontario.
Olkinuora picked up the victory by making 32 saves; Tuohimaa took the loss with six stops, while Rimmer also recorded 13 saves.
Three Stars:
1. ONT – Judd Blackwater
2. ONT – Geoff Walker
3. ONT – Jussi Olkinuora
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