ONTARIO, Calif – Forward Valentin Zykov scored a goal and added an assist, forward Adrian Kempe tacked on two assists and the Ontario Reign (14-4-2-0) beat the Bakersfield Condors (10-10-1-1), 3-1, at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Saturday night.
Reign forward Kris Newbury opened the scoring at 12:20 of the first period with help from Zykov and defenseman Kevin Gravel. The goal marks Newbury’s first since his return to the lineup from a broken foot. The Reign continued to pressure the Condors’ defense with several opportunities midway through the frame, but were unable to produce any promising scoring chances.
Forward Jonny Brodzinski carried the scoring into the middle stanza with his second goal of the campaign after a quick battle around the crease at 11:10. The rookie netted a shot past Condors netminder Ben Scrivens (28 saves on 31 shots) after a missed chance by Kempe. Defenseman Vincent LoVerde earned the secondary assist.
Condors defenseman Joey LaLeggia launched a shot past netminder Peter Budaj (W, 18 saves on 19 shots) at 14:21 of the second, just moments after time expired from a Reign penalty kill.
With momentum building, Reign forward Nic Dowd fed a perfect pass to Zykov who tucked it home at 16:46 for his fourth goal of the season. Kempe picked up the secondary assist, extending his home point streak to eight contests.
Both teams traded chances in the third period and Budaj turned away all five shots while Scrivens blocked 10 in the same frame for Bakersfield. Ontario outshot the Condors, 31-19. The Reign finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play while the Condors also went 0-for-4.
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