Reign defense key to stopping Thunder

Ontario Reign beat the Stockton Thunder 4-3

Defenseman Shawn Germain scored two goals leading the Ontario Reign to a 4-3 victory over the Stockton Thunder in the opening game of the 2009 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs last night in front of 3,969 fans at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

The Reign came out of the gates hard, proving why they won the Pacific Division championship. Germain opened the scoring when he fired a one-timer past Stockton goalie Andrew Perugini with less than a minute remaining in the first period to give the Reign a 1-0 lead.

"It's just one of those things, it's just a couple of great passes from [Bud] Holloway and [P.J.] Atherton that freed me, and I just tried to get it on net" Germain said.

Solid hard-hitting defensive play dominated most of the second period as the Reign took a 2-1 lead.

With 4:00 left in the second period the Reign took a few quick shots which Perugini easily turned away, but emerged from the crease hobbled with a lower body injury, which required him to be helped off the ice and replaced for the remainder of the game by backup goaltender Bryan Pitton.

The Reign received a much needed boost when Atherton returned to the team after being assigned to Grand Rapid (AHL). Atherton returned to the Reign just 3 days ago and spent the first few periods getting re-situated with his team.

"It was a tough time in the first period," Atherton said. "It's kind of a feeling out process, trying to anticipate where people are going to be before you get the puck."

It took Atherton only a few periods before his impact was truly felt. Just seconds after Stockton killed off a penalty that carried over from the second period, Atherton found the back of the net giving the Reign a 3-1 lead.

Stockton answered back when Cory Urquhart scored his second and third goals of the game in just over a four minute span tying the game 3-3.

Just 0:51 seconds later Atherton and Germain punished Stockton again. With the Reign on a power play Germain took a pass from Atherton and fired the puck past Pitton giving the Reign the lead.

"Our power play got going, we were able to shoot the puck, in the playoffs you'll take wins anyway you can" said Karl Taylor, Reign head coach. "Having P.J. back obviously helped, it gave us more of a threat."

As the seconds ticked off the clock things began to get even more physical. It took a few minutes after regulation for the referee's to clear the ice.

"They have some guys that like to mix it up a little bit," Atherton said. "That's hockey and that's the way it goes. That's part of the fun trying to get under guys' skin and try and take them off their game."

It is expected that Pitton will return as the starting goalie for Stockton tonight.

"We [have] to wait and see how he (Perugini) feels," said Matt Thomas, Stockton head coach. "If you can't finish the game I don't know if you can come back the next game. Usually those injuries are a few days to seven days to heal, but we won't know until tomorrow."

The best-of-seven series is now 1-0 in favor of the Reign, with Game 2 scheduled for 7pm tonight at Citizens Business Bank Arena.