{"id":169088,"date":"2026-02-08T08:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T08:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/169088\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T08:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T08:57:08","slug":"three-takeaways-from-4-3-victory-over-bakersfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/169088\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Takeaways From 4-3 Victory Over Bakersfield"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ontario Reign<\/a> swept the home-and-home series with the Bakersfield Condors on the back of Koehn Ziemmer\u2019s hat-trick heroics.<\/p>\n

REAL MEN WIN IN PINK! \ud83d\udc93 pic.twitter.com\/ebhHqMmj7D<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Goal Breakdown<\/p>\n

First period:\u00a0<\/p>\n

BAK: Riley Stillman<\/a> (3), ASST: Sam Poulin<\/a> (18), Josh Brown<\/a> (9)<\/p>\n

BAK: SH James Hamblin<\/a> (15), ASST: Daniel D\u2019Amato<\/a> (8)<\/p>\n

ONT: PP Cole Guttman<\/a> (17), ASST: Nikita Alexandrov<\/a> (29)<\/p>\n

BAK: Damien Carfagna<\/a> (6), ASST: Isaac Howard<\/a> (18), James Hamblin (11)<\/p>\n

Second period:\u00a0<\/p>\n

ONT: Koehn Ziemmer<\/a> (4), ASST: Kirill Kirsanov<\/a> (6), Angus Booth<\/a> (9)<\/p>\n

Third period:\u00a0<\/p>\n

ONT: Koehn Ziemmer (5), ASST: Jack Millar<\/a> (4)<\/p>\n

ONT: Koehn Ziemmer (6), ASST: Jared Wright<\/a> (11), Joe Hicketts<\/a> (13)<\/p>\n

Stats<\/p>\n

Goals:<\/p>\n

BAK: 3<\/p>\n

ONT: 4<\/p>\n

Shots:\u00a0<\/p>\n

BAK: 21<\/p>\n

ONT: 31<\/p>\n

Power plays:\u00a0<\/p>\n

BAK: 0\/3<\/p>\n

ONT: 1\/6<\/p>\n

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday night\u2019s 4-3 win:<\/p>\n

Koehn Ziemmer\u2019s hat trick propels the Reign to victory<\/p>\n

For the second straight night against the Condors, the Reign found themselves down after 20 minutes. In contrast to Friday night\u2019s victory, the Reign had to dig deep and find a way to snatch two points from Bakersfield.<\/p>\n

Insert Koehn Ziemmer.<\/p>\n

Ziemmer kick-started Ontario\u2019s comeback win with a greasy goal in a scramble situation in the blue paint for his fourth tally of the year. The first-year pro tied things up 3:34 into the third period, all alone in front of the net, after Jack Millar fed him the puck from the right wing wall after a Condors turnover. Three minutes and 16 seconds later, Ziemmer capped off his natural hat trick with a pinpoint accurate shot, far corner from the circle, for his first professional hat trick.<\/p>\n

THIS IS A KOEHN ZIEMMER APPRECIATION POST!! \ud83e\udef6 pic.twitter.com\/eyzDvzkCJd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

ZIEMMS AGAIN!!!! \ud83e\udd29\ud83e\udd29 pic.twitter.com\/FK9JdCjUAQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca4\ud83d\udca4\ud83d\udca4 BUT WE AINT SLEEPIN\u2019 TONIGHT!!!<\/p>\n

KOEHN ZIEMMER WITH A HAT TRICK! pic.twitter.com\/TbMJWAPovW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

One. Two. Three.<\/p>\n

Ziemmer\u2019s shot is the most lethal tool in his game, and he showed it last night. However, it hasn\u2019t been a smooth sailing season for him. He didn\u2019t make his season debut until October 26th, the sixth game of the season for Ontario. He\u2019s been in and out of the lineup and has gone through the learning lesson of transitioning from junior hockey to the professional game, where he was a top guy on the Prince George Cougars (WHL), to having to start from scratch in the AHL.<\/p>\n

After the game, his Head Coach couldn\u2019t have been happier to see his hard work pay off in a season that hadn\u2019t been easy for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a first-year Pro having to go through those lessons, not always being the go-to guy, not getting all the minutes, and not being relied on in every situation,\u201d said Andrew Lord. \u201cYou saw the shots tonight, but his play away from the puck has dramatically improved here over the season. I think that\u2019s a testament to the effort he puts in. Whenever you have a great guy like that with his character, work ethic, and care, you want to see him get rewarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lil special somethin\u2019 for our first star \ud83e\udd29 pic.twitter.com\/YmWgbSxDTk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Who else but Ziemms!! \ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/9gSySUX3r5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Another tight game against Bakersfield<\/p>\n

These Condors-Reign games have a similar feel to their matchups near the end of the 2023-24 season. Four of the six games have been decided by one goal, with one of them having gone to overtime. Considering how tight the standings are and the teams separated by three points heading into this weekend\u2019s series, both games had a playoff feel and chippiness to them. It also helped that last night\u2019s crowd was buzzing. If the standings stay the same way late in the season, I expect the final two matchups to be the same.<\/p>\n

Heading into the all-star break on a high note<\/p>\n

We are officially in the All-Star break! Ontario heads into the break in sole possession of first place with a record of 31-14-1-1 (64 pts) after sweeping this weekend\u2019s home-and-home series against Bakersfield. It\u2019s an incredible feat considering there are 10 Kings prospects on the Reign who are either in their first or second year as a pro. That\u2019s a testament to the leadership group and coaching staff on this team, which has made this year\u2019s team a special group. We should be in store for a great finish for the top seed in the Pacific Division.<\/p>\n

NOTES:<\/p>\n

*Nikita Alexandrov recorded his 100th career AHL assist.<\/p>\n

More apples to come! \ud83c\udf4e\ud83d\ude4c pic.twitter.com\/3K3YrVM19z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

*Jared Wright\u2019s primary assist on Ziemmer\u2019s third goal was his seventh point (3 G, 4 A) in his last six games.<\/p>\n

*Cole Guttman recorded his 17th goal of the season and fifth on the power play. His 17 goals are second on the team behind Andre Lee\u2019s<\/a> 18.<\/p>\n

GET US GOING, GUTTY!!\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/6kmOfcHFVY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) February 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

*Millar recorded an assist in back-to-back games.<\/p>\n

*Pheonix Copley<\/a> made 18 saves on 21 shots for his 13th victory of the season.<\/p>\n

*Ontario improved its record on home ice to 17-5-1-1.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT: The Ontario Reign head into the all-star break with a record of 31-14-1-1. Their next game is on Saturday, February 14th, against the Abbotsford Canucks in Abbotsford. That game starts at 7 PM PST, and you can watch it on FloSports or listen to it on the Ontario Reign Radio Network or the ESPN LA app.<\/p>\n

Featured image credit: Megan Sanders\/Ontario Reign<\/p>\n

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