The Condors Play Out the String

8 years ago

After having their playoff hopes dashed by the rival Ontario Reign last Saturday, the Bakersfield Condors wanted to make another in-state competitor feel the same pain.

And with a 6-3 victory on Tuesday night, the Condors put a positive spin on the conclusion of their home schedule, and in turn, eliminated the Stockton Heat from playoff contention. Bakersfield finished the season 7-4-1 in 12 meetings with the nearby nasty neighbors as well as 17-13-3-1 on home ice.

The Condors weren’t about to permit the last home game to have a ‘nothing left to play for’ aura. Even though they were out of the playoff hunt, the coaching staff wanted to see who still had the competitive juices flowing.

“We talked before the game about our compete level and that we wanted to put a show on for our fans. Our fans deserved a good show. They’ve been supportive, they’ve come out in large numbers, and we’ve been well-received so it was important for us to go out and compete for our fans.” – Condors head coach Gerry Fleming, whose team fired in five goals in the third period before a crowd of 6,204.

LINEUP

Goaltenders

Brossoit

Rimmer

Defencemen

Oesterle – Reinhart

Simpson – Musil

Nurse – LaLeggia

Forwards

Boychuk – Khaira – Slepyshev

Benik – Yakimov – Ford

Platzer – Currie – Roy

Christoffer – McRae – Kessy

FIRST PERIOD

Returning hero and crowd favourite Laurent Brossoit, who received a huge ovation as the last man introduced for the starting lineup, is busy right off the hop in the Condors net. He’s tested by a wrister from Stockton’s Blair Riley and got a little help as the rebound pops in the air but is swatted away by Griffin Reinhart.
Brossoit is on top of a close-in tip by Bryce Van Brabant. The Condors come back up ice. Anton Slepyshev makes a tricky little cut-in towards the goal but Heat goalie Nick Schneider is there for a solid stop.
Jujhar Khaira takes off on a shorthanded break for Bakersfield. He draws the defenceman over but his pass to Matthew Ford is a tough one to handle. The Condors come right back on the penalty kill as Josh Currie speeds in. His chance is thwarted by a nifty recovery from Calgary top prospect Oliver Kylington.
Braden Christoffer, fresh off a recall from ECHL Norfolk, makes a good play to gain the Stockton zone by bouncing off a hit and getting the puck to Slepyshev. The kid has some jam to his game which is a welcome commodity in the Oilers’ system.
A good rush from Joey LaLeggia gets the Condors in deep. Khaira puts a sweet pass from behind the net into the slot. Slepyshev blows the opportunity.
The Condors go on the penalty kill as Phil McRae is sent off for slashing. The Stockton power play is anchored around former first-round pick Mark Jankowski, who just completed his stint in college. He’s stationed on the left half-wall and lasers one off the post.
Van Brabant runs LaLeggia into the end boards and is called for interference to end the Heat advantage.

1-0 Condors – McRae gets a loose puck in the slot and just misses on a one-timer. The Condors keep the puck in at the point and move it from Reinhart over to Jordan Oesterle, who walks in, and from the circle, whizzes a wrist shot behind Schneider. GOAL: Oesterle (4) ASSISTS: Reinhart, Ford 18:02 (PP)

SECOND PERIOD

The frame gets off to a wild start just 43 seconds in. Already on the power play, the Condors have the puck along the wall in the Stockton zone when Ford is belted from behind by Dustin Stevenson. McRae goes way out of a weight class to throw down with the 6-foot-5 defenceman. Stevenson gets five for boarding and five for fighting, while McRae gets two and 10 for instigating plus five for fighting.
Bakersfield’s three minutes of power play times yields nothing until the final 30 seconds and even then it’s only a couple of point shots.
A loose puck comes off the boards right to Marco Roy and he rips it off Schneider and over the glass.
The teams exchange penalties. Late in the Bakersfield power play, Khaira has an ongoing tussle going in front of the net with Stevenson. They nearly go at it when the whistle blows.

THIRD PERIOD

2-0 Condors – A dreadful blind clearing attempt right up the gut lands on the stick of Josh Currie, who heads to the net. As he’s hauled down, he makes a diving attempt on goal. The rebound goes right to Roy who buries it. GOAL: Roy (7) ASSISTS: Currie 1:46

2-1 – Less than a minute, the Heat cut into the Condors’ lead. Brossoit handles the initial shot from Freddie Hamilton but Stockton keeps on pressing. Hamilton gets a second crack at it when he’s left with an open net after a scramble and he guns it in. GOAL: Hamilton (18) ASSISTS: Shinkaruk, Agostino 2:40

3-1 Condors – Bakersfield’s back up by two as Ford comes off the wing and steams to the net. He tries a deke but is stopped. The first rebound is blocked but Roy cleans up the garbage. GOAL: Roy (8) ASSISTS: Currie, Ford 4:08

3-2 – The Heat keep pressing as they’re seeing the playoff hopes fading. David Musil is called for hooking and on the ensuing power play, Jankowski goes top shelf with a terrific shot. The Flames may have something in this prospect. GOAL: Jankowski (2) ASSISTS: Agostino, Shore 7:36 (PP)

3-3 – Stockton’s pressure is really causing the Condors to struggle getting the puck out. Ford is late to recognize he’s got someone coming in behind him. Turner Elson gets the pass and easily taps it past Brossoit. GOAL: Elson (14) ASSISTS: Klimchuk, Shore 9:19

Darnell Nurse shows off some offensive skills as he makes a break for it from centre. He busts in towards the net but can’t get enough of a shot away to really test Schneider.
Dillon Simpson is hit by a rocket from the blue line. He looks to be favoring his arm and heads straight to the Bakersfield locker room.

4-3 Condors – A long dump-in is snared by Currie behind the net. He centers the puck and it glances off the back of Schneider’s skate and sits on the goal line. None of the Heat players can clear it and McRae’s whack at it pays off. GOAL: McRae (7) ASSISTS: Roy 14:17

“Our third line really stepped up. We injected five new guys into the lineup, guys who hadn’t been here in a long time, but it was the guys that have been here all year that stepped up. Normally you go with the hot line and they were hot. They were a big part of our win. It was good for them to get on the scoreboard and see their hard work pay off.” – Fleming

5-3 Condors – With Slepyshev in the box for tripping, Bakersfield busts up the Heat rush at centre. Musil plays a bank shot off the wall that sends McRae on a breakaway. He goes forehand deke and touches it through the legs of the Heat goalie. It’s Bakersfield’s 13th shorthanded goal of the season – third-highest total in the AHL. GOAL: McRae (8) ASSISTS: Musil 18:49 (SH)

“I think we just elevated our game a little bit. We weren’t putting pucks on net there in the first period. We started to throw more pucks at the net, get some rebounds, and I think that’s where the offence came from.” – McRae

6-3 Condors – With absolutely no one around him, the Stockton defenceman loses his grip on the puck and has it stray helplessly off his stick into an empty net. Credit for the goal is finally figured out. GOAL: Slepyshev (13) 19:38 (EN)

Three Stars

Phil McRae – Bakersfield
Marco Roy – Bakersfield
Josh Currie – Bakersfield

“We played 12 games against them and didn’t always have our best game against them so it definitely felt good to win that last one against them and spoil their playoff hopes.” – McRae

From the Nest

Dillon Simpson was sporting an ‘A’ on his jersey as the Condors were without assistant captain Brad Hunt and captain Ryan Hamilton. Also scratched from the bloated Bakersfield lineup were goalies Eetu Laurikainen and Nick Ellis, defencemen Ben Betker, Nick Pageau, Colton Waltz, and Caleb Jones, and forwards Rob Klinkhammer, Josh Winquist, Mitch Moroz, and Tyler Pitlick
The Condors wrap up the 2015-16 season Friday in Milwaukee and then Saturday in Grand Rapids
The Condors will start the 2016-17 season on the road due to Disney on Ice at Rabobank Arena. Their home-opener will be on Friday, October 21st with opponent to be announced.