After losing to the San Jose Barracuda on the 24th, the Bakersfield Condors went into Henderson on the 28th, where they would lose by a score of 2-1 to extend their minor losing streak to three games long.

However, that was quickly put to an end when Bakersfield hosted the Abbotsford Canucks for a back-to-back set of games. The Condors would win both games by a Combined score of 10-4, with Connor Ungar putting up another stellar performance on the 31st in a 3-2 win. The Brock University alum stopped 51 of 53 shots that he faced, and without Ungar, the Condors would have had a real tough time staying in the game. To open up the month of February, Bakersfield beat the Calgary Wranglers in overtime on Tuesday by a score of 3-2, with Isaac Howard picking up three primary points in the game, including the overtime winner.

Going into the game against the Wranglers, the Condors are still without Cam Dineen, Beau Akey, Atro Leppänen, Connor Clattenburg, Josh Samanski (with Edmonton and soon Olympics), and now Max Jones, who didn’t suit up against Calgary. The injury bug is out to get Bakersfield, and it did have some effect on the team. From the game against the Silver Knights to the second game against Abbotsford (3 games), they gave up an average of 45 shots per game, and they came out with a 2-1 record. Thankfully, this trend of 40-plus shots against per game stopped with the overtime win against Calgary. The main change I saw in the team was the emphasis on keeping the third forward high in the zone. Way too often, the Condors were giving up odd man rush after odd man rush and giving up 45 shots a game isn’t a good recipe to consistently win games.

In the four games since our last update, Howard scored two goals and assisted on three more. The former Hobey Baker winner is now sitting at 12 goals and 16 assists in 20 games played. At the AHL level, Isaac Howard is a threat every time he steps on the ice. Not only is his shot just as advertised, but you can start to see him recognizing passing lanes quicker. In the first clip below, you’ll see Howard find the lane through a sea of sticks to set up Samuel Poulin.

Developing Howard’s playmaking will help him become a dual threat in the offensive zone. The former first rounder already has an impressive release mixed with excellent velocity and accuracy. If Howard can blend in some of his shooting release points with his passes I think he can start to fool a lot of defenders. In the next clip below it shows the continued growth within the “Ice Man’s” playmaking game.

Howard has been pushing the pace a ton at the AHL level this year, in this clip he loses the puck, but he draws in the eyes of two defenders and quickly lays a backhand pass into space where a wide open Quinn Hutson can get it for a chance. The next clip of his playmaking growth might be accidental on his part, but I think its something to highlight. The former Michigan State alum gets a drop pass from James Hamblin, steps in, drags the puck into a shooting release, and then it goes off of Carfagna and in. To me it looks like he aimed for the stick or wanted to shoot it low pad anyways. Either way it went in, but it goes back to my point about using his shooting skills to open up passing lanes. This is a perfect example.

Now onto the shooting portion of Howard recently. The first clip below is my favourite from the week, once again its because of the fake the left-shot winger shows which opens up a different lane for him.

Its perfect. This makes Howard incredibly hard for defenders to read, this position looks the exact same in the next clip I’ll show below. The difference is that Howard actually one timed the puck in the next clip.

Everything looks the same till the puck gets into his wheelhouse. In the first clip Howard fakes it knowing they might bite because he constantly shoots pucks like that. In the second clip he one times it because its the clear right choice with how much space he has and where the goalie is. This shows the processing is coming along very smoothly. The former Tampa Bay Lightning selection continues to excel at the AHL level. To finish off his three point night Howard buried the two-on-one in overtime to give the Condors the extra point.

Roby Järventie was quiet against the Wranglers on Wednesday, but prior to that the former second-rounder was riding a three game point streak that included two goals (both are beautiful), three assists, and 11 shots. Järventie could do no wrong on his three game point streak, every time he hopped over the boards something good was going to happen for Bakersfield.

I want to start this portion off by showing a certain skill that the Finnish winger contains that could potentially help get the puck into better areas of the ice for the Oilers bottom lines. That skill is getting the puck off the boards to the middle of the ice. Watch the first clip below as the former Belleville Senator gets takes the chip pass and puts it through his legs from the wall to open space where Daniel D’Amato can skate into it.

In the example above it helps transition the puck from a tough area of the ice. The next clip is another example of this and its the same connection, however this is in the offensive zone. Jarventie is able to pickup the puck from a battle and plays a small pass under the defenders stick to D’Amato who is able to get a shot off from a high-danger area.

Järventie is excellent at taking a “dirty” puck from the wall, pre-scanning, and getting it in the slot to a teammate for a shooting opportunity. The powerforward does that again in the next clip below.

Countless amount of times where Järventie was setting his teammates up in great spots throughout his streak. If you continually put the puck in good spots and make the right play it will eventually fall for you; our next clip is an example of that. Viljami Marjala buries the beautiful set up pass by Järventie where he notices the strongside defenseman committing to him and moves him ever so slightly by crossing into the middle.

I think the Oilers could use some of Järventie’s creation in the bottom-six. Josh Samanski is going to be an NHL player I believe, but right now I do think his game is more suited to help the Oilers with the struggling goal differential in the bottom half of the lineup. I want to finish the Järventie portion of this article off by showing these final two clips that are goals scored by the slick winger against Abbotsford. On both goals Järventie shows off the high end stick skills he can posses when attacking a defender plus some excellent finish on display.

Currently riding a three game point streak that see’s the Finnish centre scoring two goals and picking up two assists, Viljami Marjala is now at the 40 point plateau and in only 44 games played. With 12 goals on 75 shots that puts Marjala at a 16 per cent shooting percentage and I wish the former fifth-round pick would use his shot more because of the accuracy it has. On both his goals against Abbotsford (one on the 30th the other on the 31st), Marjala caught the goalie moving their feet and he puts it low.

The second clip was already included in the Järventie breakdown of this article, but its still an excellent finish by Marjala after moving into space once he drops the puck to his Finnish teammate. With 28 assists in 44 games, its quite easy to tell what the playmaking centre wants to do when he is on the ice. In the next clip, Marjala shows off his playmaking skills by setting up both Isaac Howard and Quinn Hutson on the same shift.

The above clip is an excellent display of work ethic, board play, and playmaking vision. Even though Marjala’s skating mechanics aren’t as clean and efficient as you’d like he masks it with his work ethic and positional awareness. Much like Järventie, when you are consistently setting your teammates up with these types of looks something has got to give. Marjala is always putting his teammates in position to score, in the next clip he finds Quinn Hutson again with a soft area pass, but notice how Marjala loads the puck onto his back leg like he’s going to shoot it.

If you’re Marjala, they have to respect your shot because you just scored last game, so when he loads up into a shooting position it opens up extra space for Hutson. Unfortunately the puck just rolls off his stick and the chance goes array. I’ve said in past articles that the former Sabres draft pick needs to work on his skating, however it may be just good enough to play a fourth line centre role one day because Marjala checks the other boxes. He’s defensively responsible, good at connecting plays together, and has a good overall awareness that can translate to the NHL level. Due to the physical tools I think Josh Samanski will still be higher on the depth chart for the Oilers and is still higher on my personal depth chart as well, but after over half a year in the AHL I’ve been impressed with Marjala’s game.

Bakersfield is back in action this weekend when they play a crucial home and home against the Ontario Reign on February 6th and 7th. The Condors trail the Reign by one point in the standings. The good news is that Ontario is on a two game losing streak while the Condors are on a three game winning streak, the bad news is that Ontario will be hungry for a win against their Pacific division rival. After that set of games the Condors don’t play again till the 13th, they will want to go into the week break on the same roll as they have been on.