Pielmeier, Condors round up Wranglers
| Friday, Nov 27 2009 11:50 PM
Last Updated Friday, Nov 27 2009 11:58 PM
A mere 11.3 seconds separated Timo Pielmeier from his first professional shutout, but 31 saves before then sparked the Condors to victory Friday night at Rabobank Arena.
On a night where not much clicked for the Condors for at least half the game, Pielmeier was easily the best player on the ice for either team as the Condors beat Las Vegas 4-1 before 4,172.
The Wranglers staved off a shutout with a power-play goal at 19:48 of the third period, but the 20-year old Pielmeier shrugged that off.
"We got the win, that's all that matters," he said after being named the No. 1 star. "We need the two points and we got that."
It was the fifth straight win for Bakersfield (13-6-0) and eighth in the last nine.
"Sometimes you need a game for your goaltender to step up and show he's a top-of-the-line goaltender and Timo stepped up and won this game for us," Condors coach Marty Raymond said. "He was busy the whole game."
Pielmeier had a rough first outing as a pro, allowing seven goals on 19 shots in 40 minutes back on Oct. 17. Since then he's gone 7-3-0 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .927 save percentage.
The Condors broke a scoreless tie in the second period on goals by Stephane Goulet at 12:32 and Gino Guyer at 15:21.
Pielmeier was the difference in the first period as he made several big saves to keep the Wranglers from scoring as the Condors were out- shot (13-6) and outplayed.
His biggest save came with 5:35 left when he dove from the left edge of his crease to the opposite side and blocked a shot by Francis Lemieux, who a split-second earlier was looking at a wide-open net.
"Timo did an unbelievable job for us in the first period," said Mathieu Aubin, who had a goal and an assist in the third period. "It could easily have been 3-zero without Timo doing what he did. He made four or five key saves. It was the boost we needed."
Aubin's fifth goal at 7:39 of the third period came on a two-on-one and gave the Condors a bit more cushion at 3-0.
"It was an NHL pass from (Shawn) Weller, I can't say any more," Aubin said of the goal.
The Condors went up 4-0 when Andrew Ianiero banged in a rebound during a two-man power-play advantage with 2:26 remaining.
"We played a very, very average game but we found a way to win," Raymond said. "Timo bailed us out and some guys stepped up. That's the sign of a good team."
Notes
Forward Ryan Donally, sent down from San Antonio to the Condors last week, has been placed on the 21-day IR, retroactive to Nov. 23. Condors coach Marty Raymond said Donally had a slight concussion. "We just don't want to take a chance and he'll only miss four games," Raymond said.
Stephane Goulet has points in his last six games and Mathieu Aubin extended his point streak to five games. Matt Myers, who has played previously in England, recorded his first North American point with a first-period assist.
Radio broadcasters Kevin Bartl and Jason Lockhart missed calling both second-period goals as they were in commercial breaks both times. "I've missed goals before, but I can't ever remember missing two in one period," Bartl said of the bad break.
