Condors streak to sixth straight victory
| Saturday, Nov 28 2009 11:10 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 28 2009 11:43 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield Condors watch the stuffed animals fly over the glass onto the ice, Saturday, evening at the Rabobank Arena during the annual Teddy Bear toss game against the Las Vegas Wranglers, after the first goal by the Condors was scored.
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield Condors fan, Scott Davis, left, couldn't wait for the Condors to score their first goal, Saturday, at the Rabobank Arena while playing against the Las Vegas Wranglers, so he could throw his stuffed animal, seated next to him onto the ice to be used for needy children in the area.
Stephane Goulet held a huge stuffed dog in his arms and noted that while scoring the first goal on Teddy Bear Toss Night was nice, that the job was not yet done.
"We still have a game to win," Goulet said six minutes and 34 seconds into the game while the ice was being cleared of thousands of stuffed animals after Goulet brought them raining down with his early goal.
The Condors did just that as they scored two more first period goals then held on for a 3-2 victory over Las Vegas before 8,825 at Rabobank Arena, the fifth-largest in team history.
"Mentally, sometimes it's tough (to keep up the intensity) when you have an early three-goal lead, but you have to give (the Wranglers) credit," Condors coach Marty Raymond said. "They have pride and they came hard."
The Condors were out shot 35-28 for the game and 27-15 over the final two periods.
But once again goaltender Timo Pielmeier (8-4-0) was on top of his game as he stopped 33 shots in his fourth straight win.
The game competed a six-game homestand for the Condors, who won all six games and increased their lead in the ECHL Pacific Division by improving to 14-6-0.
Matt Myers put the Condors up 2-0 at 17:31 on his first goal when he fired in a rebound from the high slot. Andrew Ianiero made it 3-0 on a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the period.
The Wranglers made it a two-goal game when Jason Krischuk scored a power-play goal 17:17 into the second period and cut Bakersfield's lead to one with another power-play goal (while on a two-man advantage) midway through the third period.
"We took some bad penalties in the third period, were a little undisciplined, but we battled through," Raymond said. "The end result is what we're looking for and we got the job done."
Notes
* It took just 15 minutes to clear the ice of thousands of stuffed animals after Bakersfield scored its first goal as dozens of volunteers hit the ice to scoop up the bounty. Players from both the Condors and Wranglers helped in the collection.
* The Condors have nearly a week off before returning to action on Friday when they head to Stockton for back-to-back games against the Thunder.
* Stephane Goulet extended his point scoring streak to seven games. Mathieu Aubin had hid point scoring streak end at five games.
* Dan Sexton, who racked up 26 points in 18 games for Bakersfield before being re-assigned to Manitoba in the AHL, scored his first AHL on Saturday night and had an assist in Manitoba's 2-1 win over Chicago. He has three points in three AHL games.
