Condors solve power struggle, put away Aces
| Friday, Nov 20 2009 11:54 PM
Last Updated Friday, Nov 20 2009 11:54 PM
Perhaps the Aces, the most penalized team in the ECHL, figured they could take liberties with the Condors Friday night at Rabobank Arena.
After all, Bakersfield went 0-12 in power-play opportunities last weekend in two games in Anchorage and only once this season had they registered more than a single power play in a game.
But a semi-dormant Condors power play sprang to life, sparking Bakersfield to 6-2 victory before 4,795.
The Condors exploded for four power-play goals on seven chances and added a short-hander as well in a dominating performance as they outshot the Aces 40-18.
Dan Sexton nearly doubled his assist total (nine coming into the game), as he assisted on three power-play goals and had a highlight reel assist on the short-handed.
The short-handed play started at the Bakersfield blue line as Sexton pushed the puck past a defenseman and headed down the right side of the ice on a breakaway. He raced into the right circle and made a spin-o-rama, no-look backhand pass to a driving Shawn Weller, who put the puck into a nearly wide-open net. That play came 6:37 into the third period and put the Condors up 5-2.
"I knew (Weller) was there," Sexton said. "I had a shot, but it wasn't a great angle so I tried to be fancy. He scored and it made me look good.
"I've struggled the last three games and had just one point so I wanted to forget about points and just go out and work hard. Give credit to the guys, they put (the pucks) in."
Stephane Goulet got the final goal for the Condors, on a power play, with 2:15 remaining.
The Condors were beaten 7-1 in Anchorage last Saturday and had a long time to stew over that loss, Sexton said.
"It was a long and pretty miserable flight home after losing 7-1," he said. "This feels really good but it doesn't mean much if we don't come back and get wins (tonight) and Sunday."
As is often the case this year, the Condors gave up the first goal of the game when Jason Ryznar got a wrister between Pogge and the right post 3:11 into the game.
The Condors, who had been outscored 24-12 in the first period coming into the game, drew even midway through the period when defenseman Sasha Pokulok scored off a pass from Sexton.
The Aces went up 2-1 at 18:25 on a power-play goal by Colin Hemingway only to have the Condors answer with their own power-play goal when Pokulok fired into wide-open net off a Sexton pass at 19:15.
The Condors scored two second-period power-play goals. The first came at 1:14 when defenseman Eric Regan fired in a shot from the inside edge of the right circle and the other came off the stick of Mathieu Aubin at 7:59.
"From the second period on we played a simple hockey game," Condors coach Marty Raymond said. "Our D was very, very good and we took advantage of our power plays.
"But just like we weren't happy after the 7-1 loss, they will come back harder and we have to be ready."
Justin Pogge (5-2) stopped 16 shots to get the win.
Notes
* Rookie center MacGregor Sharp made his NHL debut for Anaheim on Thursday, logging 5 minutes of ice time and winning three of four faceoffs while playing on the fourth line. He will be in action again tonight as the Ducks host the San Jose Sharks. Sharp is the 420th ECHL player to get to the NHL but only the 17th to do so directly from the ECHL.
* Ryan Donally, assigned to the Condors from San Antonio in the American Hockey League, was added to the roster on Friday but will not arrive in Bakersfield until today. He will not play until next Friday when the Condors host Las Vegas, where he played in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
* Two pro scouts, one for the Florida Panthers, the other for the Tampa Bay Lightning, watched Friday night's game.
TODAY'S GAME
Alaska at Condors
Rabobank Arena, 7
Radio: KGEO (1230 AM)
TV: Bright House (Ch. 21)
