Confident Condors swoop in for the penalty kill
| Saturday, Nov 07 2009 11:07 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 07 2009 11:07 PM
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Images:
Casey Christie / The Californian Bakersfield Condor Mitera and Las Vegas Wrangler Jeff Hazelwood skate fast to beat one another to the puck during hockey action, Saturday evening at the Rabobank Arena.
Casey Christie / The Californian Las Vegas Wrangler, Mick Lawrence, slides on the ice after the puck, while Bakersfield Condor, Eric Regan skates into the action, Saturday night at the Rabobank Arena in downtown Bakersfield during the first period.
Casey Christie / The Californian The referees lwatch Las Vegas Wrangler, Chris Frank, left, and Bakersfield Condor, Eric Lizon, fist fight on the ice, during Saturday night action at the Rabobank Arena.
Casey Christie / The Californian The Las Vegas Wranglers and the Bakersfield Condors players line up for action, Saturday in Bakersfield.
The Condors gained confidence Saturday night at Rabobank Arena penalty kill by penalty kill.
Then they went in for the kill against the Las Vegas Wranglers.
Dan Sexton scored two goals in just over two minutes late in the third period as Bakersfield rallied for a 4-2 victory before 5,368.
With the scored knotted 2-2, the Condors appeared to be flirting with danger in the third period with each trek to the penalty box. The Condors killed Las Vegas power play No. 7 with 11:23 left in the game, then proceeded to go right back on the penally kill a few second later. Two minutes later, after killing off another power play, the team was already shifting to high gear.
"Our penalty kill was so good tonight I never had a doubt that we weren't going to win," Sexton said, noting goaltender Timo Pielmeier, who wound up stopping 27 shots, was superb.
Once they were done killing penalties, the Condors continued to buzz the Las Vegas zone. Sexton got the game-winner when he fired a shot from low in the right circle over a diving and sprawled Michael Ouzas with 4:47 left. He delivered an insurance goal, his eighth of the season, from the right edge of the net 2:06 later.
"The first one I got lucky, the puck bounced off a D-man's skate and right to me," Sexton said. "The second one was a great play by (MacGregor) Sharp and (Shawn) Weller. Weller made a no-look pass to the back door and all I had to do was tap in it."
For good measure, the Condors finished the night with 100 percent efficiency on the penalty kill, as they killed off a ninth-power play by the Wranglers, who upped it to a two-man advantage by pulling Ouzas for the final 1:39.
"It was a great team effort and I thought our third line (Logan MacMillan, Adam Naglich and Nick Kemp) played great," Sexton said. "They were really hitting in the third period and wore (the Wranglers) down."
The victory left Condors (6-5-0) alone in first place of the tight Pacific Division.
The Wranglers took a 1-0 lead 4:29 into the first period when a centering pass deflected off defenseman Sasha Pokulok and within reach of Mick Lawrence, who beat Pielmeier from the doorstep.
Bakersfield answered at 7:38 when Kyle Calder's one-timer from the top of the right circle sailed past Ouzas on a 4-on-3 power play.
Las Vegas regained the lead at 16:03 when Bakersfield defenseman Stu Bickel skated out from behind his net and into the slot where he tried to go around Lawrence. Bickle went by Lawrence, but Lawrence had stolen the puck and fired it past Pielmeier.
The Condors tied the game again 8:33 into the second period when Andrew Ianiero fed a breaking Calder, who made a couple of quick moves and tucked the puck past Ouzas.
"We just stayed with our systems and never varied," said nine-year NHL veteran Kyle Calder, who was assigned to the Condors by Anaheim last week. "We never varied tonight and worked hard. "Our penalty kill was good and that gave us momentum."
The Condors got into penalty trouble midway though the second period, and, while killing a penalty, Pielmeier had to face a penalty shot by Adam Miller. Miller's shot at 10:35 sailed wide. The Condors killed the rest of that penalty, plus another two minutes shortly after that power play expired.
Notes
* The Anaheim Ducks assigned defenseman Mark Mitera to the Condors on Saturday. A first-round draft pick of the Ducks in 2007, Mitera had been in the American Hockey League with San Antonio where he had no points in five games. Mitera, 22, played four years for the University of Michigan and was the top-scoring defenseman as junior with 23 points in 43 games. He captained the team as a senior but only played eight games due to a knee injury.
* To make roster room for Mitera, Mathieu Aubin was moved to the 7-day IR from the 3-day IR and defenseman Patrik Prokop was played on 3-day IR.
* Center Matt Myers, who just completed immigration requirements, was not activated for the game. Condors coach Marty Raymond said Myers would play on Tuesday when the Condors host the Stockton Thunder.
