Salmon Kings take command of series, leave Condors facing elimination
| Saturday, Apr 10 2010 10:46 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Apr 10 2010 10:54 PM
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Condors vs. Victoria in hockey playoff Condor Ryan Menei tries to muscle through Victoria's Adam Taylor (7) and get to the puck in the first period Saturday.
Condors vs. Victoria in hockey playoff Condor Dan Kissel works the puck deep in Victoria territory during the first period Saturday, against Salmon King Gary Gladue.
Condors vs. Victoria in hockey playoff Condor MacGregor Sharp had Victoria goaltender Matt Keetley perfectly screened and nearly got a deflection past him on this play in the first period Saturday.
Condors vs. Victoria in hockey playoff Condor winger Nick Kemp (14) and Victoria defenseman Gary Gladue strain against each other to get to the puck during Saturday's playoff game at Rabobank Arena.
Condors vs. Victoria in hockey playoff Condor Gino Guyer draws a hooking penalty against Victoria in the second period, negating a Salmon King power play and putting the Condors on one a few seconds later.
Condors vs. Victoria in hockey playoff Condor Sasha Pokulok (4) has the puck in his sights during the first period Saturday. Victoria's Eric Walsky (21) is at left.
Somehow, someway, the Condors are going to have to bounce back tonight at Rabobank Arena and come away with a victory.
If not, their season will be done as the Victoria Salmon Kings, behind a phenomenal effort by goaltender Matt Keetley, stunned the Condors and the crowd of 5,603 with a 3-1 come-from-behind victory on Saturday night.
The Salmon Kings now enjoy a 2-1 lead in the ECHL National Conference best-of-five playoff series and need just one more win to advance to the next round.
"Matt Keetley made some unbelievable saves," Condors coach Marty Raymond said. "When you don't capitalize and a goalie is making great, great saves something is bound to happen."
That something was three goals over the final 7 minutes and 38 seconds of play after the Condors had taken a 1-0 lead.
It took the Condors 36 shots before finally getting the puck past Keetley as Kyle Calder hammered in a rebound to give Bakersfield a 1-0 lead 7:18 into the final period.
Then came the unraveling.
Former Condor Chad Painchaud tied the game with a power-play goal at 11:22 when his shot from the right circle trickled between the pads of Timo Pielmeier.
That hurt but the real stinger came when Jimmy Sharrow's low wrister from the right point went though a screen and past Pielmeier with 2:33 remaining. Eric Walsky scored into an empty net for the final goal with 14 seconds left.
"Somehow they found a way to get a goal on a power play (and) there was a lot of nervousness after that," Raymond said.
Raymond didn't spend much time talking to the players after the game.
"I told then to forget about it and start thinking about (tonight)," he said. "It's not won by (Victoria). You need to win three games and right now it's only 2-1.
"We're not dead yet. I think we can play 60 minutes of great hockey and get our opportunities. We've got to score some goals. We missed too many chances. We have to keep pushing forward and being positive."
The Condors had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the second period when they enjoyed more than three straight minutes of power-play time, including 53 seconds of a two-man advantage.
Bakersfield fired seven shots on goal during the time frame but came away empty handed. The best chance came during the two-man advantage when the puck came to MacGregor Sharp on the left edge with a wide-open net in front of him. But by the time Sharp was able to get into a shooting position, Keetley was there to make a diving save.
Although he only faced nine shots in the period, Pielmeier had to be sharp. He stopped Adam Taylor on a short-handed breakaway early in the period and stopped sniper Wes Goldie with 1:30 left.
Pielmeier also stopped a short-handed breakaway in the first period, this one by Painchaud off a turnover.
Keetley kept the game scoreless when he stopped Ryan Menei on a partial break with 4:20 left in the period.
"We played a pretty good game, it should have been 4-nothing," Raymond said. "They had the key saves. Playoffs is all about goaltending."
Keetley, the game's No. 1 star, had 38 saves. Pielmeier stopped 24 shots.
Notes
Fans bringing a new or gently worn pair of jeans to tonight's game can receive two terrace-level tickets for $5.
Fans were asked to wear red for the playoff series in a Red Riot promotion and most did. However, so did the Salmon Kings, who brought their red road jerseys as they were not notified to bring their white jerseys. That left the Condors in white.
Saturday night's crowd of 5,603 is the most at any ECHL playoff game so far. No other team has drawn more than 4,600.
