Cdnsailor
04-13-2008, 11:00 AM
S-Kings roar back, even series
Cleve Dheensaw, Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, April 13, 2008
With their playoff hopes potentially dangling by a thread, the Victoria Salmon Kings scored three unanswered goals in the last 12 minutes and 28 seconds of the third period to pull out a near-miraculous 4-3 ECHL victory over the Bakersfield Condors.
The comeback, as furious as it seemed unlikely, tied the best-of-seven National Conference quarter-final series 1-1 amid the deafening din of 6,448 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial.
Two of the rally goals were scored shorthanded by the darting Ryan Wade at 7:32 and 7:53 to tie the score 3-3 on the same Bakersfield power play. The Condors should have just declined the odd-man.
It's unreal, man," said the veteran forward Wade, as he sat drenched in the dressing room following the game.
Chris St. Jacques completed the dramatic comeback with the winning goal at 16:30 of the third period to bring down the roof of the Store on Blanshard.
"We knew our backs would be against the wall if we went down 2-0 in the series, with the next three games down there," said Wade, who finished with three goals on the night.
"This swung the whole momentum in our favour."
The series now shifts down to the central California farm belt for the next three games on Tuesday, Wednesday and -- following a break for an Elton John concert -- Saturday in front of the loud and passionate fans at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
The Salmon Kings have seemed to thrive on adversity late in the season. Well, they had their full-meal deal of it trailing 1-0 in the series and 3-1 at the end of the second period of Game 2.
The Salmon Kings knew what was at stake as they headed into the second break trailing by two goals as a sombre pall seemed to envelop the Memorial Centre at that point.
"We knew it was down to a period at a time and we wanted to come out strong in the third period," said St. Jacques, a former scoring machine in junior with Medicine Hat of the WHL.
Never mind, wanted to. The Vancouver Canucks farm team practically needed to or face a daunting task in California this coming week.
After Wade's amazing short-handed heroics, St. Jacques took a pure-hustle assist from Darryl Lloyd in the corner and made a nice move on the tough Bakersfield goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji. St. Jacques moved across the crease to zing home the winner on a nice slider shot that cleanly beat the first Japanese-born player to make it to the NHL and an old Salmon Kings foe who goes right back in the Condors nets to Victoria's inaugural 2004-05 season.
"I give credit to my linemates for making that goal happen . . . Darryl [Lloyd] dug hard in the corner to get that puck out to me in the slot," said St. Jacques.
The Salmon Kings must win at least one of the three games in Bakersfield to bring the series back to Victoria.
The Condors, 2-1 overtime winners in Game 1 Thursday, played tight and close and threw the S-Kings off their game in the first two periods.
The one thing the home team in the playoffs needs to avoid is to fall behind early because there is no greater confidence builder for an underdog on the road than to grab the first-period lead, which the Condors did both Thursday and yesterday.
But when it looked as if time and circumstance were slipping away, the S-Kings finally made their own breaks in the third period thanks in large part to Wade -- the longest-serving member of the team.
Cleve Dheensaw, Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, April 13, 2008
With their playoff hopes potentially dangling by a thread, the Victoria Salmon Kings scored three unanswered goals in the last 12 minutes and 28 seconds of the third period to pull out a near-miraculous 4-3 ECHL victory over the Bakersfield Condors.
The comeback, as furious as it seemed unlikely, tied the best-of-seven National Conference quarter-final series 1-1 amid the deafening din of 6,448 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial.
Two of the rally goals were scored shorthanded by the darting Ryan Wade at 7:32 and 7:53 to tie the score 3-3 on the same Bakersfield power play. The Condors should have just declined the odd-man.
It's unreal, man," said the veteran forward Wade, as he sat drenched in the dressing room following the game.
Chris St. Jacques completed the dramatic comeback with the winning goal at 16:30 of the third period to bring down the roof of the Store on Blanshard.
"We knew our backs would be against the wall if we went down 2-0 in the series, with the next three games down there," said Wade, who finished with three goals on the night.
"This swung the whole momentum in our favour."
The series now shifts down to the central California farm belt for the next three games on Tuesday, Wednesday and -- following a break for an Elton John concert -- Saturday in front of the loud and passionate fans at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.
The Salmon Kings have seemed to thrive on adversity late in the season. Well, they had their full-meal deal of it trailing 1-0 in the series and 3-1 at the end of the second period of Game 2.
The Salmon Kings knew what was at stake as they headed into the second break trailing by two goals as a sombre pall seemed to envelop the Memorial Centre at that point.
"We knew it was down to a period at a time and we wanted to come out strong in the third period," said St. Jacques, a former scoring machine in junior with Medicine Hat of the WHL.
Never mind, wanted to. The Vancouver Canucks farm team practically needed to or face a daunting task in California this coming week.
After Wade's amazing short-handed heroics, St. Jacques took a pure-hustle assist from Darryl Lloyd in the corner and made a nice move on the tough Bakersfield goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji. St. Jacques moved across the crease to zing home the winner on a nice slider shot that cleanly beat the first Japanese-born player to make it to the NHL and an old Salmon Kings foe who goes right back in the Condors nets to Victoria's inaugural 2004-05 season.
"I give credit to my linemates for making that goal happen . . . Darryl [Lloyd] dug hard in the corner to get that puck out to me in the slot," said St. Jacques.
The Salmon Kings must win at least one of the three games in Bakersfield to bring the series back to Victoria.
The Condors, 2-1 overtime winners in Game 1 Thursday, played tight and close and threw the S-Kings off their game in the first two periods.
The one thing the home team in the playoffs needs to avoid is to fall behind early because there is no greater confidence builder for an underdog on the road than to grab the first-period lead, which the Condors did both Thursday and yesterday.
But when it looked as if time and circumstance were slipping away, the S-Kings finally made their own breaks in the third period thanks in large part to Wade -- the longest-serving member of the team.