Condors Clinch First Round Home Ice
April 8, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release
STOCKTON, Calif., - The Bakersfield earned home ice advantage in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs with a 5-3 victory over the Stockton Thunder in front of 8,239 fans at the Stockton Arena.
Both teams put on a goaltending clinic in the first period as Bakersfield's Ryan Munce and Stockton's Jeff Weber stopped a combined 32 shots on net.
The Condors broke the game open with three goals in a span of six minutes near the beginning of the second period. Dave Bonk opened scoring with his deflection of a Shaun Fisher wrist shot from the right point. Scott Balan threw a similar shot on net and Kevin Kotyluk angled a deflection behind Weber for the second Bakersfield goal. Sean Venedam threaded the rebound of a Balan sapshot through the five hole of Weber at 8:25 of the second to give the Condors a 3-0 lead near the game's midpoint. Brian Swiniarski's first professional goal capped the period, giving Bakersfield a 4-0 lead with just 1:19 remaining until the second intermission.
Stockton stormed back with three unanswered goals in the third period as Jeff Lang, Kevin Gardner and Maris Ziedens each tallied for the Thunder to cut Bakersfield's lead to 4-3.
Stockton pulled Weber for the extra skater in the game's waning moments, but Mike Hofstrand capitalized with an empty net goal to give the Condors the victory.
Ryan Munce earned the win with 41 saves on 44 Stockton shots. Jeff Weber was credited with the loss despite 37 stops on 41 attempts faced.
Other notes: The Condors tied a team season-high for most goal in a period with four in the second.
For the record: The Condors improved to 39-26-6 for 84 points. Bakersfield leads Long Beach by 3 points for 2nd place in the Pacific Division with one game remaining in the regular season.
Playoff picture: The Condors will face Long Beach in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. With the win, Bakersfield clinches home ice advantage for their series against the Ice Dogs. Game One will take place at Rabobank Arena on Tuesday, April 11th at 7:00pm with Game Two on Friday, April 14th.
Bakersfield's regular season finale takes place Saturday, April 8th at home against the Alaska Aces. SpongeBob Squarepants will be in the house to entertain fans of all ages throughout the evening courtesy of Bright House Networks, 101.5 KGFM and Superkart Racing.
To bring out a group of 20 or more fans, contact the Condors office at 324-PUCK (7825) for special pricing.
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