Condors Hold Off RoadRunners, 4-3, Take Sole Possession Of First Place in Pacific
March 16, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release
PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Bakersfield Condors held off the Phoenix RoadRunners, 4-3, in front of 3,244 at the US Airways Center Thursday night. The win puts the Condors in sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of idle Las Vegas.
"The boys put forth a good effort in a very chippy game," said Condors head coach Marty Raymond. "We kept our cool and played with great discipline when we could have easily lost it."
Bakersfield (38-13-10, 86 points) scored first on a five-on-three advantage at 13:28, when Alexandre Bolduc rifled a wrist-shot past Mike Morrison to make it 1- 0.
But after the Condors failed to capitalize on additional power-play chances, Phoenix (25-32-5, 55 points) tied it up in the last minute of the period on Olivier Latendresse's rebound goal, after Rejean Beauchemin had made multiple saves. That snapped a shutout streak of 157:10 for Condors goaltenders that began in the third period of Friday night's game in Utah.
Bakersfield went back in front early in period two, when Alex Rogosheske slapped one past Morrison to make it 2-1. Tyler Liebel and Rane Carnegie assisted on Rogosheske's third of the season.
Bolduc stretched the lead to two goals at 9:26, as he broke in on the left wing and put one up high and past Morrison, prompting a change of Phoenix netminders.
Sean Venedam widened the lead further at 1:48 of the final period, taking a feed from Josh Liebenow and hammering it past Cody Rudkowsky to make it 4-1.
Back came the RoadRunners just 42 seconds later, when a weird hop sent the puck right in front of the Condors goal, and Todd Jackson smacked it in to close the gap to 4-2.
Then at the end of a power-play at 13:10, Phoenix pulled to within 4-3 as Justin Aikins scored his 24th of the season.
But Beauchemin stopped the remaining opportunities, and 34 shots overall, to preserve the victory.
Notes: Scott Balan returned from the injured list but left after only a couple of shifts and didn't return. Tyler Liebel left the game late in the second period after a collision with Chris Cava and didn't return. David Kudelka went down early in the third period after being boarded by Greg Hornby, and left the ice with a bloody face shield and also didn't return.
Bakersfield is now 22-3-7 in 2007, and 14-1-5 in the last 20 games. The Condors are now 6-0-2 on the road trip and 4-0-1 against Phoenix this season.
Bakersfield reduced their magic number for clinching home ice advantage in at least the first round of the playoffs to 11 points with the win and the Falcons shootout loss. Any combination of points the Condors get and the Fresno Falcons don't that totals 11 guarantees Bakersfield home ice in round one of the postseason. The Condors also knocked their magic number for clinching at least the third seed in the National Conference to 14 points. Any combination of points Bakersfield amasses and the Idaho Steelheads don't that totals 14 guarantees the Condors the third seed in the National Conference.
The Condors finish off the four-city, nine-game, 16- day road trip with a 7:30 p.m. contest in Long Beach Friday, March 16th.
The team returns to The Nest on March 17th for a game against the Stockton Thunder, as Bright House Networks, 101.5 KGFM and American Business Machines present SpongeBob Squarepants and the St. Patrick's Day Jersey Raffle and Auction. SpongeBob will be live and in person to entertain the crowd, plus five lucky fans will win special game-worn St. Patrick's Day jerseys, with proceeds from the auction donated to Kern Adult Literacy Council.
Individual game tickets are on sale and may be purchased through the Rabobank Arena Box Office, which is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday with extended hours on game days. Tickets may also be purchased by phone at 322-2525, online at www.bakersfieldcondors.com or at any Ticketmaster location. Season tickets, mini plans and group outings are also available at the Condors office located at 1001 Truxtun Avenue or by calling 324- PUCK (7825).
You can catch all Condors games live on KGEO Hot Talk AM1230 with Jake Stevens calling all the action. Most games are available to view courtesy of B2 Networks. Just click the "Watch the Game Live" link on the Condors home page. Live streaming for all Condors games is also available via the web site, www.bakersfieldcondors.com.
ECHL Stories from March 16, 2007
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