Condors' Power Play Short-Circuits Roadrunners 6-4

by Andrew Nordmeier
December 17, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners


The Bakersfield Condors scored three power play goals in the first ten minutes of the third period to break open a 2-2 tie and propel themselves to a 6-4 win over the Phoenix Roadrunners Saturday night at America West Arena.

"The breakdown happened even before the game started," Phoenix Head Coach Ron Filion said, "The guys didn't show up in the first period."

The final period went south fast when Phoenix defenseman Dave Cousineau was whistled for a pair of penalties in the first three minutes. First, he was whistled for a holding penalty at 1:32. Just seven seconds later, Sean Venedam scored his eighth goal of the season and gave Bakersfield a 3-2 lead with a wrister that caught Phoenix (8-12-2) starting goaltender Mathieu Chouinard out of position.

Cousineau went back to the box at 2:23 for high-sticking and Bakersfield (9-7-4) cashed in again. This time, Nate Metcalf scored the second of his two goals on the evening when his long bomb deflected off of Chouinard's glove and into the net at 3:11. His fourth goal of the year was Bakersfield's fourth of the night and spelled the end for Chouinard who stopped 30 of 34 shots he faced.

Phoenix cut the deficit to one goal when Adam Kostichka scored his third goal of the year at 8:43. He charged the loose net and tipped the rebound past Condors' netminder Ryan Munce who was caught out of position.

Michael Mole entered the game in net for Phoenix and also ran into the suddenly-hot Bakersfield Buzzsaw called their power play. After Mark Wires went off for tripping at 9:48, Joel Irving beat Mole on a wraparound seven seconds later to make it 5-3. What makes this even more shocking is that Bakersfield scored three power play goals over their last 11 games before the Friday night outburst. The Condors' power play is one of the lowest-producing ones in the ECHL.

"It gets very old, even for us, to try and figure out why they go from playing great to back where we were a month ago," Filion said about a night where Bakersfield got 11 power plays.

Phoenix tried to rally back on a Dean Tiltgen power play goal with 6:43 remaining, his second tally of the game. His low shot that went five-hole brought Phoenix back to within a goal but Nate Metcalf's second goal of night with 2:58 left proved to be a final nail in Phoenix's coffin on this evening.

Metcalf started the scoring at 4:47 of the opening period when he beat Chouinard five-hole with what could be described as a soft goal from the point. The Condors went up 2-0 when Kevin St. Jacques beat Chouinard on a wraparound 2:52 into the second period with his team-leading ninth of the year.

Phoenix came back with two goals in 68 seconds, the fastest two goals in team history. Tiltgen got Phoenix on the board at 10:38 with a powerplay goal when he tapped the puck along the ice and past Munce. Jason Deskins' sixth goal of the year came at 11:46 when his quick wrister found space between Munce's body and right arm and hit the back of the net.

The Roadrunners don't have much time to make adjustments as they head to Long Beach and tangle with the Ice Dogs Saturday night. The Condors travel to San Diego to battle the Gulls before these two teams get back to it Sunday night at America West Arena.

"The guys just need to come back to basics and follow the team's plan," Filion said, "We need to stay to basics and work hard. That's what's been working for us."

Three Stars

3. St. Jaques-BAK Goal and strong play all night

2. Tiltgen-PHX Two goals in the loss

1. Metcalf-BAK Two goals in the win

Notes:The Roadrunners had a moment of silence before the game for Frank Lloyd. Lloyd, the head of the off-ice officials for the Roadrunners passed away of natural causes last weekend. He served in similar roles in the Phoenix hockey community since 1967...Phoenix played without Cory Pecker as he was called up to the AHL for the second time this season. Pecker is playing for the Binghamton Senators and signed a 25-game tryout contract...Bakersfield is 7-0-1 when scoring first...Phoenix defenseman Brent Henley, the league leader in penalty minutes, made a trip to the box for the 13th straight game...Phoenix has allowed multiple power play goals for the third straight game...Mole made his third relief appearance of the season...Phoenix was beaten heavily on faceoffs...The six goals is a season-high for Bakersfield after they scored five twice...Attendance was 5,622.



ECHL Stories from December 17, 2005


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