David Shantz turns in 30-save shutout as Victoria takes 2-1 series lead

Published on April 8, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Bakersfield, CA- In a Friday night matchup at the Rabobank Arena the Victoria Salmon Kings took on the Bakersfield Condors in Game 3 of their best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinal series. The teams entered the contest with the series tied at 1-1. Victoria gave David Shantz the start in net, while Bakersfield countered with Brian Stewart.

The Salmon Kings forced two early turnovers in the Condors' zone to open the game, but the Bakersfield defenders negated both opportunities. Victoria picked up the physical play minutes later as Ryan Turek put a big hit on Vyacheslav Trukhno as he took a shot in the right wing corner. Victoria's Chad Klassen got the first two quality scoring chances on Stewart, but was turned aside on a 2-on-1 rush and another shot down the right wing minutes later. Just past the midway point of the opening frame, Adam Taylor put a shot on net from just inside the Bakersfield blue line that Stewart kicked into the right wing corner. Matt Siddall was quick to the puck and fired a shot on net from the bad angle that banked off a leg in front and through Stewart at 11:26. The Salmon Kings kept up the pressure minutes later as defenseman Jeff Caister hit the post from the slot on a 3-on-2 rush. With just under five minutes left in the period, forward Ryan Dingle broke up an odd-man rush for the Condors with a quality back-check. Dingle's effort turned the play back up the ice for Victoria as they moved in on a 3-on-2. Klassen worked a give-and-go passing play with Rob Hennigar across the slot before he found Caister in the middle of the ice. The Salmon Kings' defender put a hard wrist shot past Stewart at 15:17 for his first goal of the playoffs. Victoria took their 2-0 lead into the second period.

Victoria's David Shantz opened the second period with a quality save as he turned aside a Pascal Morency shot from just in front of the crease. Bakersfield was awarded a power play near the five minute mark of the middle frame, but the Salmon Kings' penalty kill team kept the Condors to the outside and successfully killed off the man advantage. Bakersfield then looked to get on the board as Jean-Marc Beaudoin fired a loose puck from the left faceoff circle that Shantz saved. The play resulted in a goalmouth scramble, but the Victoria netminder kept the puck out of the net. Minutes later, the Salmon Kings picked up the offensive pressure again, highlighted by a Rob Hennigar one-time slap shot from the slot which was turned aside by Stewart. Late in the period, Bakersfield's Andrew Ianiero fired a one-time shot from the right wing that was denied on a great right-to-left save by Shantz. Both teams finished the period with chances on the opposing netminders, but could not score the next goal. The Salmon Kings would head into the third period with their 2-0 advantage.

The Salmon Kings faced another early Condors power play in the third period, but the penalty killers kept Bakersfield from setting up in the offensive zone for any opportunities. Minutes later, Victoria had a chance on the man advantage. The Salmon Kings worked a good power play, but had all four shots were saved by the Condors' goaltender. Near the 10 minute mark of the period, the pace picked back up as both teams created offensive chances. Stephane Goulet nearly got Bakersfield on the board with five minutes left in the game, but had his shot from the right faceoff circle stopped on a good pad save by Shantz. Victoria had another man advantage late in the period and forced Stewart to make several quality stops to keep Bakersfield's deficit at two. The Condors pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker in the final minutes. With the net empty, Chad Painchaud and Trukhno dropped the gloves behind the Victoria net. Painchaud got early blows in before he took the Condors' forward to the ice. Bakersfield received a man advantage as a result of the play in the final minute, but were shut down by David Shantz as he recorded his second professional playoff shutout. Salmon Kings 2 Condors 0. Victoria leads the best-of-five Western Conference Quarterfinal series 2-1.

Victoria went 0/5 = 0.0% on the power play, while Bakersfield finished 0/3 = 0.0%. The Condors outshot the Salmon Kings 30-22.

Game 4 between the Salmon Kings and Condors takes place tomorrow at the Rabobank Arena with puck drop at 7:00 p.m. If necessary, Game 5 will be played in Bakersfield on Monday April 11th at 7:00 pm. To watch or listen live to Salmon Kings hockey visit www.salmonkings.com.

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