ECHL Bakersfield Condors

Hofstrand Caps Wild Win Over Idaho

February 18, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Bakersfield Condors News Release


BAKERSFIELD, Calif.,- The Bakersfield Condors saw a 4-0 first-period lead over the Idaho Steelheads vanish in a game that saw 100 combined shots, 66 penalty minutes in the second period, and an overtime penalty shot. Mike Hofstrand would seal the game in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Condors the 5-4 victory in front of 5,098 fans at the Rabobank Arena.

Mathieu Brunelle got his evening off to a quick start, taking a drop pass from Reagan Leslie and firing a wrist shot past Matthew Yeats just 24 seconds into the game to give Bakersfield a 1-0 lead.

Brunelle would have a hand in the second Condors goal just two minutes later. Brunelle led the puck to Joel Irving, who quickly turned around and opened up a two-on-one with Andrew Ianiero. Irving tapped the puck past the lone defender and toward Ianiero, who batted the puck past the left post to make it 2-0 Condors.

Bakersfield extended their lead to three on their first power play of the night, when Scott Balan fired a shot from the point on a pass from Brunelle. Balan pushed the puck through traffic and found a gap under Yeats' right pad at the 8:35 of the first period. Mike Hofstrand made it 4-0 with a power play goal of his own from Leslie and Balan five minutes later with 6:44 remaining in the first period.

Idaho hit the scoreboard with under nine seconds left until the first intermission, when Paul Caponigri skated the puck along the left wing and connected with B.J. Crombeen in the slot to cut Bakersfield's lead to 4-1 after twenty minutes of hockey.

The Steelheads potted two power play goals by D'Arcy McConvey in the second period. The first came following four rounds of one-touch passes through the slot before McConvey buried his shot past Ryan Munce just 4:35 into the second. Idaho made it 4-3 when McConvey deposited the rebound of a David Bararuk 40-foot slapshot into the net with 1:56 remaining until the third period.

Tensions boiled over at the end of the second period as the teams collided in several scrums in the Idaho half of the ice. Following four different 10- minute misconduct penalties and eleven different minor penalty calls combined for 66 penalty minutes handed out in the middle frame.

With 8:36 left in regulation, Paul Caponigri maneuvered the puck behind Ryan Munce's net on the four-on-four. Caponigri found B.J. Crombeen in front of the crease and connected on the game- tying goal. Crombeen's second goal of the game knotted it up at 4-4, pushing the game to overtime.

Referee Jason Nissen awarded the Condors with a penalty shot with 2:12 remaining in overtime when Kevin Truelson was hooked down by Scott Burt off a breakaway. Truelson methodically brought the puck through the slot, but Yeats blocked Truelson's shot low on the stick side to push the game to a shootout.

In the shootout, Reagan Leslie converted for Bakersfield, while McConvey reciprocated for Idaho. The shootout stretched out to the sixth round where Ryan Munce stopped Crombeen's attempt with a glove save. With the game on his stick, Mike Hofstrand approached the slot and palced the puck under the crossbar over Yeats' right shoulder to clinch the 5-4 win for the Condors.

Ryan Munce earned the win, making 56 saves on 60 Idaho attempts. Matthew Yeats was credited with the loss despite stopping 36 of 40 Condors shots.

Other notes: Kevin St. Jacques' ten game point streak came to a close this evening. Munce extended his ECHL lead in shootout wins with his seventh of the year. The Condors are 2-0-0 in games where they have allowed 60+ shots.

Tomorrow night, February 18th, the Steelheads and Condors square off again as Dora the Explorer visits Condorstown courtesy of Bright House Networks, 101.5 KGFM and the University of Phoenix: Bakersfield Campus.

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ECHL Stories from February 18, 2006


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