Condors Big 3rd Period Squashes Eagles Comeback Hopes
Jan 23, 2019
BAKERSFIELD, CA. – The Bakersfield Condors scored three unanswered goals in the third period, including a pair of power play tallies, to cruise to a 7-2 win over the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday. Eagles forward A.J. Greer netted both of Colorado’s goals in the contest, giving him three markers in the last two games. The Condors generated their seven goals from seven different skaters in the victory.
Bakersfield would strike first in the contest when forward Patrick Russell sliced in front of the net and deflected a shot past Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz to give the Condors a 1-0 edge at the 10:58 mark of the first period.
The lead would grow to 2-0 just 1:32 later when forward Josh Currie tracked down a loose puck in the low slot and swept it into the back of the net for his team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Colorado finally generated an answer when the Eagles earned a power play late in the opening frame. Defenseman Mark Alt would fire a shot from the left circle and Greer would snag the rebound and feed it past Bakersfield goalie Shane Starrett to cut the Condors lead to 2-1 with only 22 seconds remaining in the first period.
An injury suffered late in the opening 20 minutes would force Francouz to give way to Spencer Martin in net to begin period number two. Just 3:54 into the period Bakersfield defenseman Keegan Lowe would fire a shot from the blue line that would deflect off Joe Gambardella and into the net, stretching the Condors advantage to 3-1.
It would only take another 28 seconds for the lead to grow once again, as defenseman Ethan Bear would weave his way through the right-wing circle before snapping a wrister that would light the lamp and make it 4-1 in favor of Bakersfield.
Needing an answer, again it would be Greer who would provide it for the Eagles when he collected a drop-pass at the top of the right circle and fired a wrist shot past Starrett to trim the Condors lead to 4-2 at the 16:20 mark of the middle frame.
Heading into the third period, Bakersfield would get an early notch on the scoreboard when forward Mitch Callahan found a bouncing puck in the crease and smashed it past Martin to extend the Condors advantage to 5-2 at the 1:48 mark of the period.
Defenseman Ryan Stanton would capitalize on a Bakersfield power play just minutes later when he snapped a shot from the left circle that would find the back of the net and make it 6-2 in favor of the Condors at the 6:33 mark of the final frame.
Another Bakersfield power play late in the contest would round out the scoring, as defenseman Caleb Jones wired a wrist shot through traffic and past Martin to secure a 7-2 lead for the Condors with only 13 seconds left in the contest.
Colorado was outshot 39-29 in the game, going 1-for-3 on the power play while surrendering two goals on four opportunities on the man-advantage for Bakersfield.
The Eagles continue their season-long, six-game road trip against the Ontario Reign at Citizens Business Bank Arena on Friday, January 25th at 8:00pm MT.
Single-game tickets for the 2018-19 season are on-sale now and start at just $18 per seat. Purchase your seats today by visiting the Budweiser Events Center box office, online at ColoradoEagles.com or by calling the Eagles ticketing department at 970-686-SHOT (7468).
