Second Period Sinks Eagles in 5-3 Loss to Bakersfield
Dec 21, 2018
LOVELAND, CO. – The Bakersfield Condors scored five goals in the second period, including a pair from forward Kailer Yamamoto, to power their way to a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Eagles on Friday. Eagles forward Michael Joly notched a goal and two assists in the loss, while defenseman Kevin Davis scored his first AHL goal in the defeat.
Colorado opened the scoring when Joly skated through the right-wing circle before dropping a pass to forward Ty Lewis who would snap a wrist shot into the back of the net to give the Eagles a 1-0 edge at the 10:44 mark of the first period.
Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, Bakersfield would storm back in the second period, beginning with a shot from the blue line that would be tipped home by forward Cooper Marody to tie the game at 1-1 at the 1:19 mark of the second period.
The Condors would then claim their first lead of the game just 45 seconds later when forward Luke Esposito batted a rebound out of midair and past Eagles goalie Spencer Martin to put Bakersfield on top, 2-1.
Colorado would summon an answer when Joly cut through the slot and snapped a shot that would light the lamp and tie the game at 2-2 at the 9:08 mark of the middle frame.
Condors forward Joe Gambardella would give the visitors the lead once again when he finished off a 2-on-1 rush with a goal from the bottom of the left circle to give Bakersfield a 3-2 advantage with 6:29 remaining in the second period. The lead would stretch to 4-2 on the power play when Yamamoto fired a shot from the slot that would glance off Martin and into the back of the net at the 17:03 mark of the period.
With only 34 seconds left in the second stanza, Yamamoto would notch his second goal of the contest when a shot from the left circle deflected off an Eagles defenseman and into the net to grow Bakersfield’s lead to 5-2.
In desperate need of offense in the third period, Colorado would outshoot the Condors, 17-2 in the final 20 minutes and would pull within a pair when Davis stepped into a slapshot from the slot on the power play, beating Wells and trimming the Condors’ advantage to 5-3 with 6:07 remaining in the contest. The Eagles would pull Martin in favor of the extra attacker, but would come no closer, falling by a final score of 5-3.
Martin suffered the loss in net, surrendering five goals on 27 shots, while Wells stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced to claim the victory. Colorado finished the night going 1-for-6 on the power play, while Bakersfield notched one goal on five opportunities on the man-advantage.
Colorado returns to action when they host the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday, December 22nd at 7:05pm MT at the Budweiser Events Center.
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).
