Big Opening Night crowd sees Condors fall in thriller, 4-3

Big Opening Night crowd sees Condors fall in thriller, 4-3

C Rylan Kaip scores first Condors goal in front of 6,871 fans

Bakersfield, Calif. – C Ryan Huddy recorded a natural hat trick in the third period and the Las Vegas Wranglers (1-0-0-0, 2pts) fought back a Bakersfield Condors (0-1-0-0, 0pts) comeback effort to take a 4-3 victory in front of 6,871 fans on Opening Night Saturday at Rabobank Arena.
Kaip, Goulet Celebrate

C Rylan Kaip got the scoring started in tonight’s contest when he struck from the left circle. A bouncing puck skipped back to Kaip, and he was able to settle the puck down and fire a shot on goal. Stephane Goulet was parked right in front of G Michael Ouzas, who never saw the shot as it snuck just inside the right post. The Condors held the 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.

The Wranglers were able to knot up the score just 58 seconds in the middle stanza with Huddy beating G Peter Hirsch on a rebound chance. Huddy struck again at the 2:42 mark of the period while on the power play. His third of the period came when a collision between a Condors defenseman and the referee led to an odd-man rush, and he tucked home his third of the night at 13:06.

Bakersfield was able to find some momentum in the third period after Goulet cut the lead in half. Last season’s leading scorer led a rush on the left wing and fired a shot through traffic to make it 3-2. Just over a minute later, F Jean-Marc Beaudoin dangled into the zone and wristed home the equalizer at 11:35. That score didn’t last long, however, as C Colin Long broke the tie with his first of the year at 14:31. The Condors pulled the netminder but couldn’t tie it up once more.

To view the box score, click here.

Notes from the Nest:

The Condors fell to 7-6-0 on Opening Night, and 8-5-0 in Home Openers… Power Play: BAK-0-for-7; LV-1-for-4… The Condors failed to score on 1:40 of 5-on-3 in the first period… Shots: BAK – 30; LV – 22… LW Erick Lizon served his suspension tonight and is eligible to play next weekend in Utah… Three stars: 1. Ryan Huddy (LV); 2. Colin Long (LV); 3. Rylan Kaip (BAK).

Get Tickets:

The Condors visit the Utah Grizzlies next weekend and then have a short stop in Las Vegas before returning to Condorstown to take on Stockton and Alaska on Oct. 29 and 30. Oct. 29 will be Schedule Magnet Giveaway Night sponsored by ESPN 1230 and Three Way Automotive Group. To get tickets, visit the Rabobank Arena Box Office or call Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. You can also visit ticketmaster.com. ECHL All-Star Classic tickets will go on sale November 26. Until that date, All-Star Classic tickets can be reserved through Condors ticket plans. For more information, call the Condors at 324-PUCK(7825), or visit www.bakersfieldcondors.com.