Bakersfield Loses Lead Late in 5-4 Loss to Colorado

LOVELAND, Colo. – The Bakersfield Condors (17-35-4-2, 38pts) surrendered two goals in the final five minutes of the third period and dropped a heartbreaker to the Colorado Eagles (31-19-1-5, 68pts) by a score of 5-4 on Thursday night at the Budweiser Events Center. The loss ends the Condors three-game winning streak.

Colorado jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first 9:08 of the first period. C Riley Nelson scored on the Eagles second shot of the contest, forty-five seconds in, to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. D Gord Burnett extended the lead to 2-0 at 9:08 off a deflected point shot. Bakersfield answered back with two goals to close out the period and tie it up. C Robby Dee completed a set of passes through the five-hole of Eagles G Kyle Jones at 10:44 to cut the lead in half at 2-1. The Condors went on to tie the game at 2-2 when LW Kyle Calder banged home a loose puck at 18:01. Shots were 10-7 for Colorado after one period.

The Condors seized the lead in the second period with two quick strikes. After a Condors power play expired, one in which the Condors pressured for the entire two minutes, D Erik Burgdoerfer blasted a shot from the right-wing circle into the back of the net to pull the Condors on top, 3-2 at 4:34. Dee scored his second of the night just over a minute later at 5:45 of the period when he sniped a shot into the top corner of the net to put the Condors in front by two at 4-2. Colorado scored late at 18:02 when F Aaron Slattengren tucked a backdoor feed into an empty net behind Condors G Matt Keetley to make the scoreline after two period, 4-3 in the Condors favor. Bakersfield outshot Colorado 10-5.

Bakersfield held on to their one goal lead until late in the third period when Colorado capitalized on a two-man advantage and a bad deflection to shock the Condors 5-4. Both goals came from F Kevin Ulanski. His first at 15:55 was a snap shot that beat Keetley high on the five-on-three to tie the game at 4-4. The game-winner came with exactly two minutes left as he centered a feed off of a Condors defenseman’s skate and through Keetley. Shots were 12-7 for the Eagles.

Click here for the box score

Condors Droppings:

F Parker Stanfield saw his 11-game point streak come to an end in the loss (6g-11a)… Kyle Calder, Tyler Helfrich, and Ian McKenzie each extended their point streaks to six…With his two-point effort, Robby Dee now has points in three straight (2g-4a)…Shots on goal: BAK- 24, COL – 27… PP: BAK 0/6, COL 1/4… Three Stars: 1. Ulanski (COL), 2. Nelson (COL), 3. Dee (BAK).

Road Trip Continues Saturday

The Condors look for revenge on Saturday night in Colorado, puck drop is slated for 6:05 p.m. Pacific.

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