Condors keep fighting, beat Utah 5-2

The Condors put up several big hits and 16 shots on goal in the first period, along with three tallies en route to a 3-1 lead. Pender lit the lamp with a wrist shot from outside the blue line at 4:32. Dee got on the board with his first of the period at 12:43, only to be answered by Utah 29 seconds later. Dee chipped in his second of the frame at 15:19.

Utah pulled a goal closer with a 5-on-3 power play tally at 11:20 to make it 3-2. Though they held Bakersfield to just seven shots in the period, the Condors regained the two-goal lead with a 5-on-3 goal of their own. D Ryan Annesley deposited a nifty backhander into the net for his fourth of the season with just 25 seconds left in the period.

Pender added his second of the night on the power play at 8:40 of the third. It was his first multi-goal game of his career. G Bryan Pitton made it stand up, with 11 saves in the third and 29 on the night.

Click here for the box score

Condors Droppings:
F Robby Dee tied Lars-Peder Nagel for the third-highest rookie goal total in Condors history with his 22nd of the night tonight… F Peter Boyd had three assists and LW Kyle Calder had two assists in the game… Since neither Utah nor Idaho picked up a point tonight, they both failed to clinch a playoff spot… Tonight’s crowd was the seventh crowd over 6,000 this season at Rabobank Arena… Shots on goal: BAK- 37, UTA- 31… PP: BAK 2/5, UTA 1/2… Three Stars: 1. Pender (BAK), 2. Dee (BAK), 3. Boyd (BAK).

Saturday night against Las Vegas is the annual Condors Fighting Cancer Hockey-Thon, sponsored by KBAK Eyewitness News and KUZZ 107.9. Doors open at 4:45 p.m. for the Condors Alumni Game, while the Condors and Wranglers face off at 7 p.m.

The Condors head to Vegas for a Sunday 2 p.m. matinee. That game wraps up the season series and can be heard live on Fox Sports Radio 970AM or viewed online through www.AmericaOne.com.