Morency’s hat trick leads Condors to 6-3 win
Bakersfield came out much stronger in the first period, as D Erik Burgdoerfer scored less than two minutes in to help the Condors gain a 1-0 lead. Victoria struck back at 5:23, when C Chad Klassen deflected a shot past Stewart to even the scoring at 1-1. The Condors took just one penalty in the opening period, but it came back to haunt them as RW Milan Gajic finished off a perfect passing play to give Victoria a 2-1 lead.
It took nearly the entire second period for the Condors to draw even, but RW Stephane Goulet gave Bakersfield life with 1:46 left in the frame. F Jean-Marc Beaudoin fired a shot on net and Goulet was just able to lift a rebound off the blocker of G David Shantz and over the goal line, evening the score at 2-2 at the end of the middle stanza.
Morency took over in the third period, scoring goals at 3:42 and 9:07 on the power play, and completing the natural hat trick with an even strength marker at 13:53 to lift the Condors to a 5-2 lead. LW Ryan Dingle brought the Salmon Kings back to within two with a breakaway goal at 16:52, by LW Guillaume Lefebvre secured the win for the Condors by netting an empty-netter with 33 seconds left in the game. G Brian Stewart earned his first professional playoff victory, turning in a 31 save effort.
Notes:
The best-of-five series is now tied 1-1.. RW Pascal Morency played in his first game for the Condors since the end of February and had a natural hat trick. The last Condors playoff hat trick came on April 8th of last season, when LW Kyle Calder also did it in the second game of the opening round in Victoria… D Erik Burgdoerfer became just the second Condors rookie defenseman to score a playoff goal. The other was Jonas Lennartsson in 2002-03 The Condors had given up 5 or more power plays in eight straight games, and had surrendered 7 or more four times. Bakersfield had fewer than 5 power plays four times in that span… Power plays: BAK: 2/8; VIC: 1/4… Three stars: 1. P. Morency (BAK); 2. A. Taylor (VIC); 3. B. Stewart (BAK).
Next Home Game:
The two clubs come to Bakersfield for Game 3, 4 & 5 (if necessary), on Friday, Saturday and Monday. All three games start at 7 p.m. The first round of the playoffs is sponsored by ABC23, Cal Water and Bakersfield Hyundai. For Friday and Saturday’s games, if the Condors score with 11:11 left on the clock in any period, either night, one lucky fan will win a brand new car, courtesy of Bakersfield Hyundai.
TICKETS:
Mini-plan holders can still get in ahead of the action! Call the Condors at 324-PUCK (7825) to get more information on how you can lock in your seats for the 2011 Kelly Cup Playoffs. You can also download the order form here.
All you need are 10 people to put together a playoff group – get discounts on your tickets, group seating, and everyone in a lower bowl group gets a free Condors hat. Call the Condors office at 324-PUCK (7825) for more information or go online to www.bakersfieldcondors.com.
