They only played one game in the last week, but the Bakersfield Condors scored enough goals in their lone game to fill a few game’s worth. In their second meeting of the season with Stockton, the Condors blasted eight goals by their rivals to the north.
Combined with their 8-1 victory on opening night, Bakersfield has outscored Stockton by a 16-3 margin. Not bad. The win moves the Condors to 3-3-0-0 on the season, and sets them up in a decent spot heading into a busier week.
The Week That Was:
It took just 2:01 for the Condors to gain a lead they would not lose on Saturday night. Tyler Vesel snapped home his first of the year from Logan Day and Tyler Benson in the opening moments, and Bakersfield was off and running.
Joe Gambardella added his second of the year at 6:28 of the opening frame, but Oliver Kylington would draw the Heat within one just under seven minutes later. After that? It was all Condors.
Dave Gust responded to the Kylington marker just 1:21 later with his first of the season at 15:23. It would start a stretch of two goals in 54 seconds for the Condors, with veteran Brad Malone making it 4-1 at 16:17 of the first period.
Braden Christoffer and Logan Day each registered tallies in the opening 7:54 of the second period to put the Condors up 6-1, while Cameron Hebig and Gust would score 35 seconds apart late in the second to polish the scoring off for the Condors.
Stuart Skinner stopped 22 of 24 shots on goal, registering his first career win at the AHL level. Skinner was good in the game, but got a ton of run support en route to his first win. It was a nice and easy outing for the rookie, who hopefully gained a little confidence from getting into the win column.
Day has quietly had a solid start to the season. He finished Saturday night with a goal and two assists and has been solid from the point. He’s got a ton of skill and some speed, and has adjusted well from the NCAA ranks. I’m not sure he ever makes the NHL, but he is emerging as a good minor league defender pretty quickly.
Hebig finished the night 1-0-1, and now has 4-2-6 through six games. He’s had a great start to his pro career, as has Tyler Benson (1-5-6, 6 GP).
The Week Ahead:
It’s a rare Wednesday night battle for the Condors this week, as they take on the Heat once more to finish the month of October. This time, the Condors will take a ride up the coast and visit their rivals after plastering them twice at home already.
After that, it is a back-to-back set against a pair of teams the Condors will be meeting for the first time this season. Saturday night, they kick off the weekend by hosting the Texas Stars (Dallas) at 7:00 pm PST. Sunday is an afternoon affair as San Antonio (St. Louis) comes calling at 5:00 pm PST. As mentioned, it is the first meeting of the season between the Condors and these former division foes.
Texas reached the Calder Cup Finals a season ago, but fell to the Toronto Marlies in the Championship round. This year, the Stars are off to a 4-3-1-1 start and sit 5th in the AHL’s Central Division. San Antonio, who split their affiliation with Colorado and St. Louis a season ago, embarks on a new era as the Blues’ primary affiliate. They are off to a terrible 2-8-0-0 start.
Thunder Minute:
Just one game at the ECHL level this past week for the Oiler organization. The Thunder finished off their October schedule in Tulsa, but fell 2-1 in overtime to the Oilers (seriously, they are the Tulsa Oilers).
The Thunder will play twice this coming weekend, starting Friday night in Kansas City (Calgary, Stockton) before opening a four game homestand Sunday against Utah (Colorado, Colorado).
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