Condors Comeback Ends in 7-6 OT Win
May 8, 2019The Gulls tallied six goals, but it wasn’t enough as Bakersfield walked away with a 7-6 victory overtime win in Game 3 at Pechanga Arena San Diego. William Lagesson's goal 33 seconds gave Bakersfield their first win of the series after Tyler Benson tied the game with 10.5 seconds left in regulation.
Six different players scored goals and 11 different Gulls recorded a point including four with multi-point efforts.
San Diego scored three goals in a span of 2:47 in the second period to set a new club record for the three fastest goals in a postseason game, surpassing the previous mark of 3:08 set in Game 1 of the First Round, Apr. 17 vs. San Jose. San Diego also tied the club record for goals in a single period set three previous times (last: Apr. 17 vs. San Jose; first period).
“You just reset. We’re up 2-1. If we had won this game to be up 2-1, we’d be excited,” said Gulls forward Adam Cracknell on moving on to Game 4. “We’re up 2-1 right now, going into a home game Friday. We’ve got to come with a good effort and make sure we do the job right.”
Cracknell scored San Diego’s first goal and added two primary assists to push his goal-scoring streak to four games (4-4=8) as the forward became just the second Gull to score a goal in four consecutive Calder Cup Playoff games (also Chase De Leo in the First Round).
Sam Steel (1G/1A), Kiefer Sherwood (1G/1A) and Jacob Larsson (2A) all picked up two points tonight.
Bakersfield got on the board first as Joe Gambardella capitalized on an odd-man rush 5:28 into the opening period. Keegan Lowe made the initial breakout pass and Brad Malone slid it across the slot for the goal on a one-timer, each player picking up an assist on the play.
Cracknell evened the score for San Diego as he converted a rebound opportunity off a shot from Larsson. Max Comtois forced a turnover with an aggressive forecheck behind the Bakersfield net and Larsson got the loose puck first, firing a low shot from the corner of the zone. The puck bounced off a stick in front of the net and right to Cracknell, who buried the rebound to pull the Gulls even with 4:57 remaining in the first period.
Bakersfield reclaimed the lead just 52 seconds later as Gambardella’s shot deflected off the post in, putting the Condors ahead 2-1 with 4:05 left in the opening frame.
Ethan Bear extended the lead to 3-1 as he finished off a one-timer on a pass from Josh Currie. With the goal, Bear has scored in back-to-back games, his first two professional playoff goals.
Evan Bouchard took an interference penalty that gave the Gulls their second power play of the game, ultimately leading to San Diego's second goal. Steel prevented a turnover at the blue line and got the puck to Cracknell who threw a pass across the ice after fighting off two Condors defenders. Kalle Kossila took the puck and fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot and the puck found its way past Starrett for a goal on an odd angle 5:23 into the second period.
It took just 11 seconds from the following faceoff for San Diego to tie the game with another goal. Sherwood found a puck that came loose in the corner and wasted no time in shooting it on net. The wrist shot beat Starrett glove side to bring the game to an even score. The back-to-back scores marks the fastest two goals in Gulls postseason history and the two fastest goals by a single team in the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.
While on the power play, Andy Welinski scored San Diego’s third goal over the span of 2:47 during the second period. With Caleb Jones sitting in the box for slashing, Cracknell passed the puck out to Welinski from the corner of the rink. Welinski wound up for a slap shot and gave the Gulls their first lead of the game. The goal set a new club record for the three fastest goals to surpass the previous mark of 3:08 set in Game 1 of the First Round, Apr. 17 vs. San Jose.
Gambardella completed a hat trick with his third goal of the evening after putting home a rebound that came loose on a shot by David Gust. The score marked Gambardella’s first career postseason hat trick while Tyler Benson also picked up an assist on the play to make it a 4-4 game after 40 minutes.
Entering the third period, the Gulls would regain the lead on their first shift of the final frame. Jaycob Megna’s point shot was blocked, the puck bounced to Street at the side of the net, who found a wide-open Corey Tropp in front of the net. Tropp faked to his forehand before sliding the puck between Skinner’s legs, putting the Gulls ahead 5-4 just 34 seconds into the third period.
With the Gulls now protecting a one-goal advantage, two of San Diego’s rookies teamed up to extend the lead. Sherwood got to a loose puck just inside the San Diego offensive zone, and turned down right wing before setting up Steel for a one-timer on the backdoor. Steel slammed home Sherwood’s pass for his fourth goal of the postseason, extending San Diego’s lead to 6-4 with 12:49 still to play in the third period.
Bakersfield pulled back within a goal as a point shot deflected off Malone and past Glass, cutting San Diego’s lead to 6-5 with 9:00 remaining in regulation.
The Condors tied the game with 10.5 seconds left in regulationas a bouncing puck made its way to Tyler Benson at the side of the net, sending the game to overtime for the second time this series. The goal with the empty net marked their first of the 2018-19 regular season or playoffs with an extra attacker.
Overtime wouldn't last long as the first minute saw Bakersfield claw back into the series and avoid a 3-0 deficit. Lagesson took a long wrist shot that beat Glass over the glove, giving the Condors the 7-6 victory.
“This time of year, there’s not a whole lot of rah-rah speeches and there’s not a whole lot of kicking garbage cans and yelling and screaming either,” said Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins. “All of these guys know what they need to do. They’re a fairly even-keeled group and they’ve responded well all year.”