Condors Come Back, Take Game 2 In Overtime
May 23, 2021Seth Griffith scored the game-winning overtime goal as the San Diego Gulls dropped Game 2 of the Pacific Division Semifinals 3-2 to the Bakersfield Condors tonight at Mechanics Bank Arena. The win evened the best-of-three series at a game apiece and forced a decisive Game 3 tomorrow night in Bakersfield.
“We’ve got less than 24 hours and we know we’ve got our hands full,” said Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen. “It’s been a very competitive series. That’s the way it is. Both teams have played a lot of hockey the last three days. We just put the skates on and get right back at it here.”
Griffth scored the decisive goal just 49 seconds into the overtime session. San Diego turned the puck over in the neutral zone, leading to an odd-man rush for the Condors. Former Gull Adam Cracknell fed the puck to Griffith, who snapped a shot past the lunging blocker of a sliding Lukas Dostal to net the game-winning tally.
"We want to get pucks deep and we had the opportunity right there at the offensive blue line," Dineen said. "We tried to make a little better play than we needed at that time and it ended up in our net. Those are the kinds of things you want to get out of your system, those little details that make a difference in the end."
Much like in Game 1, Bakersfield came out strong early on its home ice but couldn’t solve Dostal for the game’s opening goal. With the Condors on a power play six minutes into the action, James Hamblin took a pass from Tyler Benson right in front of the net and tried to beat Dostal with a quick shot, but the rookie netminder flashed his glove to keep the score level.
For the second straight game, San Diego opened the scoring. Simon Benoit activated from his point position to collect the puck along the left-wing wall. The third-year Gull swept a pass towards Benoit-Olivier Groulx on the backdoor. The rookie center stopped the puck with his skate and slammed it home, giving the Gulls a 1-0 lead 8:21 into the first period.
The goal marked Groulx’s first career American Hockey League postseason point. Alex Limoges also earned his first career playoff point with an assist.
Three minutes later, Cooper Marody tied the game for Bakersfield. Cracknell got to a loose puck behind the net and chipped it in front where Marody was waiting. The AHL 2020-21 regular season’s leading goal scorer beat Dostal with a quick wrist shot to even the score.
San Diego reclaimed the lead before the end of the opening frame after a hard working shift in the Bakersfield zone. Nikolas Brouillard fed the puck to Trevor Carrick at the point, who snuck his point shot through the screen of Jamie Devane in front to put the Gulls back ahead with 4:53 left in the first period.
Brouillard and Axel Andersson each collected their first career AHL postseason point with assists on the go-ahead goal.
The score held throughout the second period, as San Diego clamped down defensively with continuing its offensive pressure. The team looked to nurse its one-goal lead to the finish, but Bakersfield evened the score in the final frame.
A seeing-eye shot from Theodor Lennstrom worked its way through a mass of bodies and found Luke Esposito in front. The Condors foward tipped the puck past Dostal for his first goal of the series.
The Gulls netminder finished with 34 saves on 37 shots in the loss. Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots - including 21 over the final two periods - to grab the win.
Puck drops on the decisive Game 3 tomorrow at 6 p.m. PT on AHL TV and the Gulls Audio Network.