TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

There's still a buzz in the air from the line brawl during Saturday night's hockey game at Rabobank Area, which was evident Tuesday afternoon on a Bakersfield sidewalk.

Condors coach Matt O'Dette, assistant coach Kevin Barrett and team president Matthew Riley were walking back to the office after a meda gathering when a gentleman emerged from a store and said "keep on fighting."

The line brawl between the Condors and Ontario Reign with 1:18 left and eventually involved both goaltenders (which was shown on ESPN), generated national blogs and videos posted on YouTube have had more than 175,000 views.

"I'm glad everyone is having fun with it," said O'Dette, who was ejected from the game with five seconds left. "You just don't see (line brawls) in the game that much any more. When you see something like this it's big news."

The Condors were clearly the frustrated team, losing 5-1, when Bakersfield power forward Ian McKenzie leveled Kevin Estrada, who had his head down and was trying to come out from behind the net. That resulted in several Ontario players reacting and the Condors were more than willing to take the battle to the next level.

"Guys have been frustrated the way things have been going and (the opportunity to fight as a team) was right up our alley at that point in time," O'Dette said. "Sometimes it's nice to get the frustration out. It gives the guys a chance to stick up for each other."

Goaltender Bryan Pitton, featured in the ESPN clip in his fray with Jean-Francois Berube, was initially trying to be a peacemaker.

"At first I was just trying to be the mediator then I skated to center ice where there (where three Ontario players were taking on two Condors). The ref told me to get out of there, I didn't think that was right."

So Pitton grabbed an Ontario player and just tried to pull him off the pile, which brought Berube into the picture.

"The next hing I know (Berube, who had tossed off his helmet) he's got me by the jersey," said Pitton, who started swinging away without taking off his own helmet. "He's got me by the shirt, I didn't even think about taking off the helmet, just protecting myself. You just start swinging."

The melee contributed to a Condors record 278 combined penalty minutes but only a couple of automatic suspensions -- one to Estrada and the other to Bakersfield's Tyson Gimblett (that from another bout with five seconds left) for being the aggressors.

But with the fun and games of that night fading in the rearview mirror, the Condors are focusing on a daunting task-- trying to put some wins together and climb back into the playoff picture.

The Condors are 17 points out of a playoff position with just 28 games remaining.

"If we want to make a push for the playoffs we need to start (tonight)," said center Robby Dee, who has 18 points in 23 games with Bakersfield since being acquired in a trade on Dec. 1. "To catch a team in front of us is going to take a lot of hard work .

The Condors will be helped by the return of speedy forwards Peter Boyd and Chris Kushneruik, both coming back from concussions.

"We have to make a dent in the deficit and the guys coming off the IR will give us a boost," O'Dette said. "Come March, we want to have the playoffs within reach. There's no question we have to start winning and getting points each and every night."