Stewart, Freeman lift Condors
-
1 of 4By Henry A. Barrios / The Californian
The Condors # 83 Jacob Lagace and Utah's # 15 Gaelan Patterson chase down the puck in the 1st period of their Wednesday night game.
click to collapse -
2 of 4By Henry A. Barrios / The Californian
The Bakersfield Condors celebrate after scoring a 1st period goal against Utah Wednesday night.
click to collapse -
3 of 4By Henry A. Barrios / The Californian
The Condors #25 Jake Morley tries to redirect a rebound coming off of Utah's goalkeeper in the 1st period Wednesday night.
click to collapse -
4 of 4By Henry A. Barrios / The Californian
The Condors # 12 Deron Cousens takes control of the puck in their game against Utah Wednesday night.
click to collapse
BY MIKE GRIFFITH Californian staff writer mgriffith@bakersfield.com
The Condors did what they had to on Wednesday night to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Brian Stewart stopped 42 shots in 65 minutes of hockey then stopped all five Utah shooters he faced in a shootout as the Condors beat the Grizzlies 2-1 at Rabobank Arena.
"Stewy was great," Condors coach Matt O'Dette said. "He has been all season, especially the last month or so. This is his time of year, when he steps up his game and he was great tonight."
It was a much needed win for the Condors but 250 miles to the north, the San Francisco Bulls were doing their best to keep the Condors in their rear-view mirror.
The Bulls moved a step closer to eliminating Bakersfield from playoff contention with a 7-2 win in Stockton. San Francisco's magic number for clinching is six points.
The Condors have seven games remaining while the Bulls have eight. Bakersfield and San Francisco meet two more times, but not until the final week of the season.
No matter what the Condors do, they are going to have to have some help from other teams beating San Francisco to make those games meaningful.
"We just have to win. And win, win, win," O'Dette said. "I don't know what the calculations are. We're just going to leave the scoreboard be and take care of our own business."
Ensuring the Condors took care of their business on Wednesday night were Scott Freeman and Stewart.
Freeman opened the scored 11:09 into the game with a power-play goal and he finished it as the lone player among nine skaters to score in the shootout.
"It was big," Freeman said of the win. "We just have to take it one game at a time. We have Utah on Friday. Every point is huge now. We got two tonight and we need two on Friday."
Bakersfield nursed the early 1-0 until Utah's leading scorer, Colin Vock, tied the game on his 23rd goal 6:38 into the third.
Stewart and Utah goaltender Ben Meisner, making his pro debut, combined to stop 77 shots.
"I thought we played a helluva a lot better than the last game against Ontario (a 1-0 loss on Saturday night," Stewart said. "Their goalie played great for his first pro game, coming out of college. I thought we both played good. Me and the goalie at the other end."
Notes
Condors goaltender Scott Geenham will loaned to the St. Johns (Newfoundland) IceCaps of the American Hockey League today. "We want our guys called up and (Greenham) obviously deserves it," Condors coach Matt O'Dette said. "He's getting recognition for his play."
Greenham is the third player to go the AHL this season. The others were forward Jacob Lagace and Nicholas Tremblay.
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
The death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva immediately following his apparent beating Wednesday by Kern County law enforcement officers raises questions that have been asked in Bakersfield many times before -- questions about the use of deadly force by police.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by...
Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.
About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality.
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
The death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva immediately following his apparent beating Wednesday by Kern County law enforcement officers raises questions that have been asked in Bakersfield many times before -- questions about the use of deadly force by police.
A war of words erupted Friday over video footage taken of David Sal Silva’s deadly encounter with law enforcement officers.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by deputies.