Bakersfield Back To Their Winning Ways (10/18/21)

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - He was far from his best on Saturday night but Stuart Skinner was in prime form on Sunday night as he stopped all 34 shots he faced as the Bakersfield Condors beat San Jose 1-0.

That, along with a 4-3 win over Abbotsford on Saturday night, gave the Condors a 2-0 start for the first time in their American Hockey League history (this is their seventh season).

Skinner, drafted in the third round in 2017 by the Edmonton Oilers, led the AHL last year in wins with 20 and was impressive earlier this season in the Oilers’ training camp.

Despite a less-than-impressive outing on Saturday (19 saves on 22 shots, a .864 save percentage) Condors coach Jay Woodcroft sent him back in net less than 24 hours later.

"I look at Stuart Skinner’s development as one of my No. 1 priorities as head coach of this hockey team," Woodcroft said. "Stuart has a body of work over three years that speaks for itself."

"He did a heck of a job in training camp and we just felt like it was the right call to put him back in. He paid us back in spades."

The Condors generated an AHL team record low of just 15 shots but Seth Griffith’s power-play goal late in the second period proved to be just enough offense.

"I think coming down here, I was playing some preseason games up in the NHL and it was a little different type of game," Skinner said. "[Saturday] the guys just battled really hard in front of me. [Sunday] I just felt more comfortable in the net. I Just felt better [Sunday]."

Skinner almost proved to be his worst enemy midway through the third period when he played the puck behind his own net and his attempted clearing pass up the middle ended up on the stick of a Barracuda who was looking at an empty net.

"I heard 'hard' from my guys which means go on the glass,” Skinner said. "But I decided to get fancy with it and go up the middle. I fanned on it, didn’t get my full piece onto it and it went right onto his tape. Lucky enough, (Devin) Brosseau was right in front of him and made a huge block. That was a game saver."

It was just one of numerous blocks by the Condors in an attempt to keep the Barracuda offensive at bay.

"The amount of blocks we had tonight from Kemper (Phil Kemp), Vinney (Desharnais), Nimo (Markus Nimelanien), Bro (Philip Broberg) ...every single one of these guys on D blocked so many shots and that’s why we won 1-nothing."

Saturday's Game (vs. Abbotsford)

The night started with the unfurling of the 20-21 Pacific Division Championship banner before dual National Anthems as the Abbotsford Canucks were making their Pacific Division debut.

Veterans played a big role in Bakersfield’s 5-3 win with Adam Cracknell scoring a pair of goals and Seth Griffith registering three assists.

Bakersfield’s young defense contributed offensively with a goal (by Yanni Kaldis, his first in the AHL) and a total of five assists. But there were issues as well - turnovers, losing coverage and struggles to skate the puck out of the zone at times.

"I thought there were good moments for that really young D-corps," Woodcroft said. "They broke the puck out well at times. But then there were some trying moments, some hiccups. And that’s to be expected right now with the  experience we iced today with the seven young D-men there."

"But we’re looking to take steps on a daily basis with that group. Some things you can only learn through experience. I thought they gave us a chance to win."

James Hamblin, who led the Condors in rookie scoring last season (seven in 37 games) recorded the first goal of the season late in the first period to give the Condors a 1-0 lead.

Abbotsford’s Jarid scored Lukosevicius scored two minutes into the second to draw even but Cracknell scored his first of the game at 7:17 to put Bakersfield back on top.

After that it was all Abbotsford as Danila Klimovich and Justin Bailey beat Stuart Skinner to take a 3-2 lead after two.

The Condors came out energized in the third and Kaldis jumped into the play and deposited his first AHL goal from the bottom of the left circle to make it 3-3.

"We won a couple battles on the forecheck and the puck squirted out," Kaldis said of the play. "We had two guys high and their forward didn’t see me so I snuck back door and I got really lucky, it bounced right off the goalie’s pads. Good shot by Griff and I had a pretty open net to shoot at after that."

The Condors made it 4-3 before that goal was announced on the PA as Cracknell scored 39 seconds later. Luke Esposito sealed the win with an empty netter with 10 seconds left.

"It's a character response," Woodcroft said of the Condors coming back in the third. "I think it’s a credit to our leadership in the dressing room. I didn’t think we were awful in the second period but the other team played really well and capitalized on their chances so we found ourselves in a spot. We got to use the full 20 minutes, which we did. Some guys came up with some big plays for us when it counted most. We got that extra save we needed, we got that empty net insurance marker."