Condors' Comeback Too Little Too Late In Game 1 Loss To Gulls

BAKERSFIELD, California - Down 3-zip with just over 10 minutes remaining on Friday night, it looked pretty much like the Bakersfield Condors were dead in the water in a Pacific Division Semifinal playoff game.

The Condors then scored a pair of quick power-play goals to energize a limited crowd of 1,001, but ultimately came up on the short end of a 5-3 score.

The best-of-three series continues Sunday at 5 p.m. PDT and is a must-win for the Condors. Game 3, if necessary, will take place on Monday.

"Not the result we wanted to get, obviously," Condors coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We wanted to come away with a win today, but we did some very good things."

The Gulls opened up an early 3-0 lead on the strength of goaltender Lukas Dostal and a red-hot power play.

Dostal went right to left seven minutes into the first period to stone a terrific scoring chance by Tyler Benson. Four minutes later Dostal robbed Griffith on a point-blank shot. For good measure, he stopped a quick shot by Cooper Marody with 6:45 left in the period.

Just over a minute later, the Gulls had a 1-0 lead when Sam Carrick tipped a shot from the point on a San Diego power play. Three minutes into the second Carrick had his second of the night as he easily tapped in a gimme into a wide-open net on a tic-tac-toe passing play during a 4-on-3 power play. The Gulls made it 3-for-3 on the power play when Vinni Lettieri’s one-timer from the left circle zipped by Stuart Skinner with 1:17 left in the second.

"I thought in the first period we controlled the bulk of the play, had better chances but were unable to convert," Woodcroft said. "They were able to find success on their power play early in the first period and took it into the second period and went up to a 3-nothing  game. Which meant we were chasing the game. Five on five I liked how we were playing. I thought we had the bulk of the chances."

Condors captain Brad Malone scored a power play goal at 9:34 of the third to get Bakersfield on the board. Former Condor Keegan Lowe went to the penalty box for kneeing at 10:18 and Bakersfield's power play answered quickly with Griffith scoring at 10:26.

But a turnover on a puck retrieval in front of Bakersfield's goal went right on the stick of Andrew Agozzino who sent it past Skinner for a 4-3 Gulls' lead with five minutes remaining.

Woodcroft pulled Skinner with 3:02 left ahead of a face-off in San Diego’s zone. That move paid off as Benson scored with 2:31 left to make it a one-goal game. Skinner was pulled again with 2:01 left, but the Condors could not find the equalizer and Trevor Zegras scored an empty netter with three seconds left to complete the 5-3 final score.

"Between (the second and third period) we decided to make sure that we laid everything on the table," Woodcroft said. "I really liked the push back in the third period. We chipped away and chipped away but at the end of the day when you spot a team three goals it's tough to find a win."

Griffith had a three-point night for Bakersfield (2g, 1a) and defenseman Max Gildon had three assists.

Sam Carrick (2g, 1a) had a three-point night for the Gulls as did Agozzino (1g, 2a).

Dostal stopped 39 shots; Skinner stopped 26.