Condors Weekly: Playoff hopes alive as the Condors return home this week

CONDORSTOWN, Calif. – Despite a rough trip to Alaska that saw a sweep at the hands of the Aces, the Bakersfield Condors’ playoff hopes are still alive as the team returns to the Dignity Health home ice to open a four-game home stand. It starts with two matches against Ontario this weekend.

Bakersfield is currently 18-39-2-3 with 41 points in the standings. They trail the 8th place San Francisco Bulls by eight points in the standings. The Bulls have dropped two in a row and have won just three of their last 11 games. Bakersfield has 10 games remaining, with seven on home ice, and will host the Bulls twice in the final week of the regular season.

COMING UP (all times Pacific):
Friday, Mar. 8 vs. Ontario (7 p.m., Rabobank Arena)
Saturday, Mar. 9 vs. Ontario (7 p.m., Rabobank Arena)

LAST WEEK (Home team in CAPS):

Thursday
ALASKA 5 vs. Condors 1

The Aces gave the Condors a rude welcome, exploding for four goals in the opening period and cruising to a 5-1 victory Thursday night. F Peter Boyd scored his team-leading 18th goal for the only offensive output of the night for Bakersfield. G Brian Stewart concluded his red-hot month of February by stopping 30 of 31 Aces shots in relief.

Friday
ACES 2 vs. Condors 1

Aces RW Gary Nunn snapped a 1-1 tie with just under seven minutes left in regulation to give the Aces a 2-1 victory Friday night. F Tyler Maxwell (pictured) scored early in the third to knot the score for Bakersfield, meanwhile G Brian Stewart made 43 saves in the losing effort.

Sunday
ACES 3 vs. Condors 0

Alaska G Gerald Coleman turned aside 20 shots to blank the Condors on Sunday in the series finale. Bakersfield, pressing for the equalizer in the final minutes of the game, surrendered a pair of goals in the last four minutes of regulation to change the face of a one-goal game. G Brian Stewart capped off the weekend with another hard-luck loss, making 40 saves in the game.

NOTES:

G Brian Stewart posted a .944 save percentage and a 2.21 goals against average during the month of February. He appeared in 10 games with a 4-4-0-1 record.
Stewart (pictured) ranks 5th in save percentage in the ECHL since Feb. 1 through last weekend.
Sunday’s game was the first time all season the Condors have been shut out. They have shut out their opposition twice this season.
This weekend’s two-game series against Ontario wraps up a stretch in which the Condors play the Western Conference’s top two teams six consecutive times (three games a piece against Alaska and Ontario).
Seven of the Condors remaining 10 games are on home ice.

LEAGUE LEADERS:

Both Condors goalies are in the top 5 in the ECHL in saves. Brian Stewart is 3rd with 1,174 and Scott Greenham is 5th in the ECHL with 986 saves.
Stewart is 5th in the ECHL with 1,974 minutes played and 9th in the ECHL with a .914 save pct.
F Francis Verreault is 4th in ECHL in rookie scoring with 46 points, and 4th among rookies with 30 assists. Verreault is also 2nd among rookies with 158 shots on goal.
F Peter Boyd is tied for the ECHL lead with five shootout goals.
G Scott Greenham is tied for second in the league lead with five shootout wins and is 2nd with a .962 shootout save percentage (the 1st place goalie has faced just four shootout attempts).
F Brett Lyon is 3rd in the ECHL (and leads all rookies) with 17 major penalties. He is also tied for 2nd among rookies with 147 penalty minutes.
The Condors goaltenders rank 2nd in the ECHL in the shootout with a .818 save percentage.

TEAM LEADERS

Points – F Francis Verreault (46)
Goals – F Peter Boyd (18)
Assists – F Francis Verreault (30)
PIM – F Brett Lyon (147)
+/- – F Nicholas Tremblay (+5) (pictured)

Wins – G Scott Greenham (10)

GAA – G Brian Stewart (3.34)
Sv % – G Brian Stewart (.914)

THIS WEEK:

ZOOperstars & Bobbleheads this weekend!!

Friday, Mar. 8 they welcome the ZOOperstars, sponsored by 101.5 KGFM and Dignity Health. On Saturday, Mar. 9 the first 2,000 fans 12 and under will get a dual bobblehead of goaltending tandem Scott Greenham and Brian Stewart, sponsored by Fox Sports 970 AM and Three-Way Chevrolet-Cadillac.

Tune in to all the action on Fox Sports Radio 970 AM, www.foxsports970am.com or on America One. “Condors Countdown” starts 15 minutes before the drop of the puck.

RENEWALS ARE UNDERWAY!

Renew your season tickets today and take advantage of great benefits, such as the Meet The Team Renewal Party on March 16 and the dollar-a-day merch credit! Call the Condors at 324-PUCK (7825) and speak with your ticket representative, or visit the ST renewal page on the website.