Bakersfield was again able to jump out to an early lead, potting a pair of goals within the first seven minutes of regulation. Valentin Zykov would cut that advantage in half midway through the frame with a quick wrister, but the Condors would nab the next two tallies to reestablish their lead. Sergey Tolchinsky gave the Checkers a sign of life heading into the third period with a late breakaway conversion, but Bakersfield again snuffed out their comeback hopes. After a trio of goals in the final frame, the Condors skated away with a lopsided 7-2 victory.
Quotes
Head coach Ulf Samuelsson on his team’s lack of offense:
“Not cashing in on our chances, and they cashed in early and got the energy. We kind of pushed, but we didn’t push in a smart way. We took too many chances and they played really well on their rushes.”
Samuelsson on the team’s goaltending:
“We do have a game plan and we know areas that they need to improve on. They’re two young goaltenders that are trying to find their footing in this league. We’ve just got to go back to work here tomorrow and try to make them better.”
Samuelsson on fatigue from a busy last two weeks:
“It’s the same for both teams and depends on how your schedule looked heading into it, but it is a very short rest period between Saturday night and the Sunday matinee here. It’s part of our business.”
Samuelsson on the team’s defensive play:
“There are a few things that we did well. We did create a lot of scoring chances but we’re not quite connecting on those last, telling plays. Defensively was mostly on the rush over this week where we weren’t reacting quick enough. It’s not so much effort, because if you’re behind one or two strides you can’t make it up. You’ve got to recognize where you are and what position you need to have.”
Samuelsson on Sergey Tolchinsky finding the back of the net:
“He’s healthy now and he’s going to be a valuable player for us. That’s always good going down the stretch.”
Trevor Carrick on slow starts:
“It was a slow start for us and we’ve got to come out stronger and have a better first period. Coming out and letting up two or three goals, we’re just chasing for the rest of the game and are having trouble getting those goals back. I don’t know if we have to prepare better for the game or come out stronger, but I think the starts are killing us right now.”
Carrick on fatigue from a busy last two weeks:
“It’s a long season and there’s no excuses there. Every team has the same schedule and those 6 o’clock to 1 o’clock games get you, but we’ve got to figure out a way to come out stronger and have a better start. It’s a long season and this is when the good teams come to play.”
Carrick on the team’s takeaways from the weekend:
“I thought the last two games we played solid as a team. Obviously our starts weren’t great, but in the third period last night I thought we were all over them and had trouble putting the puck in the net. We carried that on to today’s game and I thought it was a better game for us and we still had lots of chances, we just couldn’t really bear down.”
