Condors pull away in second period to defeat Wranglers 5–1
Bakersfield turned a one-goal game into a decisive result with three second-period goals, pulling away from Calgary in the opening matchup of the weekend series at the Saddledome.
CALGARY — The Calgary Wranglers dropped the opening game of their weekend series Friday night, falling 5–1 to the Bakersfield Condors at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Bakersfield scored twice in the first period before breaking the game open with three goals in the second, handing Calgary its 15th regulation loss of the season in front of an announced attendance of 3,288.
The Condors opened the scoring at 7:51 of the first period when Seth Griffith recorded his 12th goal of the season, finishing a play set up by Daniel D’Amato and Viljami Marjala. Bakersfield doubled the lead at 12:34, as Max Jones converted on a rush chance with assists from Sam Poulin and Beau Akey.
Calgary responded late in the opening frame. Aydar Suniev scored at 17:21 on the power play, firing home his team-leading fourth power-play goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2–1. Carter King picked up the lone assist on the goal.
The second period proved decisive.
Bakersfield regained control at 9:09 when James Hamblin finished a setup from Poulin and Damien Carfagna to restore a two-goal cushion. Hamblin struck again just over four minutes later at 13:12, scoring his second of the night on an unassisted effort.
The Condors capped the period at 17:49 when Roby Järventie added his 12th goal of the season, pushing the lead to 5–1 heading into the third.
There was no scoring in the final period, as Bakersfield closed out the game defensively.
In goal, Connor Murphy made the start for Calgary and stopped 14 of 19 shots, finishing the night with a .737 save percentage before being relieved late in the second period. Arsenii Sergeev took over for the third and turned aside all six shots he faced, posting a 1.000 save percentage in relief.
The loss dropped Calgary to 15-15-7-2 on the season, while Bakersfield improved to 20-10-6, continuing to solidify its position near the top of the Pacific Division.
The two teams will meet again Sunday afternoon to close the weekend set, with puck drop scheduled for 1:00 p.m. MT.