Heat Playoff Post-Game: Stockton’s back to back wins put Bakersfield a game away from elimination
1 year ago
The Stockton Heat and Bakersfield Condors continued their playoff series on Wednesday night after the Heat were victorious in game one on Tuesday. The back end of this mid-week back to back was a tighter final score but ultimately, finished with the same result with the Heat coming out on top. They take a 2-0 lead in their best of five-game series with a 3-2 win over the Condors.
Keeping it close
The Heat didn’t get out to quite the same start they had in game one, but still managed to avoid trailing the entire game. The first period was pretty tight on both ends with no pucks sneaking past either goaltender. Shots finished up 8-7 in favour of Bakersfield after the 20 minute frame.
In the second period, some scoring kicked off starting with Alex Gallant. Gallant scored his first goal in the postseason by picking off a sloppy pass in the Condors zone and burying it.
Just over four minutes later, Bakersfield answered back on the power play with a deadly deflection that Dustin Wolf had next to no chance on.
That finished up most of the dramatics of the second period with the exception of a few whistles and penalties here and there. Nothing that resulted in any further damage to the scoreboard. After two, they were tied up at one and Stockton pulled ahead in shots 18-14.
Just 39 seconds into the third, Stockton struck again. This time by Nick DeSimone. This was a clear example of just getting the puck on net and judging off the celebration alone, the whole team felt how big of a goal this was.
Their celebration was cut short, however, as the Condors answered back just 30 seconds later. Two Heat players were in front of the net and Devin Brosseau of the Condors was able to get a stick on the loose puck and get it past the Heat skaters and netminder. It was a quick momentum killer but didn’t last too long.
7:02 into the third period, Emilio Pettersen went on to score what was the game-winning goal. Condors goaltender, Stuart Skinner misplayed the puck and Pettersen made him pay for it with a play that ultimately cost the Condors the game.
Later in the third, Bakersfield made their last-minute attempt at evening things up again by pulling their goalie with 2:27 to go in regulation. They were only able to get one last shot on Dustin Wolf and he turned that away and secured the win.
The Heat won 3-2 in regulation and outshot their opponents 28-24.
Clutch performers
Emilio Pettersen had another huge night for the Heat. Not only did he score the game-winner, but actually scored the game-winner on back to back nights. His play has been very hard to miss and he stands out as one of the Heat’s MVPs in this series so far. In this game, he earned the first star with one goal, two shots and a +1 rating.
Another Heat standout was Dustin Wolf. It’s no secret he will need to be a workhorse through playoffs and the nature of shorter series do not give him much of a chance to take a night off even when they are up and one game away from eliminating their opponent.
Wolf stopped 22/24 Bakersfield shots in this game and continued to play with the poise and confidence he has brought to his game all year.
Elimination potential
Could be a quick series for the Flames and Oilers affiliated AHL teams as the Heat’s 2-0 series record puts the Condors a game away from elimination. This series could come to a close as soon as Friday night where game three will take place in Bakersfield. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. MT.
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