BAKERSFIELD, Calif – The Tucson Roadrunners once again fell to the Bakersfield Condors 2-1 on Saturday night. With the regulation loss, the Tucson failed to capture a critical standings point in the race for a spot in the upcoming Calder Cup Playoffs.
“I thought our effort to the end was definitely there,” Roadrunners forward Colin Theisen said after the game. “It’s playoff hockey out there and we knew it was going to be hard. Both games were pretty low scoring.”
Tucson remains at 67 points on the season and at seventh in the Pacific Division with just a handful of games remaining in the AHL regular season. The loss also surrendered two points to sixth place Bakersfield (69 points) who now look to chase Ontario Reign out of fifth.
The mood for Saturday night’s game would be set early on, as Condors forward Dylan Holloway gave Bakersfield the lead just 12 seconds into the game. Bakersfield would hold onto that lead for the much of the game, even adding an extra buffer goal from Rafael Lavoie just nine minutes later.
Tucson was able to capture a slight bit of momentum ending the first, extending into the second, with a scrum that led to several misconducts and a five-minute major towards Bakersfield. It wasn’t until halfway through the second, however, when the Roadrunners finally got on the board with center Jean-Sebastien Dea cutting the deficit in half.
“It’s always nice to help the team offensively,” Jean-Sebastien Dea said. “It was a nice play by the whole line and nice to get rewarded.
Both teams tightened up to end the game, with the score remaining put though the final 30 minutes. Tucson leaves their weekend stop in Bakersfield having only captured a single point.
The Roadrunners have a chance to make some ground in the playoff, however. They will bus down to their next stop in Henderson as they face a ninth place Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday.