Bakersfield Condors Ben Malone (#17), Seth Griffith (#39), Drake Caggiula (#9) celebrate with Ben Gleason (#6) who scored a goal against the San Jose Barracuda at Mechanics Bank Arena on Saturday JAN 13, 2024. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Bakersfield Condors scored two goals in the first period en route to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose has lost five games in a row and three straight against the Condors. Bakersfield has won four games in a row and have points in nine straight games (7-0-1-1).

Bakersfield (15-10-1-2) drew first blood with an even strength goal early in the first period. A shot from the point by Philip Broberg went off the skate of Nikolai Knyzhov and onto the stick of Alex Peters who beat ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona with a wrist shot for his third goal of the season at the 5:44 mark.

The Condors doubled its lead on the power play late in the opening frame. Lane Pederson sent a pass through a sea of traffic over to Raphael Lavoie who lasered in a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season at the 14:27 mark.

San Jose (11-18-5-0) registered 11 shots on net in the first 20 minutes of play but didn’t have anything to show for it on the scoreboard thanks to the play of Condor’s goalie Jack Campbell.

Ben Gleason kept his goal streak alive when he blasted a slapshot past a screened Chrona for his seventh goal of the season at the 17:51 mark of the second period. Gleason has scored a goal in his fifth straight game and has four of his seven goals have come against the ‘Cuda. Drake Caggiula picked up the primary assist on the goal.

The Barracuda’s best scoring chance in the middle frame came on a 3-on-1 short-handed chance led by Shakir Mukhamadullin. However, Ethan Cardwell’s shot from the slot was stoned away by Campbell.

San Jose ended Campbell’s shutout bid with a power play goal to begin the third period. On the back end of a double-minor to Matvey Petrov that occurred late in the second period, Jack Studnicka centered a pass through the crease and Dani Gushchin scored into an open net with a one-timer for his team leading 13th goal of the season at the 1:38 mark.

San Jose cut the deficit to a one-goal game late in the period. Nathan Todd sent a pass back up to the point where Leon Gawanke blasted a slapshot past Campbell for his eighth goal of the season at the 13:28 mark.

Campbell (6-6-0-1) finished the game stopping 33 of the 35 shots he faced to earn his sixth victory of the season. Chrona (4-9-3), who made back-to-back starts, made 28 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Bakersfield was 1-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gleason  2) Peters 3) Lavoie.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels back east to begin a two-game series with the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday 1/17 at 4:00pm at Bojangles Coliseum.