Photo from sarampage.com
The San Antonio Rampage spent the first glorious five days of the 2017-18 season in first place. That ended Thursday night in Bakersfield as the Condors edged the Rampage 5-4.
Samuel Blais (2-1-3) and Andrew Agozzino (1-2-3) led the way for the Rampage (1-1-0), but it wasn’t enough as the Rampage had defensive issues all night and couldn’t keep Brad Malone (2g) and David Gust (2g) off the scoresheet. The Rampage made a late push, pulling to within one with just under four minutes to play, but couldn’t get that tying goal past Condors netminder Eddie Pasquale.
The deciding goal ended up being Patrick Russel’s short-handed tally at 15:12 of the third. The Rampage got caught being aggressive while on the power play and couldn’t get back in time to stop Russel from picking up his own rebound and beating Ville Husso.
Streamables – (Courtesy of Nathan Rudolph @AvalancheReview)
Rampage 1 – Condors 0
1st Period (8:04) SA Gabriel Bourque (1) ASST: Klim Kostin (1)
Rampage 1 – Condors 1
1st Period (17:12) BAK Brad Malone (1) ASST: Joey LaLeggia (1) Jesse Puljujarvi (2)
Rampage 2 – Condors 1
1st period (19:35) – SA Andrew Agozzino (1) ASST: Samuel Blais (1)
Rampage 2 – Condors 2
2nd period (3:07) – BAK David Gust (1) ASST: Ryan Mantha (1) Dillon Simpson (1)
Rampage 2 – Condors 3
2nd period (5:03) – BAK Brad Malone (2) ASST: Ethan Bear (1) Joey LaLeggia (2)
Rampage 2 – Condors 4
2nd period (11:32) – BAK David Gust (2) ASST: Joe Gambardella (1) Ryan Mantha (2)
Rampage 3 – Condors 4
2nd period (17:24) – SA Samuel Blais (2) ASST: Andrew Agozzino (2) David Warsofsky (1)
Rampage 3 – Condors 5
3rd period (15:12) – BAK Patrick Russell (1) ASST: Brad Malone (1) SH
Rampage 4 – Condors 5
3rd period (16:44) – SA Samuel Blais (3) ASST: Andrew Agozzino (3) Jordan Schmaltz (1)
The Good
- Samuel Blais is legit. Picks up a multiple point game and his second period goal was a thing of absolute beauty.
- Andrew Agozzino is BACK, ladies and gentlemen!
The Bad
- The complete lack of scoring punch from anyone not named Blais or Agozzino. If this team is going to compete, the secondary scorers need to…score.
The Ugly
- Defensive zone coverage on the goals allowed. The Condors 4th goal contained approximately 13 breakdowns on defense and Malone’s second goal was on a 3rd rebound in front of Husso.
- The second period, just as it was last year, remains a nightmare for the Rampage, getting outscored 3-1.
The Rampage return to game action Saturday afternoon in San Jose, facing the Barracuda for the first time this season. Puck drop is at 3:15pm CT and the game can be heard on Ticket760 or streamed on AHL Live.