Bulls Look To Snap Four Game Losing Streak: Game Preview
San Francisco Bulls v Ontario Reign, January 31, 2013 – Photos Courtesy of Mike Tkacheff Via the SF Bulls Homepage
The Bulls are stuck in the midst of a four game losing streak as they came up short following an incredible comeback last night against Ontario. Last night, the Bulls worked themselves in to a three goal deficit before making a furious charge in which they scored three goals in the nine minutes of the contest to send the game into overtime. The Bulls then dropped the shoot out in the seventh round falling three to two in the skill competition.
The Bulls welcome the last place Bakersfield Condors to the Cow Palace for two game weekend series. The Bulls come into tonight’s game in eighth place in the western conference with a record of 17-23-7 and eight points ahead of Bakersfield, who are 14-33-5. Bakersfield has only won one out of their last six games. The bring in the league’s worst offense and second worst defense as they average only 2.5 goals for per game and 3.75 goals against per game. This is going to be great news for a Bulls team that seemed to find their legs late in the game last night. The Bulls own the season series over the Condors at 5-2-1.
The Bulls played a much better game than their game on Wednesday. They did dig themselves into a hole, but they managed to battle back and showed much more jump in their game. They got goals from three different players. Dean Ouellet scored his 23rd goal on the season increasing his lead in rookie goal scoring race. They also added goals from Jordan Morrison and Cody Carlson. Christian Ouellet lead all Bulls scorers with two points in the game as he added two assists. Goalie Taylor Nelson played much better last night as he stopped 24 of 27 shots he faced on the night and the stopped 4 of 7 in the shoot out.
The Condors are relatively weak team in the offensive end. They only average 2.5 goals per game and they have only converted on 15.9 percent of their power play opportunities. Despite their lack of depth scoring, Francis Verreault has been their most dangerous player as he has 19 points in just 17 games with the Condors since coming over in a trade with Greenville. He helped out by another impressive rookie in Nicholas Tremblay, who has 21 points in 16 games. The Condors defense has been victimized all season long as they give up 3.75 goals per game. The fact that they only kill off the power play 79.4 percent of the time plays a major role in why they have given up so many goals on the season. They also give up nearly 40 shots per game as they give their opponents too many scoring chances.
Look for the Bulls to bounce back tonight as they get a struggling Condors team on home ice. They looked much stronger offensively in the second half of the game and look for them to take advantage of a weak back end and build some offensive momentum moving forward in the next few game.