Bembridge nets two for Idaho, including the game-winner

The Idaho Steelheads (25-14-3) scored four unanswered goals and battled back from a three-goal deficit to defeat the Bakersfield Condors (14-26-6) 4-3 in front of 3,556 fans at the Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. The first period was all Condors, as Matt Pope beat his former Bemidji State teammate for the game?s first goal at 3:59; Mark Derlago and Andrew Ianiero picked up the assists on Pope?s goal. Pope took a backdoor pass from Derlago to beat Climie. Jay Langager made it 2-0 Bakersfield just under two minutes later on the power play; Matt Pope and Chad Painchaud. At 18:13, Bakersfield took a 3-0 lead on a Derlago goal; Pope and Ianiero added the assists. The second period, however, was the exact opposite of the first. Kory Scoran put the Steelheads on the board with his 4th of the season at 3:43 with the Steelheads on a five-on-three power play; Matt Stephenson and Dan Welch, playing in his first game for Idaho, added the assists. Just over three minutes later, Bryan McGregor scored his 16th of the season, assisted by Ben Nelson. Garett Bembridge tied the game at 3-3 with his ninth of the season, and first since returning to the Steelheads from the Iowa Chops (AHL); McGregor and Stephenson assisted. Bembridge scored the only goal of the third period to give the Steelheads a 4-3 lead. His eventual game-winner was assisted by Matt McKnight and Riley Weselowski. However, the victory was secured when Idaho goalie Matt Climie robbed Derlago on a penalty shot with just over a minute remaining in regulation time. Climie stopped 31 of 34 shots in the win as his record improved to 15-8-1. Yutaka Fukufuji suffered the loss and falls to 3-9-1; he stopped 34 of 38 Idaho shots on the evening.