HUTSON’S RETURN NOT ENOUGH IN LOSS

Quinn Hutson scored and had two points in his return, but the Bakersfield Condors (13-10-5, 31pts) fell 5-2 to the San Diego Gulls (12-8-7, 31pts) in front of 5,806 at Dignity Health Arena on Saturday. It was Bakersfield’s first Saturday home loss of the season and just their third in regulation (9-3-1).

San Diego made it 1-0 with a shorthanded breakaway on the Condors first power play of the night. Bakersfield would answer on the same man advantage as Hutson (17th) powered a blast home from the left-wing circle from Seth Griffith and Isaac Howard. The Gulls would grab the momentum though with two goals, one on the power play, to take a 3-1 lead after one.

The Gulls extended the lead to 4-1 in the second period on a two-on-one odd man rush.

Atro Leppnanen (3rd) scored off the rush to cut the lead to 4-2, but that was as close as the home side would get. San Diego added an empty-net goal for a 5-2 finish.

Hutson scored in his return and is third in the AHL with 17 goals. He leads all rookies in scoring and has 27 points (15g-12a) in his last 15 games. He is fourth in the AHL scoring race.

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Bakersfield will spend New Year’s Eve in Coachella Valley on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Catch all the action on AM 800 Fox Sports Radio, iHeartRadio App, and on AHLTV on FloHockey by clicking here.