Jack Campbell in dire straits as Olivier Rodrigue stars for Condors

It's not exactly been a great time for Jack Campbell this season. Hoping to rebound from his worst campaign in the NHL, this season started off even worse in Edmonton.

As a result, the Oilers placed Campbell on waivers and after he cleared, he was assigned to Bakersfield to work on his game (and confidence). Unfortunately for the goalie, things have gone just as badly with the Condors.

The 31-year-old has arguably only had two strong performances in 10 starts for the Condors. He has allowed four+ goals in six of those starts and overall has a 0.888 save percentage and 3.46 Goals Against Average (GAA).

The breaking point came in Campbell's last outing, versus the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He allowed four goals on just 21 shots -- three of which he was to blame for -- and was pulled just past the halfway point of the contest.

During a subsequent interview on Sports 1440 with Jason Gregor, Condors coach Colin Chaulk didn't exactly give his embattled goaltender a ringing endorsement. In fairness to Chaulk he was trying to be positive, but his comments still shed light on how bad things are right now for Campbell.

In any event, the Condors made the decision to give Olivier Rodrigue two of the next three starts. This included Wednesday night's tough encounter versus the Calgary Wranglers, who are top of the Pacific Division and had already beaten the Condors twice this season.

As if to reinforce how poorly Campbell has been overall, Rodrigue performed tremendously versus the Wranglers. He stopped 38 of the 40 shots he faced, took home the game's Second Star, and helped the Condors win 4-2.

The 23-year-old's outing proved crucial in providing the Condors some much-needed stability and confidence. It provided the platform for building a 3-0 lead after just 2:39 of the second period.

Even when the Wranglers did finally manage to score, the two goals both came with the man advantage. In total the visitors had seven power plays on the night, but Rodrigue held firm on the other five occasions.

The Condors did not secure the win until they scored a fourth goal with just 34 seconds remaining in the game, courtesy of an empty-netter. With them being outshot 40-31 overall, there is no denying how much Rodrigue contributed to the win.

Chaulk was extremely happy with Rodrigue's performance. Speaking to the media postgame, he said:

He definitely earned his pay check tonight. There were a lot of guys blocking shots, but your best penalty killer is your goaltender and he blocked a lot of them as well tonight.

As for Rodrigue himself, he was asked by the media about how he dealt with the different stages of the game, i.e. the times when he had little to do versus facing plenty of action in front of his net. He said:

I just want to be ready anytime. Even if the puck is in the other zone you have to be ready. The next shot might be a good scoring chance, so just be ready, stay focused and focus on the next puck.

As a whole, Rodrigue now has a 3-2-1 record in seven appearances this season, with a 0.938 save percentage and 2.14 GAA. His overall play only puts even more pressure on Campbell to somehow, some way find a way to play better.

Despite the win the Condors remain bottom in the Pacific Division, although it is worth pointing out they have at least four games in hand on every team above them in the standings. Next up they will host the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday night, with puck drop set for 7:00 pm.