By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit San Jose Barracuda: Barracuda celebrate on home ice at SAP Center after clinching for a playoff spot in 6-0 win over the Stockton Heat on Sunday

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Sunday afternoon’s contest at the SAP Center was do-or-die for the San Jose Barracuda. The math was simple; earning a single point from the game would put them in the Calder Cup Playoffs in their inaugural season. Losing in regulation meant the Charlotte Checkers would move over to the Western Conference, taking the final spot by virtue of a higher points-percentage.

“To be honest with you, I was a nervous wreck all day,” added Barracuda coach Roy Sommer.

With everything at stake, coach Roy Sommer’s charges responded to the pressure with a dominant 5-0 blanking of the visiting Stockton Heat.

“It’s hard to get into the playoffs,” said Sommer. “It means your team has to be doing something right.”

6 different players scored, and Jeremey Morin, Nikolay Goldobin and Jeremy Langlois notched multi-point games for playoff bound Barracuda (31-26-8-3). Aaron Dell made 41 saves for his 4^th shutout of the season, denying the Stockton Heat (32-32-2-2) an opportunity to play spoiler.

“We could have gone with Grosenick today,” said Sommer. “(Dell) is the one who earned where he’s sitting right now. I went back with him and I thought he was excellent tonight.”

Barracuda forward Barclay Goodrow must have been taken notes on his sometimes-teammate with the San Jose Sharks Joe Pavelski. Goodrow opened the game’s scoring 5:11 into play on an identical move to the Shark’s captain’s game-winning goal in the opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs against Los Angeles.

Goodrow skated with the puck behind the Heat net, turned the corner around the cage and about-faced to square up with the goal. The winger elevated the puck past Stockton goaltender Nick Schneider for his 20^th tally, moving him into a tie with Nikolay Goldobin for the team lead at that time. The tandem of former Ivy League defenseman Gus Young and Joakim Ryan assisted on the goal.

“I thought he was one of our better players tonight,” said Sommer. “He played heavily, went to the net, did a lot of good things.”

San Jose struck once again 1:28 later on tenacious work along the board by Jeremy Langlois. The hard-nosed winger took puck along the boards behind Schneider’s right shoulder while avoiding being checked off the puck. From there, Langlois dropped the puck along the wall to Goldobin. Goldobin slid the puck back to Langlois who had peeled off into the slot for a one-timer. Langlois ripped the puck past Schneider for his 12^th of the campaign.

“You could sense it in the dressing room,” said Sommer. “The intensity in the dressing room. The first ten minutes meant business.”

The Barracuda added a pair of goals in the 2^nd period with the first strike coming on a piece of smooth passing from the San Jose captain. Bryan Lerg took a puck to Schneider’s right and slid it to a crashing Trevor Parkes. Parkes redirected the puck past Schneider’s left toe for his 18^th goal of the season and 3^rd of the weekend to put San Jose up 3-0 12:54 into the period.

Goldobin wrestled the scoring lead away from Goodrow just outside the final minute of the period. The Russian winger lifted a puck over Schneider that sent the keeper’s water bottle soaring for a commanding 4-0 lead. Langlois (1g, 1a) and Jeremey Moring (2a) picked up their second points of the evening, assisting on Goldobin’s 21^st goal of the year.

“It’s hard to score 20 goals in the American League as a vet, let alone a rookie,” said Sommer. “The talent is coming to the forefront with him. Other coaches are saying ‘Man, that 82 is something.’”

Morin notched his 3^rd point of the game on his 16^th goal of the season, giving the Barracuda plenty of distance in the opening minutes of the 3^rd period.

Noted pugilist Alex Gallant used his hands for something other than fighting, netting his first career AHL goal with 29.4 second remaining in the 3^rd. Jordan Sims assisted on the goal for his first point with the Barracuda.

By virtue of earning the final spot in the big dance, the Barracuda will face off against Los Angeles Kings affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The Kings AHL affiliate in 2015, the Manchester Monarchs, took home the Calder Cup last season before LA bumped Ontario up from the ECHL. The Barracuda went 3-6-3 against Ontario in the season series.

“We played them pretty hard all year,” said Sommer. “We played really tight. They haven’t been blowouts by any means.”

“They’ve had our number all year,” added forward Trevor Parkes. “But every game has been a one-goal game. We’ve got all week to prepare.”