By: Eric He

If it were not for Gulls goaltender Matt Hackett, the result might have been different. But the Barracuda were shut down by Hackett on Saturday night in a 4-0 loss to San Diego on the road.

San Jose peppered Hackett with 37 shots on net, but none of them proved true was the goalkeeper stopped them all.

“That was the best performance I’ve ever seen from him,” Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins said on Hackett. “He kept us in the game with some timely saves. Without him we aren’t on the winning end tonight.”

That was not hyperbole. The Barracuda came out firing, putting 17 shots on the goal in the first period. But Hackett was up to the task, while the Gulls slipped two goals past Barracuda goaltender Troy Grosenick. The first goal came from Zac Larraza, who took a rebound off the boards and buried it past Gosenick, and the Gulls also netted one in the final minutes of the period, as Corey Tropp punched home a rebound.

Grosenick wound up allowing four goals on 21 shots. The Barracuda trailed 3-0 after two periods, with the lone second period goal coming from Brassard, who snuck past Patrick McNally and fired one home. San Diego also tallied a goal in the third on the power play to conclude matters.

The Barracuda have now dropped consecutive games to the Gulls after losing to them in a shootout on Friday. They wrap up their six-game road trip against the Condors on Tuesday.