Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Dennis Rasmussen scored the game-winning goal with over two minutes left in overtime as the San Diego Gulls (25-17-1-0) completed a 3-2 comeback victory over the San Jose Barracuda (21-18-2-3) Saturday afternoon at the SAP Center.

After successfully killing off a Barracuda power play that transferred over from the third period, Rasmussen was able to skate down the left wing on a 2-on-1 opportunity and was able to beat Cuda goalie Troy Grosenick (5-8-3) with a wrist shot just inside the left post at the 2:41 mark of overtime. It was Rasmussen’s third goal on the season.

There wasn’t much offense generated in a penalty-filled first period that saw neither team convert on their power play chances. The Barracuda had a four-minute advantage when Corey Tropp went into the sin bin for a double-minor high-sticking penalty.

However, an interference penalty by Tim Heed negated Tropp’s penalty. Both combined for only nine shots on goal.

The Barracuda would strike first after a clean faceoff win by Alex True, defenseman Paul Martin sent a shot in from the point that deflected off the skate of Gulls defenseman Steven Olesky right on to the body of Emerson Clark and into the back of net past Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle (14-8-1) for his fifth goal of the season at the 11:15 mark of the second period.

Brandon Bollig gave the Cuda a 2-0 lead when he tapped home a rebound of a Jon Martin shot for his eighth goal on the season. The goal came on a 2-on-1 opportunity created by Martin at the Gulls blueline at the 16:52 mark of the second period. Michael Brodzinski received the secondary assist.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Bollig, after ending his long scoring draught. “Droughts like that are gonna happen. Unfortunately, it lasted a little longer than I would’ve liked. We could use that extra scoring and that’s what I’m looking to keep going.”

San Diego wouldn’t go quietly into that good afternoon as Kevin Roy would cut the lead early in the third period when the Cuda turned over the puck in the neutral zone. Sam Carrick was able to feed Roy open along the left boards and he was able to skate in and rifle a shot past Grosenick for his ninth goal of the season at the 3:08 mark.

The Gulls would tied the score just 87 seconds later as Carrick skated into the Cuda zone and his shot deflected off a skate right into the hands of Eric Fehr, who buried it past Grosenick for his 14th goal on the season at the 4:35 mark.

“A two minute burst, they score a couple of goals,” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We kinda were back on our heels a bit.”

Things would get nasty when Mike Liambas landed a vicious elbow to the upper body of an unsuspecting Marcus Sorensen five and half minutes into the third period. Sorensen would leave the ice under his own power. The hit lit a spark under the Cuda as the hitting picked up by both teams in the final 10 minutes of the third period.

The Cuda had scoring chances late in the third period and early in the overtime, but were the victims of bad luck as they hit two posts with a puck rolling just past the goal into the corner.

“We had some point blankers,” said Sommer. “We hit a cross bar, hit two posts. Hey I liked the way we played. I wish we had a better outcome. We play like that, we’re going to win a lot more (games) than we lose.”

Boyle had a busy afternoon making 37 saves on 39 shots for the victory. Grosenick, arguably the most hard luck goaltender in the AHL, made 21 saves on 24 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams were 0/4 on the power play.

San Diego came into the game with the best power play in the AHL at over 24%, with a 38% success rate against San Jose.

The announced attendance was 3,162.

UP NEXT: San Jose looks for revenge Sunday afternoon against the San Diego Gull at SAP Center. Face off is scheduled for noon PT.