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By Marko Ukalovic

Josef Korenar was back to his All-Star form in stopping all 29 shots he faced and received enough goal support from his offense as the San Jose Barracuda shutout the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-0 on Friday evening at Van Andel Arena.

Korenar (15-3-1) was tested throughout the first period as he faced an aggressive Grand Rapids (24-14-3-4) team that attempted 12 shots on net that ended with a scoreless opening 20 minutes.

San Jose (24-8-2-3) drew first blood early in the second period. Maxim Letunov took advantage of a face off win when he chipped in a loose puck from close range past Griffins goalie Patrik Rybar (10-7-5) for his eighth goal of the season at the 3:38 mark. Jayden Halbgewachs and Manny Wiederer received assists.

Halbgewachs helped double the Cuda’s lead when sent a perfect pass to his linemate Weiderer that sent him all alone on a breakaway where he buried the puck past the five-hole of Rybar for his ninth goal of the season at the 7:50 mark.

San Jose’s Nick DeSimone fed a pass over to Jon Martin, who beat Rybar to the short-side of the net for a 3-0 lead. Martin’s seventh goal of the season came at the 16:05 mark to close out the three unanswered goals in the middle frame.

DeSimone closed out the scoring for the Cuda on the power play just past the half way point of the third period. He was able to tip-toe the blue line with the puck and fire a wrist shot from the point and beat Rybar to the short side for his seventh goal of the season at 10:58 mark.

Rybar stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced in suffering the defeat.

GAME NOTES: San Jose 1/3 on the power play. Grand Rapids was 0/5.

The announced attendance was 8,826.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their two-game series with the Griffins on Saturday 1/26 at 4:00 pm at Van Andel Arena.