The San Jose Barracuda gets upended to begin the second half of the home at home series this time in San Diego at the Valley View Casino Center on Wed Nov 24, 2021 (photo by the San Diego Gulls)

by Marko Ukalovic

Bryce Tracey likes playing against the San Jose Barracuda.

Tracey had a three-point night as he led the San Diego Gulls to a 5-1 victory on Thanksgiving Eve at Valley View Casino Center.

San Jose have lost three games in a row to their SoCal rival while San Diego have won three games in a row against its NorCal rival.

San Diego and San Jose each had a goal waived off in the first period for a high touch. Nikolas Brouillard’s attempt in the first minute was deemed illegal and Jayden Halbgewachs chance near the halfway mark was also considered too high to count.

San Diego (6-6-1-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Brouillard redirected a shot from Jacob Larsson past ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko for his third goal of the season at the 5:42 mark.

San Jose (5-7-1-0) answered back late in the opening frame. Nicholas Meloche sent a home run pass out of his own zone up the ice. The puck landed on the stick of Halbgewachs who got behind the Gulls defense and lifted a backhander top-shelf past Gulls goalie Lukas Dostal for his fifth goal of the season at the 14:47 mark.

Each team put eight shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes.

Nick Merkley was stoned away by Dostal on a breakaway chance just under five minutes into the second period.

San Diego regained the lead on the power play thanks to a turnover by San Jose. A failed clearing attempt by the ‘Cuda was gloved down by Greg Pateryn. The former Barracuda defenseman blasted a slap shot through a sea of traffic in front of Sawchenko for his first goal in a Gulls uniform at the 12:13 mark.

The Gulls went up for by two goals just over three minutes later on a three-on-one odd man rush. Morgan Adams-Moisan found Brayden Tracey whose shot was initially stopped as Sawchenko’s stick went flying out of his hand. Vincent Marleau cleaned up the rebound for his first career AHL goal at the 15:37 mark.

San Diego scored its third unanswered goal thanks to a fortuitous bounce early in the third period. Hunter Drew flipped a shot that caromed off the boards out in front. Larsson whiffed on his chance but Tracey came in a wired a backhander past Sawchenko for his third goal of the season at the 1:53 mark.

Tracey scored his second goal of the contest to give the Gulls a 5-1 lead on the power play. Bryce Kindopp sent in a shot from the right point and an open Tracey redirected it past Sawchenko for his fourth goal of the season at the 7:02 mark.

Dostal finished the game stopping 23 out of the 24 shots to earn the victory. Sawchenko (2-2) suffered his worst loss of the season giving up five goals on 24 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. San Diego was 2-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Tracey 2) Pateryn 3) Marleau

UP NEXT: San Jose and San Diego conclude their home and home series on Friday at 6:00pm at Valley View Casino Center.