San Jose Barracuda vs Henderson Silver Knights on Sunday February 15th at Tech Cu Arena (via sjbarracuda/flickr)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Barracuda made a comeback after losing game one of the two game set on Saturday with the visiting Henderson Silver Knights. The Barracuda came back with a vengence winning a four goal contest at Tech CU 8-4 on Sunday.

The Barracuda were the first on the board when Lucas Carlsson scored his ninth of the seasonto make it an early 1-0 Barracuda lead. Later on in the first period, the sixth ranked powerplay got to work. Henderson’s Matyas Sapovaliv scored his eighth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.

Keeping it going, Henderson scored again just a minute and a half into the second period. Lukas Cormier with his 7th goal of the year to make it 2-1 and to take the lead. San Jose got their own powerplay goal when Oliver Wahlstrom scored his fourteenth goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2.

Henderson regained their lead after Ben Hemmerling scored his 12th of the season to give them a 3-2 lead. Beating three Henderson skaters to the puck, Kasper Halttunen scored his eighth of the season to tie the game at 3-3.

Picking up a loose puck, Kasper Halttuen scored his second of the game and ninth of the season to take the 4-3 lead. Ben Hemmerling picked up his second goal of the game too, tying the game at 4-4.

In his second game back in over a month, Quentin Musty scored his ninth goal of the season to take the 5-4 lead. Less than a minute later, Oliver Wahlstrom scored his second of the game to extend that lead to 6-4. To extend their lead even further, Afanasyev scored his tenth of the season to make it a 7-4 game. Hats came flying when Kasper Halttunen scored his third of the game to make it a 8-4 game. This marks his first career AHL hat-trick.

After the first period, San Jose outshot Henderson fourteen to nine. After the second period, San Jose outshot Henderson again, 17-11.

Both teams had opportunities to work their special teams units. Both teams were even able to capitalize on their powerplays. Coming into today’s game, San Jose was first on the powerplay and fifth shorthanded. For Henderson, they came into Sunday’s game sixth on the powerplay and seventh shorthanded.

Laurent Brossoit got the start for San Jose. Brossoit, who is coming off of a 23 save loss against the Abbotsford Canucks. Making 26 saves on 30 shots, Brossoit recorded the win. Jesper Vikman started for Henderson. For Vikman, he is coming off of a 29 save overtime loss against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Making 30 saves on 37 shots, Vikman recorded the loss.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

1. Kasper Halttunen
2. Oliver Wahlstrom
3. Ben Hemmerling

The Barracuda will be back in action on Wednesday February 18th where they will travel to San Diego to take on the Gulls. The last time these two teams faced off was on Wednesday January 7th in San Diego when the Barracuda won in a 3-2 shootout.