Peter Budaj is a veteran of nearly 300 NHL games, and the goaltender is still going strong, even if it’s in the minors.
Now with the Ontario Reign of the AHL, the 33-year old Budaj posted a shutout of the San Jose Barracuda, as San Jose fell 3-0 on the road Saturday night.
The Barracuda drop to 2-3-0-1, while the Reign remain unbeaten at 5-0-0-0.
Down 1-0 in the third period, the Barracuda allowed Reign rookie Adrian Kempe to score on the power play at 4:12 to double Ontario’s advantage. Michael Mersch added an empty net goal to seal the 3-0 victory.
This came despite San Jose putting nine shots on goal in the third. It also outshot Ontario 10-9 in a scoreless second period, but could not get one past Budaj, who made 24 saves in all.
Ontario got on the board with the lone goal of the first when Andrew Crescenzi converted on a rebound.
The Barracuda have not scored in eight straight periods, and they also went 0-for-5 on the power play on Saturday.
Aaron Dell replaced Troy Groesnick in net at the start of the second period after Groesnick sustained an injury in the first.
The Bruins ran all over the Bears on Thursday night (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
By: Eric He
PASADENA, Calif. — The danger of relying on a high-octane offense to win games is that sometimes, that offense inexplicably fails to produce enough points.
Such was the case for the No. 20 Cal Bears on Thursday night as they were routed 40-24 by the unranked UCLA Bruins in front of 57,026 at the Rose Bowl.
Jared Goff, who has put himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation with an excellent season thus far, was thoroughly outplayed by UCLA’s freshman quarterback Josh Rosen despite the Bruins missing three all-conference candidates on defense and giving up 124 points in their past three games.
Rosen threw for nearly 400 yards, completing 34 of 47 passes for three touchdowns. Goff, meanwhile, had 295 yards and also threw for three touchdowns, but completed just 32 of 53 passes.
“You’ve got to give UCLA a lot of credit,” said head coach Sonny Dykes. “They came out and played a very aggressive, physical brand of football. Obviously, we didn’t perform as well as we needed to. We had 12 days to prepare and we didn’t do a very good job getting our guys ready to play. We never got into a flow.”
No Cal wide receiver or running back had more than 63 yards of offense, while UCLA had two receivers reach the century mark – Thomas Duarte and Kevin Fuller, who combined to catch three Bruins’ touchdowns.
Goff attributed the struggles to not being able to establish the run. Cal finished with just 131 yards on the ground.
“When you can’t run the ball effectively, it doesn’t help,” said Goff. “In order to set up the pass game, you have to run the ball and we weren’t able to do that as well as we would like to.”
With a two-score lead at halftime, the Bruins blew the game wide open in the third quarter. Right out of the half, UCLA took under three minutes to march 80 yards down the field and find the end zone on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rosen to Fuller to take a 33-10 lead.
After the Bears kept themselves alive with a touchdown drive, the Bruins responded with a heavy dose of Jomabo, whose one-yard touchdown gave UCLA 40 points on the night.
“We just didn’t do a good job of getting off the field,” said Dykes. “Throughout the game, we had opportunities to intercept passes. Against good football teams, we have to make those. We didn’t do a good job of keeping [Rosen] hemmed in. We broke tackles, we lost contain. Things we haven’t done all year, we did tonight.
“We’ve tackled well this year. We did not tackle well early in the ball game. We didn’t play physical on offense or defense. We’ve got to get back to playing physical football.”
The two teams traded field goals on their respective opening drives, with Cal’s first possession stalling inside the Bruins’ 10-yard line.
UCLA jumped ahead with the game’s first touchdown late in the quarter when Rosen and the Bruins advanced rapidly down the field on a 13-play, 70-yard drive. Rosen found a wide-open Duarte in the right corner of the end zone to give UCLA a 10-3 lead after the first quarter.
The Bruins extended the lead on their first drive of the second quarter. Rosen again marched UCLA down the field with a 90-yard, 10-play drive that took just three and a half minutes. A 23-yard catch and run by Soso Jamabo, who had all kinds of room down the left side, set up a 19-yard touchdown pass to Devin Fuller for a 17-3 Bruins advantage.
“We had too many missed tackles, too many lost leverages, too many missed assignments and misalignments,” said linebacker Hardy Nickerson.
He continued: “[Rosen] was doing a lot of play fakes and passes. He read us well. He played very well.”
A failed fake punt attempt on the ensuing by the Bears added insult to injury, with the Bruins taking over at the Cal 29-yard line and adding on another field goal.
Cal finally found its offense late in the half. Golf broke a string of five consecutive incompletions with a 36-yard completion to Darius Powe down to the UCLA four-yard line. On second and goal, Kenny Lawler made a tremendous leaping catch for a one-yard touchdown.
But Bruins’ placekicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, who made four field goals in the first half alone, nailed a 60-yard kick to end the half and give UCLA a 26-10 lead.
After a competitive loss to No. 3 Utah last game, the Bears were playing from behind all night long Thursday. Two straight losses will likely drop their ranking and set them back in the Pac-12 standings, but given the volatile conference, they are far from out of contention for the Pac-12 championship game.
Cal will head back home and prepare for USC next Saturday, and they promise they will put on a better performance.
“Every week’s a different challenge,” said Dykes. “Our guys are hurt and not happy with the way we performed. We’ll come back with better sense of purpose and we’ll play well against USC.”
Added Goff: “We’re going to fix it. I promise you we’re going to fix it. It’s going to be a different team Saturday.”
Cal has dropped 11 straight games to USC and is 30-67-5 all-time against the Trojans.
The Golden State Warriors were handed a convincing 130-95 defeat by the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on Tuesday night, dropping another preseason game.
The Warriors rested Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala and sat Andrew Bogut with a broken nose. Shorthanded, they were no match for Blake Griffin and the Clippers.
Griffin finished with 29 points, dominating anyone the Warriors put against him. He scored from inside and out, showing his vast array of offensive moves.
The Clippers had 67 points by halftime and 100 points at the end of the third quarter.
For the Warriors, Klay Thompson recorded 21 points, 15 in the third quarter. Shaun Livingston chipped in 10 points and roster hopeful Ian Clark had 11 off the bench, but otherwise it was an unproductive night for the rest of the team.
The game did get chippy, with eight technical fouls handed out and an ejection to Chris Paul for talking back to a referee. Luke Walton, Draymond Green, and Jason Thompson received technicals for the Warriors.
The Warriors have one more preseason game — Thursday in Anaheim against the Lakers — before the regular season begins next Tuesday against the Pelicans.
A late power play goal by Michael Haley was enough for the San Jose Barracuda to squeeze by the Bakersfield Condors 4-3 on the road on Saturday night.
Haley, who had two goals on the night, converted from point-blank for the game-winner at 16:41 of the third period after a feed by Ryan Carpenter. San Jose was able to hang on to seal its second consecutive road win.
Haley also scored the first goal of the game, deflecting a pass from Carpenter again to put the Barracuda up 1-0. After Bryan Lerg gave San Jose a 2-0 lead, a parade to the penalty box by the Barracuda resulted in consecutive power play goals by Bakersfield to even the score.
After the Condors went ahead 3-2 early in the third, the Barracuda finished with two unanswered for the win. Trevor Parkes recorded his first goal of the season, jamming in the rebound after a shot from the point.
Aaron Dell made 30 saves on the night, while prospect Julius Bergman made his season debut with the Barracuda.
The Barracuda will head back home and take on the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday.
It was a historic night for the San Jose Barracuda, who recorded their first win in franchise history with a 4-1 win over the Stockton Heat on the road on Thursday night.
The Barracuda jumped out to a 3-0 advantage after two periods. A breakaway goal by Ryan Carpenter put San Jose on the board 28 seconds into the second. Micheal Haley’s goal from a tough angle made it 2-0, and Scott Timmons made it a trifecta in the period, putting home a rebound that was ruled a good goal upon review.
Nikita Jevpalovs, who earned first star honors, added the finishing touches with a third period marker that answered a goal by Stockton in the third period.
Goaltender Aaron Dell was solid for San Jose, stopping 25 of 26 shots.
Another road game awaits the Barracuda on Saturday, as they face the Bakersfield Condors on the road at 7pm.
The Golden State Warriors routed a shorthanded Houston Rockets team 123-101 on Thursday night in preseason action.
Brandon Rush started in place of the injured Harrison Barnes and played 28 minutes, recording 12 points and knocking down two 3-pointers, a good sign for the forward who struggled mightily last season.
Playing a Rockets team without James Harden and Dwight Howard, the Warriors jumped on them early and often, scoring 83 points in the first half alone. Stephen Curry recorded 19 points in 17 minutes, shooting 6-of-7 from the field, leaving no doubt his preparedness for the regular season.
The second half was essentially an audition period for roster hopefuls and playing time for veterans such as Marreese Speights and Jason Thompson. Fetus Ezeli had a strong game with 11 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
Ian Clark, Chris Babb, Juwan Staten and Jarrell Eddie saw some action, with Clark seemingly the favorite to earn the final roster spot.
Andrew Bogut sustained a broken nose in the second quarter and did not return to the game.
Stephen Curry looked in midseason form, but the Golden State Warriors fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 118-101 in the second preseason game on Thursday night.
Curry finished with 30 points and knocked down six-of-11 three-pointers, hitting jumpers from all angles. He played 26 minutes, departing the game late in the third quarter. Draymond Green and Klay Thompson both had 14 points, with Green also in midseason form as he picked up a technical foul less than two minutes into the game arguing a non-foul call.
For the Blazers, Allen Crabbe recorded a team-high 25 points off the bench. The Cal product was 9-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point attempts.
The Warriors trailed by double-digits for much of the game, and were down 77-62 at halftime. A brief spurt by the starters in the third cut the lead down to four at 81-77, but they gave way to the reserves for the rest of the game.
Ian Clark had the best showing out of all the training camp invitees, scoring six points in 10 minutes. Ben Gordon recorded a field goal in 10 minutes. Leandro Barbosa, who still looks fresh, has been the Warriors’ best reserve through two games, putting up eight points.
Up next the Warriors take on the Nuggets at Oracle Arena as the preseason continues.
The Oakland A’s wrapped up a disappointing 2015 campaign with a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon on the road, and it went just like many of their games this season — a promising start only to be erased by a sputtering bullpen and a one-run loss as a result.
Seth Smith’s solo shot to center field off Ryan Dull in the eighth inning was the difference in this one, as the A’s went down quietly in the ninth off Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen.
The A’s struck first with two run in the third inning — one on a sacrifice fly by Bryan Anderson and the other on Mark Canha’s 16th homer of the season.
But the Mariners responded with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings of A’s starter Chris Bassitt, who finished with a no-decision.
Oakland finishes with the worst record in the American League at 68-94, its worst record since 1993. It has been a forgettable season for the A’s, who were hampered by a revolving roster, injuries, and an unreliable bullpen. For a team coming off three consecutive playoff appearances, they certainly took a huge step back and shook up the roster in every which way.
The many trades last offseason — Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss, and Derek Norris were sent packing — netted the A’s many young prospects, but also resulted in poor clubhouse chemistry, per a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Yet, the A’s could be setting themselves up to shock the baseball world again next season. They were better than their record, which consisted of a high amount of one-run losses. Billy Burns, Mark Canha, Marcus Semien and Josh Phegley all showed promise in 2015 and could make up the future core of the A’s. Danny Valencia impressed after being acquired by the A’s midseason. Add that to established veterans in Josh Reddick and Stephen Vogt and that’s a half-decent lineup.
A’s fans are surely tired of their team coming up short year after year, whether it’s an early playoff exit or a non-competitive regular season campaign. What awaits them could either be a bounce back season or the start of a painful rebuild that seems to keep recurring in Oakland.
With just three games left in the season, the San Jose Earthquakes needed every possible point. They got just one Saturday night in a 1-1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps at Avaya Stadium, but it was pivotal one.
An equalizer by Chris Wondolowski in the 62nd minute salvaged a draw for the Earthquakes and moved them into a tie with the Portland Timbers for the sixth and final playoff position in the West. Both the Earthquakes and Timbers have 44 points, but the Earthquakes — for now — own the tiebreak with a better goal differential. Portland, however, has one more game remaining than San Jose.
The Whitecaps, who are second in the conference with 49 points, struck first on a goal in the 38th minute by Christian Techera, who picked up a loose ball in front, cut it back past two Earthquakes defenders and lofted it over the head of David Bingham.
But when they needed him most, the Earthquakes’ best player delivered. It wasn’t the prettiest of goals, but Wondolowski followed up on a juicy rebounded created off a drive and shot by Cordell Cato, evening the game at 1-1.
It nearly ended in disaster for San Jose, as an errant free kick by Anibal Godoy in the 93rd minute created a two-on-none breakaway for Vancouver. But David Bingham bravely dove and cut off the Whitecaps’ Kekutah Manneh, preserving the game and perhaps the Earthquakes’ playoff hopes.
San Jose has some time off before its next match against Sporting KC on Oct. 16.
The San Jose Barracudas lost to the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday night by the score of 4-2 to wrap up their exhibition schedule.
The Barracudas fell behind early, as the Condors received tallies from Andrew Miller on the power play and Josh Winquist on a breakaway goal in the first period.
Ryan Hamilton put the Condors up 3-0 at the 13:14 mark of the second period. While San Jose battled back with its first goal of the game off the stick of Jonathan Parker to cut the lead to 3-1, but Bakersfield responded as Brad Hunt beat Barracudas goaltender Joel Rumpel with a hard shot from the right circle.
The game remained 4-1 in favor of Bakersfield for much of the third period and a late tally by Mike DiPaolo was too little, too late for the Barracudas.
San Jose will start regular season play at home against the Rockford IceHogs at SAP Center.
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