Photo credit: @sjbarracuda
By: Marko Ukalovic
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda didn’t make it look pretty, but they continued to stay undefeated against the Ontario Reign in a 3-1 victory on Monday evening at SAP Center.
For San Jose, it was their second win in a row and are currently 4-0 against Ontario this season. Ontario continued their downward spiral losing their sixth game in a row.
“They’ve had our number for years,” said head coach Roy Sommer regarding his team turning the tables against their Pacific Division rival. “From Manchester (Mass) into Ontario, it’s been a while since we’ve had a winning record against them. So finally the tide turns.”
San Jose (21-7-1-3) drew first blood five minutes into the opening period. Jon Martin found Jayden Halbgewachs at the right faceoff circle and he skated around over to the left-wing and he snapped a wrist shot that beat Reign goalie Cal Petersen (2-6-3) low to the stick side at 5:41 mark. The puck looked to have deflected off Reign defenseman Austin Strand’s skate for Halbgewachs’ eight goal of the season. Kyle Wood received the secondary assist.
I went through a dry spell for a bit,” said Halbgewachs. “I had to get back to finding my game, building up that confidence. (The goals) are a huge confidence booster and every player needs that when they’re in a slump.”
Ontario (10-17-3-2) outshot San Jose 11-8 in the first period, but Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (8-5-3) held down the fort stonewalling the Reign from lighting the red lamp.
In the second period, both netminders put on a clinic out on the ice. Bibeau was aggressive on two penalty kills where he came out beyond the crease to cut off angles and did not give up any rebounds.
“I think in December I wasn’t playing as aggressive and as good as I could (have been),” said Bibeau. “When the guys had to block a shot, they blocked a shot. They boxed out and I saw the puck really well.”
Petersen was sharp late in the middle frame. Keaton Middleton fed a short-handed breakaway chance to Dylan Gambrell, but Petersen came out to challenge Gambrell and his shot sailed over the net with under four minutes left. Then with under a minute left, Vincent Praplan’s point-blank shot and captain John McCarthy’s follow-up rebound chance were turned away by Petersen.
Jon Martin single-handedly gave San Jose a big insurance goal to open up the third period. Coming in on a three-on-three rush he was able to muscle his way past Kurtis MacDermid, regain the puck and buried it under the left pad of Petersen on the short side for his sixth goal of the season at the 1:28 mark. Martin now has five points in his last three games.
“It’s been a long way for me these last three years,” said Martin. “So it’s nice to come in here and finally feel like I’m contributing a little bit on the board. I’m just trying to keep it going, helping out my linemates, they’ve been supporting me and it’s going well.”
Brett Sutter cut the lead in half on the penalty kill, thanks to a gift from Calvan Fitzgerald. He was pressured by Sam Herr in front of the Cuda net and turned over the puck right onto the stick of Sutter, who one-timed it from the slot into the upper right corner of the net. The unassisted short-handed goal was Sutter’s eight of the season and came at the 7:39 mark.
Halbgewachs sealed the game for the Cuda with his second goal of the evening with an empty-netter with exactly one minute left in the game for his ninth goal of the season.
Bibeau shined bright with a 32 save on 33 shot performance to earn his eight victory of the season. Petersen suffered his second straight loss, making 27 saves on 29 shots.
GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/4 on the power play. Ontario was 0/2.
On Tuesday, the Cuda recalled defensemen Cody Donaghey and Mike Brodzinki from the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.
Coming into the game, San Jose were tied for first in the Western Conference with a home winning percentage of .750 (10-3-0-1). Their +20 point differential is the best in the Pacific Division.
Reign defenseman Daniel Brickley suffered a lower body injury in the second period when he was in a battle with Anti Suomela. His leg ended up being tied up and he fell awkwardly to the ice laying there for a while before being helped off the ice. He did not return to the game.
The announced attendance was 2,530.
UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Reign for a third consecutive time on Friday, January 11 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.
