Category: AHL

Barracuda Shutout Reign 5-0, Askarov Makes 22 Saves

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Yarsolav Askarov (30) was huge in the Barracuda’s shutout over the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Arena in Ontario on Sat Oct 12, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Ontario Reign with a 5-0 shutout on Saturday. Anthony Vincent, Kasper Haltunen (two goals), Collin Graf and Joey Keane scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the win. Erik Portillo made 18 saves for the Reign.

The Barracuda took the lead at 6:27 of the first period with a goal from Anthony Vincent. Vincent redirected a shot from the point by Joey Keane. Assists went to Keane and Donavan Houle.

Lucas Vanroboys of the Barracuda and Shawn Element of the Reign fought at 9:15. Braden Hache took a holding penalty at 11:13, The Barracuda neatly killed of that penalty. At the end of the first, the shots were 6-5 San Jose.

Kasper Halttunen made it 2-0 on the power play at 2:34 of the second period. Filip Bystedt passed the puck across the ice to Haltunen in the faceoff circle. Haltunen’s shot went off of Portillo and into the net as the goalie tried to get across. Assists went to Bystedt and Andrew Poturalski. It was Haltunen’s first AHL goal.

After that, the Barracuda spent some time on the penalty kill. Tristen Robbins was called for slashing at 5:43. Jake Furlong was called for tripping at 11:20. Braden Hache was then called for checking to the head at 18:40. The Barracuda penalty kill was perfect.

At the end of the period, the shots were still very close, 16-15 Ontario.

57 seconds into the third period, the Reign pushed the puck over the line in a scramble at the Barracuda net. But the whistle had already gone and no goal was awarded.

With more than ten minutes gone in the third period, the Barracuda had killed another penalty but had no shots on goal for the period. With the team’s first shot of the period, Collin Graf skated in with a breakaway and lifted the puck over a prone Portillo at 12:24. An assist went to Tristen Robbins.

Haltunen scored his second power play goal at 16:39 of the third. He took the shot off a big rebound right into the slot. Assists went to Luca Cagnoni and Andrew Poturalski.

The final few minutes of the game were riddled with penalties and misconducts. Taking advantage of a turnover in the chaos, Joey Keane added another goal for the Barracuda, making it 5-0 at 18:21. An assist went to Bystedt.

By the end of the period, the Barracuda had balanced the shot count back to 23-22 San Jose.

The Barracuda will face the Reign again on Sunday at 3:00 PM PT in Ontario.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda get goals in 2nd and 3rd to defeat Condors 4-2 Sunday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Barracuda forward Kasper Halttunen (14) takes a shot on net against the Bakersfield Condors Connor Corcoran (8) at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield on Sun Oct 6, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda X photo)

SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday 4-2. The Barracuda and Condors battled to a 1-1 tie in the first period. The Condors Matthew Savoie scored at 3:26 to get things started and the Barracuda’s Andrew Poturalski scored at 17:29.

#2 Second period action Filip Bystedt scored at 16:36 on a power play goal and the Barracuda took a 2-1 lead.

#3 It was the third period that saw a lot offense with the Barracuda scoring twice with Donavan Houle at 4:23 the Condors got their second and final goal of the night from Matvey Petrov at 4:53 and it was the Barracuda up 3-2.

#4 The Barracuda got an insurance unassisted goal from Tristen Robins at 18:48 his first goal of the pre season. The Barracuda getting a two goal win 4-2.

#5 San Jose opens the 2024-25 season on the road against the Ontario Reign on Saturday 10/12 at 6:00pm at Toyota Arena.

Marko Ukalovic does the Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Aaron Dell looking forward to helping younger goaltenders in camp

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell will be in camp helping some of the younger goaltenders, Dell will be between the pipes for the Barracuda for this 2024-25 season (Mercury News file photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Marko, the SJ Barracuda have announced their bringing back goaltender Aaron Dell for the 2024-25 season. Dell has experience in both at the San Jose Sharks and with the Barracuda how important do you see him being between the pipes?

#2 Barracuda general manager Joe Will said that Dell bring leadership and depth and will be a big plus in helping the goaltending group.

#3 Dell played for the Ontario Reign last season in 12 games. Dell signed with Ontario in January and went 7-4-1 with 2.57 goals against and had a .914 save average.

#4 Marko, over Dell’s 12 year career he has played in 130 NHL games with the Sharks, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres with a 50-50-13 record. and a 2.92 goals against average with a record like that Dell has had a great long career in the NHL.

#5 All that said Marko, Dell is 35 and will be helping out the younger goaltenders and when he gets in the games that would give those younger players an idea how it’s done.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda close out season with OT victory over Roadrunners 5-4

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Barracuda closed out their season against the Roadrunners on Saturday, April 20th.

In goal for San Jose was Gabriel Carriere who was making his first start in a San Jose uniform.

On the other side of the rink, it was Dylan Wells in between the pipes. Heading into this one Wells had a 10-5-2 record with a 3.20 GAA and .900 SV%.

Tuscon ended up getting off to a scorching hot start in this one as just 24 seconds in former Shark John Leonard scored his 12th of the season.

The period though ended up being one of firsts as Mitchell Russel got his first career goal in the AHL to tie the game. Less than five minutes later it was another first as Gannon Laroque scored his first-ever goal in the AHL to give San Jose the lead.

Scoring took a little longer to get going in the second as the first goal wouldn’t come until 15:26 into the period when Filip Bystedt scored his fourth of the campaign. Shark fans have to be excited by Bystedt’s play so far as in just eight games he has seven points.

The final period in this one was one that San Jose probably would want to forget as they found a way to blow their lead.

It started with Milos Kelemen scoring just 1:05 into the period which was then followed up by a power play goal from Colin Theisen.

With the game tied the Roadrunners kept their foot on the gas and scored just 26 seconds later as Travis Barron got them the lead 4-3.

It looked like the Roadrunners were gonna pull off the comeback until Mason Klee also got his first goal in the AHL tying the game back up at four.

The game went to overtime and was ended by a breakaway goal scored by Tristen Robins getting his seventh of the season and securing the Barracuda’s 23rd win of the season.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Tristen Robins 2nd: Milos Kelemen 3rd: Kyle Rau

The shots in this one favored San Jose 33-22 while the Barracuda went 0/4 on the power play and the Roadrunners went 1/5.

San Jose will end their season 23-34-10 with 60 points good enough for last place in the Pacific Division.

It was another dissapointing season for the Barracuda who will look to bounce back next season with a playoff berth.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda can’t rally on Texas; End season in Tucson Fri and Sat

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The San Jose Barracuda and the Texas Stars battled to a 2-1 Texas win on Sat Apr 14, 2024 at Tech CU in San Jose to conclude the 2023-24 home season for the Barracuda (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, the San Jose Barracuda got on the board first on Saturday night against the Texas Stars at Tech CU Arena in the second period when Daniel Gushchin scored at 5:14 for a 1-0 Barracuda lead.

#2 In the second period the Stars Matej Blumel forward tied up the game at 1:12 with assists from Derrick Pouliot and Mavrik Bourque making it 1-1.

#3 Once again Blumel scores against the Barracuda for the game winner for Texas with as Bourque and Pouliot assisted for the 2-1 win.

#4 The Barracuda just wasn’t able to get much offense going after the first period but Barracuda goaltender Magnus Chrona stopped 38 shots and allowed two goals but the offense couldn’t deliver.

#5 It’s off to Tucson this Friday and Saturday for a two game series that will conclude the Barracuda road schedule and season. The Roadrunners are not a slouchy team they are second in the AHL Pacific with a 41-23-3 record and have six of their last ten games.

Marko Ukalovic podcasted the Barracuda for the 2023-24 season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda open final homestand Wednesday against Henderson

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Georgi Ramanov (31) had another great outing stopping 41 shots this time against the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Center in Ontario on Sun Apr 7, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 San Jose Barracuda (21-33-9-4) took a tough loss to the Ontario Reign (38-21-3-4) 3-2 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario last Saturday. Despite the loss Barracuda goaltender Georgi Ramanov stopped 41 shots in the one goal loss.

#2 The Reign dominated on offense in the first period with control of the puck the Reign made one mistake turning over the puck at the blue line taken by the Barracuda’s Ethan Cardwell who passed the puck Danil Gushchin who hit it from the low short side.

#3 In the second period the Barracuda got the lead back at 1:54 when Tristen Robins scored his fifth goal of the season to take a 2-1 lead.

#4 The Barracuda in the third period just couldn’t get anything going getting shutout by the Reign and goaltender Erik Portillo.

#5 Wednesday the Barracuda face off against the Henderson Silver Knights (27-33-3) the Knights have lost five of their last ten games. The Barracuda open their final homestand and are hoping to start it with a win against Henderson.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda continue 5 game road trip Wednesday In San Diego

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Marko, the San Jose Barracuda (21-32-9-2) who took a quick 3-0 lead on Sunday in Calgary. The Barracuda never fell behind and won it 4-1 defeating the Calgary Wranglers (34-24-5-3).

#2 The Barracuda goaltender Georgi Ramanov saved 30 shots and allowed one goal. With the win the Barracuda went 5-3 against the Wranglers for the 2023-24.

#3 The first period the Barracuda struck first with a goal from Ethan Cardwell for his 20th goal of the season at 6:56 and Jack Thompson got his sixth goal for the year at 11:11 to take a 2-0 lead. Talk about how important it was to jump to a 2-0 lead early?

#4 The Barracuda picked up two more goals in the third period Danil Gushchin scored his 16th goal of the season and in the third period the Barracuda added one more with Nathan Todd scoring his 18th of the season.

#5 Marko, the Barracuda continue this five game road trip against the San Diego Gulls (23-31-8-0) on Wednesday for a 7:00pm PDT face off. Both teams are at the bottom of the standings who do you like in this match.

Marko Ukalovic is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and podcaster heard on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda host Reign to close out four game homestand on Wednesday at Tech CU

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The Tucson Roadrunners forward Jan Jenik (24) and the San Jose Barracuda forward Tanner Kaspick (41) settle their differences on the ice at Tech CU Arena in San Jose on Sun Mar 24, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (20-30-9-2) scored three goals all on power plays and got goaltending support from Eetu Makiniemi who shutout the Tucson Roadrunners( 36-21-3-2) 4-0 at Tech CU in San Jose.

#2 The Barracuda in the game got the man advantage nine times in the game the most for this season while both Tucson and San Jose chalked up a season high of 158 penalty minutes in a physical contest.

#3 Marko, talk about Makiniemi who picked up his third shutout of the season and his seventh of his career and it was the second time he blanked the opposition in his last five games.

#4 To show you how impressive Makiniemi was stopping the Roadrunners this was Tucson’s third time this season they were shutout. The Roadrunners had not been shutout in a game since Nov 22, 2023.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Ontario Reign next at Tech CU to close out their four game homestand. San Jose and Ontario face off on Wednesday night at 7:00pm PDT. Tell us how you see these two matching up.

Join Marko for the SJ Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Classroom day at Tech CU as Barracuda host San Diego Wed morning

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Eetu Makiniemi (32) stopped 21 of 25 shots against the Rockford IceHogs at BMO Arena in Rockford IL on Sun Mar 17, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (18-29-9-2) got swept in a two game series to the Rockford IceHogs (28-22-5-2) losing 4-1 in Rockford. The Barracuda just couldn’t get any offense going. After seeing the Barracuda on Saturday night the IceHogs figured out San Jose’s offense.

#2 The IceHogs went right to work on the Barracuda in the first period getting goals from Mike Hardman scoring his 18th goal and Cole Guttman scored his 11th goal of the season for the 2-0 lead. At 14:52 Ethan Cardwell scored his 17th goal a team leading total for the Barracuda. The IceHogs took a 2-1 lead into the second period.

#3 The IceHogs ran away with the game with Cole Guttman scoring his second goal and his 12th goal of the season in the second period at 18:21 and in the third period Jackson Cates put the frosting on the cake in the third period with his 11th goal of the season for a 4-1 win.

#4 The thing about the loss the Barracuda outshot the IceHogs 13-6 but again just couldn’t get any scoring going.

#5 Marko, It’s Classroom day on Wednesday morning at 10:30AM PDT at Tech CU as the Barracuda host the San Diego Gulls (22-26-8-0). What makes Classroom day special for AHL teams hosting and how do you see this match between the Barracuda and Gulls.

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Power play falls flat for Barracuda as they lose to IceHogs 4-1

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Cole Cassels screens goalie Drew Commesso (taken on 3/17/24).

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

After losing to the IceHogs on Saturday the Barracuda looked to bounce-back against them on Sunday.

In goal for San Jose was Eetu Makiniemi who heading into this game had a 6-7-0 record with a 3.48 GAA and .887 SV%. On the other side of the ice it was Drew Commesso had a 12-13-4 record with 2.73 GAA and .904 SV%.

The first period was a penalty filled affair as the teams in total combined for five penalties. Unfortunately for San Jose those penalties ended up helping the IceHogs rather than them.

The first goal in this game came on the power play as Mike Hardman scored his 18th of the season only five minutes into the game.

Later in the first Cole Guttman added to their lead with his 11th of the season assisted by Nolan Allan and Rem Pitlick.

Not long before the buzzer San Jose did respond on the power play as Ethan Cardwell one of San Jose’s hottest scorers got his 17th goal.

The middle frame saw the offense slow down considerably as we wouldn’t get a goal until 18:21 into the period. That goal came from the IceHogs as Guttman got his second of the game making it 3-1.

Funnily enough the final frame saw the opposite happen as just 41 seconds in Rockford made it 4-1 as Jackson Cates got his 11th.

That goal ended up being the last one in this game as San Jose only managed to get one past Commesso who had a great game making 34 saves.

A big part of the reason why the Barracuda only put up one goal was their power play as they went 1/5.

With three assists on the night Pitlick improves to an extremely impressive 16 points in just 13 games played for the IceHogs.

The three stars in this game were: 1st: Cole Guttman 2nd: Mike Hardman 3rd: Rem Pitlick

With the loss San Jose falls to 18-29-9 as the IceHogs improve to 28-22-5.

San Jose will look to snap their three game losing streak at home against one of the bottom feeders in the AHL the Gulls on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.