Category: AHL

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. The Barracuda celebrate a goal against the Stars at Tech CU Arena.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- In what was a fun game for the fans at Tech CU Arena the Barracuda took on the Stars once again and beat them this time by a final of 5-4 in overtime.

Aaron Dell this time was between the pipes for San Jose while Dylan Wells got the start for Texas.

Scoring in this game did not take long to get to as on a turnover on a breakout San Jose pounced on a loose puck and Brandon Coe finished beautifully making it 1-0. On the goal Kyle Criscuolo was awarded an assist which was the 200th point of his AHL career.

After a successful penalty kills on both sides the Stars made a miscue defensively and Danil Gushchin grabbed the puck and sniped it home making it 2-0. Surprisingly enough Aaron Dell was given an assist on the goal along with Andrew Agozzino.

While on the power play San Jose made a mistake themselves leading to a goal for the Stars as Nicholas Caamano scored shorthanded.

That ended up being all the scoring in the first period with the shots finishing in favor of Texas at 11-9.

The second period saw San Jose’s offense get off to a quick start once again as just 1:34 in Tristen Robins scored his 12th goal of the season. That goal was enough to get Wells pulled as Remi Poirier was called on once again against the Barracuda.

That goalie pull seemed to light a fire under the Stars as just a little after the goal Riley Barber scored to make it a 3-2 game.

Texas continued their offensive momentum as Rhett Gardner scored getting his eight goal of the season and tying the game up at three.

The end of the second period saw tensions rise as a total of 27 penalty minutes was given out after a scrum broke out between the two teams. The scrum saw Ben Gleason and Patrick Holway drop the gloves while Jeffrey Viel was given a ten minute unsportsmanlike conduct.

At the end of the second period the shots favored the Stars 25-15.

The second period set up an exciting third period and it did not disappoint.

Kicking off the scoring on yet another defensive miscue San Jose was gifted yet another goal with this time Jacob Peterson scoring. It was his first goal with the Barracuda and was also against his former team.

The Stars did not call it quits and less than five minutes after the goal Barber scored his second goal of the game and tied the game back up at four.

After the goal once again the Stars and Barracuda got into it as 10:35 into the third as this time a total of 26 penalty minutes were given out.

That goal from Barber did end up being the last goal of regulation and that meant overtime between the two foes.

The shots at the end of regulation was tied between the two teams at 30-30.

Sometimes overtime can bring out the most unlikeliest heroes and this game did just that.

The play started with Texas trying to get out of their zone and the puck being kept in by San Jose. On the keep in Peterson picked up the puck and dished it to Patrick Sieloff in the slot who sniped it home sending Tech CU Arena into chaos.

That goal was Sieloff’s first of the season and couldn’t have come at a better time.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Patrick Sieloff 2nd: Jacob Peterson 3rd: Kyle Criscuolo

San Jose’s next game will be on the road against the Colorado Eagles on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m.

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Thomas Bordeleau skates in to the Stars end.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- Saint Patrick’s day was not kind to the Barracuda at home as they lost to the Texas Stars by a final of 6-2.

For San Jose Strauss Mann got the nod to start while Remi Poirier was in-between the pipes for Texas.

The Stars in this one quickly found themselves down a man as Riley Barber was called for a slash just 4:04 into the game.

San Jose’s penalty kill was up to the task and did not give up a special teams goal.

Two more penalties were called in the first period one against each team but, all were killed off.

The first goal of this hockey game took a while to come but 19:42 into the period Curtis McKenzie scored his 17th goal of the season giving the Stars the lead.

That ended up being the only goal of the first with the shots at the end of the period favoring Texas 13-12.

In the second the teams continued to exchange penalties with Adam Raska taking a penalty and Rhett Gardner taking the other.

While the Stars could not score on their power play the Barracuda did as Danil Gushchin tipped home a shot from Martin Kaut tying the game up at one.

Not long after the goal the Stars responded as less than three minutes later Riley Tufte scored his 13th goal of the season to take the lead right back.

Late in the period though with less than a minute left Jeffrey Viel battling out front found the loose puck and shoveled it home tying the game at two.

The shots at the end of the second favored Texas 31-20.

Despite the late goal in the second the Barracuda did not come out looking great as just 45 seconds in Riley Damiani scored for Texas making it a 3-2 game.

The quick goal seemed to rattle San Jose as less than five minutes later Riley Tufte scored extending Texas’s lead to 4-2.

The scoring slowed for a bit on both sides but 15:19 into the third Matej Blumel scored his 19th goal on the year pretty much putting the game away.

San Jose did pull their goalie but Curtis McKenzie put away any hope of a comeback by scoring on the empty net to finalize the score at 6-2.

The shots at the end of the game favored Texas 47-34.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Riley Tufte 2nd: Artemi Kniazev 3rd: Danil Gushchin

San Jose’s next game will be tomorrow at home against these same Stars at 6 p.m.

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Adam Raska battles with a player on Coachella Valley on March 4th 2023.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

On their second of back-to-backs San Jose dropped the game late in the third against the Firebirds by a final of 5-4.

Similar to their last game the Barracuda found themselves down early as Kyle Criscuolo got a penalty for hooking just 1:47 in. San Jose’s PK unit came up big and killed it off keeping the Firebirds off the scoreboard.

Later in the first Coachella Valley broke the ice as Kole Lind scored his 22nd goal of the season assisted by Max McCormick and Ryker Evans.

San Jose was given a chance to score on the power play and converted as Andrew Agozzino stuffed home his 20th goal of the season. That goal ended up being Agozzino’s 500th career point in the AHL.

The Barracuda wasted no time in extending their lead as just 13 seconds later Ozzy Wiesblatt scored on a rebound to make it 2-1.

Danil Gushchin took a high-sticking penalty 15:32 into the first and the Firebirds converted as Jeremy McKenna got his first goal of the season.

Coachella Valley continued their momentum as Alexander True scored getting his ninth goal of the season and making it 3-2.

At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose 16-13.

The second period saw a lot less offense with Coachella Valley taking two penalties and San Jose taking one.

On the one penalty that San Jose took Jeffrey Viel scored shorthanded on a beautiful play on the rush.

That goal ended up being the only goal of the period with the shots finishing in favor of San Jose at 35-24.

The third period saw a quick strike from San Jose’s offense as only 3:29 in Martin Kaut tipped home a shot from Artemi Kniazev making it 4-3.

The Firebirds found a response after the goal as Jimmy Schuldt scored his eight goal of the season to tie the game back up.

Late in the period the Firebirds pushed for a goal and got one as Tye Kartye scored his 17th goal of the season to break the tie.

San Jose pulled their goalie but could not find a response as the Firebirds held on to win 5-4.

The shots at the end of the game favored San Jose at 41-38.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Tye Kartye 2nd: Andrew Agozzino 3rd: Ryker Evans

San Jose’s next game will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Ontario Reign on the road.

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Nikolai Knyzhov battles out front with a Firebirds player.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

San Jose and Coachella Valley played a tightly contested game that went all the way to overtime but ended with the Firebirds on top 4-3.

In net for San Jose was Aaron Dell while Chris Driedger started for the Firebirds.

The Barracuda got off to a quick start in this one as Alexander True took a high-sticking penalty putting San Jose on the power play.

On the man-advantage Kyle Criscuolo got a feed from Andrew Agozzino that he buried in the slot to make it 1-0.

The rest of the period was quiet offensively as neither team got on the board.

Despite no goals there were three other penalties handed out in the period one against San Jose and two against Coachella Valley.

At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose at 11-9.

The second period was a little quieter with neither team getting on the board till later in the period.

That goal came from Carsen Twarynski who buried his 10th goal of the season to tie the game up at one.

The second period finished with the shots now favoring the Firebirds at 28-18.

In the third Coachella Valley struck fast as just 1:35 in Luke Henman scored fifth marker on the year to make it 2-1.

San Jose had a quick response though as just a couple minutes later Thomas Bordeleau sniped one past Driedger to tie the game back up.

The offensive frenzy continued this time Ozzy Wiesblatt fead a beautiful pass on up to Jeffrey Viel who finished on the breakaway putting his point streak up to four games.

However, Coachllea Valley was not out of it quiet yet as 8:59 into the period Cameron Hughes responded tying the game right back up.

Neither team could find any more offense pushing the game to overtime.

In overtime it didn’t take long to find out who would win as Kole Lind put the game away in front of the home crowd handing San Jose their first overtime defeat of the season.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Kole Lind 2nd: Luke Henman 3rd: Austin Poganski

San Jose’s next game will be on Friday against the Ontario Reign at home at 7 p.m.