Category: AHL

Heat upend Barracuda 4-3 with Valimaki’s OT winner

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It takes two to tango the Stockton Heat’s left winger Alex Gallant (20) and the San Jose Barracuda defenseman Montana Onyebuchi (79) mix it up at the Stockton Arena on Sat Mar 5, 2022 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

Every point is a critical one for the San Jose Barracuda.

They overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period but weren’t able to pick up the second point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Stockton Heat on Saturday evening at Stockton Heat.

Juuso Valimaki scored 52 seconds in the extra session, his second of the season, to give the Pacific Division leaders their 31st win of the season.

San Jose have lost two out of its past three games. Stockton snapped its two-game losing streak and still only have single digit losses in regulation.

Stockton (31-9-4-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Nick DeSimone made one move around a Barracuda defender before firing a wrist shot at the net that was tipped past ‘Cuda netminder Alexei Melnichuk by Luke Philp for his 17th goal of the season at the 3:50 mark.

The Heat doubled its lead just past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Emilio Pettersen centered a pass from behind the net to Walker Duehr who buried a wrist shot past Melnichuk for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:37 mark.

San Jose (16-28-2-0) were even with Stockton on the shot clock with nine shots but weren’t able to get nothing past Heat netminder Dustin Wolf.

The Barracuda cut the lead in half midway through the second period. Dillon Hamaliuk led an odd man rush into the Heat zone. Hamaliuk found Sasha Chmelevski all alone in front of the crease and the Orange County native beat Wolf with a one-timer for his 10th goal of the season at the 10:04 mark.

Stockton regained their two-goal lead late in the middle frame when a big hit at the ‘Cuda blueline led to a two-on-zero that resulted in Pettersen scored his fifth goal of the season at the 17:03 mark.

San Jose scored two goals in the third period to force overtime.

Artemi Kniazev made a backdoor centering pass to a wide open Hamaliuk and he buried a one-timer past Wolf for his second goal of the game.

It was Hamaliuk’s first multi-point game of his AHL career.

The Barracuda scored the equalizer on a three-on-one rush after a turnover by Stockton in their own zone. John Leonard skated in a wired a wrist shot past Wolf for his 13th goal of the season at the 14:15 mark.

Wolf finished the evening stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk made 34 saves on 38 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams did not have a power play opportunity as neither team drew a penalty during the game.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Valimaki 2) Pettersen 3) Philp

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday 3/6 at 5:00pm at SAP Center.

Merkley’s late goal propels Barracuda 5-3 over Condors

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The San Jose Barracuda Nick Merkely scores big in the third period to help the Barracuda defeat the Bakersfield Condors at Solar4America Ice at San Jose on Wed Mar 2, 2022 (nhl.com file photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE —Nick Merkely is getting hot right when his team needs him to.

The former first round draft pick scored with the game winning goal with 1:35 left in the third period to give the San Jose Barracuda a 5-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday evening at Solar4America Ice at San Jose.

San Jose has won two out of its last three games. Bakersfield has lost two games in a row.

Merkley, who is on a three-game goal streak after being goal less in his previous 13, skated out in front from behind the net, spun around and fired a wrist shot from close range past Condor’s goalie Stuart Skinner for his ninth goal of the season at the 18:25 mark. Santeri Hatakka and Patrick Holway recorded assists on the game winning goal.

San Jose (16-28-1-0) drew first blood on the power play in the first minute of the opening period. A nice give and go between John Leonard and Jake McGrew led to Leonard sneaking a shot through the five-hole of Skinner for his 12th goal of the season at the 1:15 mark.

Bakersfield (22-13-4-5) answered back when Yanni Kaldis’ shot from the point went off the skate of James Hamblin through a sea of traffic in front of ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Emond for Hamblin’s 13th goal of the season at the 7:28 mark.

The Condors gained their first lead a minute into the second period. Raphael Lavoie sent the puck up the point where Phillip Broberg’s wrist shot hit off the post and into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.

The Barracuda responded back with their second power play goal near the halfway mark of the middle frame. Artemi Kniazev found Joachim Blichfeld at the Condors blue line. Blichfeld skated in and beat Skinner with a wrist shot top shelf to the far side for his 16th goal of the season at the 10:14 mark. Emond was credited the secondary assist for his first AHL point.

Blichfeld is second on the ‘Cuda with seven power play goals.

San Jose regained the lead over three minutes later. A misplay by Skinner led to Mark Alt’s shot from the point being redirected by defenseman Nick Cicek for his third goal of the season at the 12:54 mark.

Cicek played in his first game back after missing the past 14 straight games with a lower body injury. He broke a 10-game goal less draught.

Bakersfield responded to even the game just 20 seconds later. A two-on-one rush inside the ‘Cuda zone led to Kaldis finding Hamblin for a second time. Hamblin’s quick one-timer beat Emond for his second goal of the game and 14th goal of the season.

Kniazev scored an empty net goal as time expired to seal the deal for San Jose.

Emond finished the evening stopping 23 of 26 shots to earn the victory. Skinner made 24 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0-for-3.

This was San Jose’s first win in regulation since January 23 when they beat Bakersfield 5-2.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Merkley 2) Hamblin 3) Cicek

UP NEXT: San Jose faces their NorCal rival the Stockton Heat on Saturday 3/5 at 6:00pm at Stockton Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: SJ looking to make amends vs. Bakersfield tonight at Sharks Ice

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Read em and weep the San Jose Barracuda’s final numbers against the Bakersfield Condors last Wed Feb 23, 2022 at SAP Center in San Jose. The Barracuda host the Condors for the second straight Wednesday on Mar 2, 2022 at Sharks Ice in San Jose (image from San Jose Barracuda)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Tough going for the San Jose Barracuda (15-28-1-0) who allowed three goals in the first ten minutes against the high flying Bakersfield Condors (21-12-4-4) resulting later in a 6-3 loss at the SAP Center in San Jose last Wednesday.

#2 Jayden Halbgewachs scored his 13 and 14th goals this season and reached 30 points there are those games where Halbgewachs has a good offensive night.

#3 Last Wednesday Lane Pederson picked up two assists since being assigned to the Barracuda last Tuesday last week.

#4 Nick Merkley did it again scoring his second goal of the season last Wednesday against the Condors. Merkley scored for the second game after previously going without a goal in 13 straight games.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Condors once again this Wednesday night at Sharks Ice in San Jose for a 7:00 pm face off can the Barracuda overcome the Condors this time?

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcasts each Tuesday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors power past Barracuda 6-3

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The San Jose Barracuda dropped their ninth out ten games against the Bakersfield Condors on Wed Feb 23, 2022 at SAP Center in San Jose (image from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE— When you play with fire you usually get burned.

The San Jose Barracuda got into penalty trouble and the Bakersfield Condors made them pay in a convincing 6-3 win on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose have lost nine of its last 10 games. Bakersfield snapped its three-game losing streak.

The Condors were in control from the start of the game and forced the Barracuda to chase the game early on, which they could not recover from.

Bakersfield (21-12-4-4) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Luke Esposito centered a pass from the behind the net over to Raphael Lavoie who roofed a wrist shot to the short side past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his 12th goal of the season at the 4:46 mark.

The Condors doubled its lead on the power play under two minutes later. Yanni Kaldis set up Seth Griffith who sniped home a wrist shot for his team leading 18th goal of the season at the 6:22 mark.

Griffith, the AHL’s fifth leading scorer, has been on a hot streak with 16 points over his past 12 games. He has 14 points in 14 games against San Jose.

Bakersfield scored its third unanswered goal of the period near the halfway mark of the opening frame. Michael Kesselring’s shot from the right point was redirected past Melnichuk by James Hamblin for his 12th goal of the season at the 9:18 mark.

“We came out flat against a team and they took advantage of it,” ‘Cuda head coach Sommer said. “They basically put the game away in two periods and sat back in the third (period).”

San Jose (15-28-1-0) answered back with a power play goal late in the period. Nick Merkley centered a pass from behind the net and Jayden Halbgewachs beat Condor’s goalie Stuart Skinner with a one-timer to the short side for his 13th goal of the season at the 15:16 mark.

Bakersfield regained its three-goal lead 27 seconds into the second period. Dmitri Samorukov centered a pass to a trailing Dino Kambeitz who fired home a wrist shot past Melnichuk for his sixth goal of the season. Kambeitz has scored in back-to-back games.

The Condors continued their dominance with its second power play goal of the game. Dylan Holloway set up Griffith along the right slot and Griffith blasted a shot past Melnichuk for his second goal of the game and 19th of the season at the 3:24 mark.

Halbgewachs scored his second goal of the game when he cleaned up a rebound off of a Jake McGrew shot for his 14th goal of the season at the 8:19 mark.

Bakersfield responded back right away as a turnover in the neutral zone led to a break for the Condors. Cooper Marody set up Tim Schaller who beat Melnichuk with a wrist shot for his seventh goal of the season at the 9:57 mark.

“Without scoring, without defending down in our own end, we’re not going to win games. Right now (we need) everybody trying to buy in and we gotta give it our all to win games. We keep coming up short,” Halbgewachs said.

Sommer pulled Melnichuk after giving six goals on 15 shots and replaced him with Zachary Emond.

San Jose scored its second power play goal of the game near the halfway mark of the third period. Merkley skated in from the left wing a wired a wrist shot to the far side past Skinner for his eighth goal of the season at the 8:19 mark.

Merkley has scored in back-to-back games for the ‘Cuda.

Skinner, the ‘Cuda killer, finished the game stopping 21 of the 24 shots he faced to earn the victory. Emond made was perfect in mop up duty stopping all seven shots he faced.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Bakersfield was 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Griffith 2) Halbgewachs 3) Schaller

Center Lane Pederson recorded two assists in his first game with San Jose since being placed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks and being assigned to the Barracuda on Tuesday as the Sharks recalled Jasper Weatherby.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Bakersfield battle it out again next Wednesday 3/2 at 7:00pm at Solar4America Ice.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda return home to face Bakersfield; SJ has won two of their last three games

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The San Jose Barracuda right winger Nick Merkley scored his first goal in 13 games against the Texas Stars on Sun Feb 20, 2022 in Cedar Park Tx (file photo from nhl.com)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Texas Stars (15-18-5-4) who were down 1-0 to the San Jose Barracuda (15-27-1-0) came back and scored four unanswered goals at the H-E-B Center. How does Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer address the defense at this juncture?

#2 Barracuda goaltender Zach Emond in his fifth AHL game stopped a career high 38 shots out of 40 in Sunday’s game.

#3 The Barracuda’s Nick Merkley who went without scoring a goal in 13 games found the back end of the net with a goal in the second period his seventh of the season to start Sunday’s game.

#4 Marko, one thing you could say for the Barracuda they’re improving on the penalty kill. On Sunday they killed off four Stars power plays making that 19 straight penalty kills.

#5 The Barracuda are back at it again when they host the Bakersfield Condors at SAP Center for a 7 PM face off. The Barracuda have won two of their last three games.

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

Stars scored three goals in the third period upend Barracuda 4-1

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San Jose Barracuda can’t defend against the Texas Stars barrage of goals in their three goal loss on Sun Feb 20, 2022 at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

CEDAR PARK, Texas — A much tighter game resulted in a different result.

The Texas Stars scored three goals in the third period en route to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday afternoon at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose have lost eight out its last nine games. Texas have won two of its past three games. San Jose finished 2-2 in the season series against Texas.

It was a much tighter game played between the two teams compared to the wild 13 combined goals the previous night.

The first period featured a scoreless 20 minutes. Both teams had 11 shots a piece as the official scorer added a shot to the Barracuda during the intermission.

San Jose (15-27-1-0) had the only power play opportunity during the opening frame but weren’t able to capitalize on their chance.

Texas (15-18-5-4) had the best scoring chance in the first period when Fredrik Karlstorm had his breakaway attempted stoned away by ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Edmond with 3:18 remaining.

The Barracuda drew first blood in the first minute of the second period. Jayden Halbgewachs set up Nick Merkley in the left slot. The former first round draft pick skated in and sniped home a wrist shot past Stars goalie Matt Jurusik for his seventh goal of the season at the :58 mark.

Merkley snapped a 13-game goal less draught.

Texas answered back late in the middle frame. A shot from the point by Jerad Rosburg was initially stopped by Emond but the rebound was put into an open net by Jeremy Gregoire for his seventh goal of the season at the 16:05 mark.

The Stars dominated the Barracuda in the middle frame as the outshot them 17-3 and controlled the majority of the play.

Texas gained their first lead of the game a second after their power play expired early in the third period. Ben Gleason sent a back pass from the left end boards out to Joel L’Esperance who wired a wrist shot past the five-hole of Emond for his 16th goal at the 3:31 mark.

The Stars iced the game with two empty net goals in the final minute. Ty Dellanrea scored his 11th goal of the season at the 19:14 mark and Rosburg scored his first of the season with nine seconds left.

Jurusik finished the game stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced to earn the victory. Edmon, who made his first start since mid-December, made 38 saves on 40 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play. Texas was 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) L’Esperance 2) Gregoire 3) Merkley

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda snap losing streak with wild 7-6 shootout win over Stars

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San Jose Barracuda players congratulate each other after one goal win over the Texas Stars at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Sat Feb 19, 2022 (San Jose Barracuda image)

by Marko Ukalovic

CEDAR PARK, Texas —Roy Sommer can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The San Jose Barracuda blew a two-goal lead late in the third period but finally gave their head coach a reason to smile with a 7-6 shootout victory over the Texas Stars on Saturday evening at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose snapped its season worst seven-game losing streak (as well as a six-game road losing streak). Texas has lost four of its past five games.

San Jose (15-26-1-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Kyle Topping sent a rink wide pass over to Cole Moberg in the left faceoff circle. Moberg snapped a wrist shot to the far side past Stars goalie Adam Scheel for his second goal of the season at the 5:45 mark.

Texas (14-18-5-4) answered back immediately on the ensuing faceoff. Joseph Cecconi sprung Jeremy Gregoire on a breakaway with a home run pass from his own zone. Gregoire skated in on ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk and beat him with a wrist shot for his sixth goal of the season 15 seconds later at the 6:00 mark.

The Stars gained their first lead of the game seconds after the Barracuda had killed off a penalty. Fredrik Karlstrom found Ryan Shea atop at the point. Shea fired wrist shot top shelf past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 17:56 mark.

San Jose evened the score in the early in the second period. Sasha Chmelevski made a back pass to Mark Alt along the left slot. Alt fired a wrist shot past Scheel for his third goal of the season at the 4:00 mark.

Texas countered over three minutes later. Karlstrom skated in a breakaway and his initial shot was saved by Melnichuk. However, Karlstrom cleaned up his own rebound as he lifted the puck over the right pad of Melnichuk for his eighth goal of the season at the 7:42 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer on the power play late in the middle frame. Joachim Blichfeld found Artemi Kniazev up at the right point. The 21-year defenseman blasted a slapshot past a screened Scheel for his second goal of the season at the 14:45 mark.

The Barracuda scored their third goal of the period 31 seconds later to regain the lead. Chmelevski led a two-on-one with Santeri Hatakka. Chmelevski dished the puck over to Hatakka and the Finnish defenseman sniped home a wrist shot top shelf to the far side for his first career goal in North America at the 15:16 mark.

Stars head coach Neil Graham pulled Scheel after allowing four goals on 18 shots and replaced him with backup netminder Matt Jurusik.

San Jose went up 5-3 with their third unanswered goal after killing a penalty. Jasper Weatherby cleared the puck up to Topping just as he exited the penalty box and sprung him on a breakaway. Topping made a backhand to forehand move to beat Jurusik to the far side for a highlight reel goal, his first goal of the season at the 18:21 mark.

Topping snapped a 24-game goal less draught and both of his career AHL goals have come in the H-E-B Center against the Stars.

Texas cut the lead to a one-goal game near the halfway mark of the third period when Anthony Louis sent a wrist shot off the crossbar and into the back of the net for his 14th goal of the season at the 9:27 mark.

San Jose scored an insurance goal with its second power play goal of the game. Blichfeld sent a shot the caromed from behind the net out to the left side where John Leonard quickly snapped home a wrist shot past Jurusik for his 11th goal of the season at the 13:34 mark.

The Stars closed the gap to a one-goal lead for the second time in the game when Curtis McKenzie cleaned up a rebound with a backhander past Melnichuk for his 13th goal of the season at the 17:28 as Texas pulled Jurusik for an extra attacker.

Ty Dellandrea sent the game into overtime when he scored his 10th goal of the game with 21 seconds left in the third period.

The overtime session featured six combined shots but no goals.

Blichfeld scored the only goal in the three-round shootout to clinch it for San Jose.

Melnichuk finished the evening stopping 33 of the 39 shots, including going a perfect three for three in the shootout, he faced to earn the victory. He snapped a six-game winless draught. Jurusik made nine saves on 11 shots in mop up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-4 on the power play. Texas was 0-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Blichfeld 2) McKenzie 3) Shea

UP NEXT: San Jose and Texas conclude their two-game series on Sunday 2/20 at 3:00pm at H-E-B- Center at Cedar Park

Gulls second period blitz take down Barracuda 5-1

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It wasn’t even close as the San Diego Gulls get a four goal game win over the San Jose Barracuda at the SAP Center in San Jose on Wed Feb 16, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Never underestimate the fourth line.

All three forwards on the San Diego Gulls fourth line scored a goal en route to a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost a season worst seven games. San Diego has won three out of its last four games and snapped a four-game losing streak on the road.

San Diego (16-20-2-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Brayden Tracey sent a rink wide pass over to Brent Gates Jr and he blistered a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:17 mark.

Gates Jr. has three goals in his past two games versus San Jose.

San Jose (14-26-1-0) answered back on the power play late in the opening 20 minutes. Joachim Blichfeld received the puck just outside the right faceoff circle from Artemi Kniazev. Blichfeld fired a wrist shot past a screened Gulls goalie Lukas Dostal for his 15th goal of the season at the 14:37 mark.

Blichfeld snapped a six-game goal less draught.

San Diego regained the lead in the first five minutes of the second period. A turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone led to Vinni Letteri centered a pass to Lucas Elvenes all alone in front of the crease. Elvenes, who was shaken up earlier on the play, cashed in on his own rebound for his fifth goal of the season, and third in a Gulls uniform, at the 4:43 mark.

The Gulls went up 3-1 at the halfway mark of the middle frame. Hunter Drew gathered the puck from behind the net and his shot attempt went off the skate of ‘Cuda defenseman Cole Moberg into the back of the net for Drew’s eighth goal of the season at the 10:16 mark.

San Diego scored its third unanswered goal in the period moments after their power play opportunity ended. Nikolas Brouillard’s shot from the left point was tipped in by Greg Printz for his sixth goal of the season at the 13:29 mark.

San Jose had a five-on-three power play opportunity late in the period when Brendan Guhle went off for boarding at the 17:45 mark. However, San Diego was able to kill off both penalties and almost scored a short-handed goal if it weren’t for a timely save by Melnichuk on Letteri’s breakaway attempt after just exiting the sinbin.

The Gulls scored early in the third period to ice the game. Elvenes sent a shot from the point that deflected in past Melnichuk for his second goal of the game and sixth of the season at the 3:30 mark.

Dostal finished the game stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk made 18 saves on 23 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. San Diego was 0-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Elvenes 2) Dostal 3) Blichfeld

San Jose finished 1-7 against San Diego in the season series.

San Diego is 7-11-1-0 on the road this season.

‘Cuda forward Evan Weinger had his career best five-game point streak snapped as he was suffered an upper body injury in the third period.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to the Lone Star state to begin a two-games series with the Texas Stars on Saturday 2/19 at 5:00pm at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Lots of shots at Gulls but Barracuda come up short; Can they capitalize Wed nite at SAP?

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Jacob Halbgewachs seen here at one of the San Jose Barracuda morning skates has scored 12 goals and have four goals over his last four games ( file photo from the Athletic)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, tough game on Friday night, the San Jose Barracuda put 45 shots on net against the San Diego Gulls including 22 shots in the third period but couldn’t come up with the win losing by two goals 4-2 at Pachanga Arena in San Diego.

#2 San Jose’s Jayden Halbgewachs is finding his way around the net he scored his 12th goal of the season on Friday and his fourth in over four games.

#3 The Barracuda’s Evan Weinger scored his eighth goal of the season and has a five game point streak going.

#4 The Gulls Brent Gates Jr scored his third and fourth goals getting his first multi career goal.

#5 The action returns to the SAP Center in San Jose on Wed Feb 16th when the Gulls pay the Barracuda a visit will home ice help the Cuda in this match up?

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

Barracuda suffer sixth straight defeat in 4-2 loss to Gulls

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San Jose Barracuda can’t keep up with the San Diego Gulls on Fri Feb 11, 2022 at Pachanga Arena in San Diego (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Gulls did just enough to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-2 on Friday evening at the Pechanga Arena San Diego.

San Jose has lost a season worst six games in a row. San Diego has won two out of its past three games.

The opening 20 minutes was deadlocked at zero as teams looked like they had a week off as they used the first period to shake off of some of the rust in their first game back since the all-star break.

Both teams found their legs in a wild second period that featured a combined five goals.

San Diego (15-20-2-0) drew first blood early in the middle frame. Hunter Drew scored his seventh goal of the season at the 2:38 mark. Jack Badini and Jacob Larsson help set up the game’s opening goal.

San Jose (14-25-1-0) answered back on the next shift just 21 seconds later. Adam Raska set up Evan Weinger who scored his eighth goal of the season at the 2:59 mark.

The game went back and forth as all five goals were scored before the midway mark of the period.

The Gulls regained the lead when Brent Gates Jr. scored his third goal of the season at the 4:27 mark. Vinni Lettieri and Brendan Guhle were credited with helpers.

The Barracuda responded under four minutes later when Jayden Halbgewachs scored his 12th goal of the season at the 8:02 mark. Jasper Weatherby received the only assist on Halbgewachs’ goal.

Halbgewachs has scored a goal in four straight contests.

San Diego answered back immediately as Gates Jr. scored his second goal of the game just 17 seconds later at the 8:19 mark. Kodie Curran and former ‘Cuda defenseman Trevor Carrick set up Gates Jr. fourth goal of the season.

San Jose tried for the equalizer late in the third period when they pulled goalie Alexei Melnichuk for an extra attacker, but San Diego held down the fort as time expired.

Greg Printz iced the game for San Diego with an empty net goal, his fifth of the season, with 43 seconds remaining in the game.

Gulls’ goalie Lukas Dostal had an impressive evening in between the pipes as he stopped 43 of the 45 shots he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk made 18 saves on 21 shots in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-4 on the power play. San Diego was 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Gates Jr. 2) Dostal 3) Drew

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host San Diego on Wednesday 2/16 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.