Category: AHL

Heat third period goals put away Barracuda 5-2

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photo from sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

The Stockton Heat are proving themselves to be a power house in the Pacific Division. They used two goals in the third period to put a close game out of reach in a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday evening at Stockton Arena.

Despite putting up a season high of 49 shots on goal, San Jose has dropped three out of their last four games and were swept in their weekend series with their NorCal rival. Stockton has won four in a row and sit in second place with 37 points.

Stockton (17-5-1-2) got off to a fast start in the first period when Matthew Phillips scored his second goal in two games against San Jose. Brandon Davidson and Byron Forese assisted on Phillips’ 11th goal of the season at the 1:17 mark.

Heat goalie Jon Gillies made his presence known in the opening 20 minutes as he stopped all 21 ‘Cuda shots he faced in frustrating San Jose’s offensive attack.

Stockton jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 30 seconds into the second period. Alan Quine skated up from the right wing back up towards the blue line where he found Buddy Robinson alone on the left wing. Robinson then fired a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge for his 12th goal of the season.

San Jose (9-13-0-2) cut the lead in half at the mid-point of the second period. Manny Weiderer won a faceoff inside the Heat zone back up to Thomas Gregoire. Gregoire quickly fed a pass up to Nick DeSimone at the point and the ‘Cuda defenseman rocketed a shot top-shelf into the upper left corner of the net beating Gillies for his second goal of the season at the 10:06 mark.

Stockton regained their two-goal lead just four seconds into their power play with Jayden Halbgewachs in the sinbin for hooking. Glenn Gawdin won the faceoff draw back up to the point to Justin Kirkland. The left winger sent in a wrist shot that change direction on Shortridge when it was deflected off Trevor Carrick’s body and sneaked into the back of the net for Kirkland’s fifth goal of the season at the 15:01 mark.

The ‘Cuda once again cut the lead back to a one-goal deficit 68 seconds later when Maxim Letunov skated in from the behind the net and centered a back-door pass to a crashing Lukas Radil, who tapped home the puck to the left side of Gillies for his first goal as a member of the Barracuda and fifth of his AHL career at the 16:09 mark. Radil now has points in both games he has played in with the ‘Cuda this season.

Stockton put the game away with two goals in the first eight minutes of the third period.

Adam Ruzicka led a rush from his own blue line and found Alex Gallant in the neutral zone. Gallant raced down the left wing and from a tough angle sniped home the puck on the short side of Shortridge for his second goal of the season at the 4:27 mark.

Then four minute later Quine fed a pass down low to Gawdin who centered the puck over to Phillips in the middle of slot and he snapped a home a one-timer top-shelf in the upper left corner for his second goal of the evening and 12th of the season at the 8:47 mark.

Gillies stopped 47 of the 49 shots the ‘Cuda peppered him with to earn his sixth victory on the season. The 47 saves were the second most of Gillies’ career. Shortridge, whose bad luck in between the pipes continues, made 22 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-6 on the power play. Stockton was 1-for-3.

DeSimone snapped a 15 game goal-less drought with his goal in the middle frame.

Letunov’s assist on Radil’s goal gives him 20 points on the season to lead the Barracuda in scoring and has points in 10 of his last 11 games.

The announced attendance was 3,344.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Ontario Reign on Wednesday 12/18 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Heat outlast Barracuda 3-2

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Photo credit: @AHLHeat

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The third act of the NorCal rivalry between the Stockton Heat and the San Jose Barracuda went the Heat’s way as they jumped out to a two-goal lead and then hung on for a 3-2 victory on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

The Heat have now won three games in a row and currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division with 35 points, five points behind the division-leading Tucson Roadrunners. The loss for San Jose snapped a three-game point streak and they are 2-1-0-1 in the month of December. Stockton is 3-0 against San Jose this season.

This was the first game without Roy Sommer behind the bench for the ‘Cuda as he was promoted this past Wednesday to be an associate coach with the parent club Sharks. Michael Chiasson and Jimmy Bonneau now serve as co-coaches of the team.

Stockton (16-5-1-2) drew first blood early in the first period with its number one power play in the league. Glenn Gaudin sent a shot in from the left wing that partially deflected to the right of ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar. Luke Philp collected the puck all alone in front of the crease and tapped home the puck into an empty net for his 11th goal of the season at the 5:07 mark. Philp has scored a goal in five straight games and has seven goals in the past five goals.

San Jose (9-12-0-2) evened the score 68 seconds into the second period. Lukas Radil, playing in his first game since being reassigned by the Sharks, centered the puck out in front of the crease from behind the net. During a mad scramble in front of the crease, Maxim Letunov poked at the puck and it deflected off a Heat defender’s skate into the back of the bet for Letunov’s seventh goal of the season. Sasha Chmelevski, who was in the middle of the scrum, was credited with the secondary assist.

“Today I played many minutes,” Radil said after the game. “It’s good for me to get back in (to playing) shape. I’m really glad to get the opportunities (to still play in San Jose). I like playing here.”

The Heat regained the lead late in the middle frame. Andrew Nielsen led a rush into the ‘Cuda zone and fed a pass over to Justin Kirkland. He skated down the left board and sent a tough angle shot on Korenar, who kicked out the rebound into the middle of the ice where Matthew Phillips cashed in the rebound as his shot rolled off the arm of Korenar into the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season at the 16:14 mark.

Stockton received an insurance goal in the third period. A turnover by the ‘Cuda in the neutral zone fed Adam Ruzicka at the red line and he skated all the way in from the left wing with a power move, fighting off Thomas Gregoire at the crease and snapped a backhander past Kornear for his fourth goal of the season at the 7:05 mark.

San Jose cut the deficit to a one when Danil Yurtaykin skated in from the blueline down the right wing making a move around a Heat defender as he centered the puck over to Ivan Chekhovich. The rookie forward fired home a one-timer past Heat goalie Artyom Zagidulin for just his second goal of the season at the 11:45 mark. Chekhovich snapped a 13-game goal-less drought.

“It was great to see Checko (Chekhovich) get on the board,” said Bonneau regarding the rookie’s goal-less skid. “(He’s a) talented kid, works hard. (We’re hoping for) things to just get going for him.”

A key moment in the game came with seven minutes left in the third period was when San Jose had a 5-on-3 power play opportunity for 18 seconds but weren’t able to cash as the number three penalty kill in the AHL stifled the ‘Cuda power play.

“Limit the turnovers. I think we had a little more than we should’ve had in the third period. I think when we’re good on our forecheck, that’s when we are successful,” said Letunov.

The ‘Cuda pulled Korenar for an extra attacker with two minutes left in the game, but Stockton’s defense kept San Jose’s attack at bay.

“Our neutral zone (play) both offensively and defensively need a little work. I thought we struggled to keep our lines together a little bit, shifts were extended. The quicker we can get out of our zone the more we can get stability in that,” said Bonneau.

Zagidulin finished the afternoon with making 21 saves on 23 shots as he is now 11-1-1 on the season. Korenar stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced in a valiant but losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-4 on the power play. Stockton was 1-for-4.

The last time Stockton won in San Jose before today was back in October of 2018.

Jonny Brodzinski had his six-game point streak come to an end as he was kept off the scoreboard.

The announced attendance was 3,465.

UP NEXT: The two teams complete their weekend series Sunday, December 15 up in Stockton at 5:00 pm at Stockton Arena.

Carrick’s first career hat trick helps Barracuda down Condors 6-2

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On an eventful day that saw changes made within the parent club, the San Jose Barracuda took care of business with the help of Trevor Carrick’s first career hat trick in a 6-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on an emotional Friday evening at SAP Center.

This was the last ‘Cuda game with head coach Roy Sommer behind the bench as there was a big shakeup within the San Jose Sharks organization with the firing of Peter DeBoer earlier in the afternoon. Sommer has been promoted to as Sharks interim head coach and Bob Boughner as an associate coach. Assistant coaches Michael Chiasson and Jimmy Bonneau will share the ‘Cuda head coaching duties.

“It was kind of a shock really,” said Sommer about learning of his promotion to the Sharks. “But hey that’s what you wait around 23 years for. I’m gonna miss these guys. I’ll be at a lot of games. I mean we’re right next door.”

San Jose is now 3-2 against the Bakersfield in the season series and snapped a two-game losing streak against the Condors. With the win, the ‘Cuda have 20 points and jumped ahead into sixth place past San Diego in the Pacific Division. They are only one point behind the Condors for fifth place.

Bakersfield (9-11-2-1) jumped on San Jose right out of the gate. A clearing attempt by Jacob Middleton was knocked down by Joe Gambardella, The Condor left winger then quickly centered a pass through the crease over to Kailer Yamamoto and his one-timer beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his sixth goal of the season 13 seconds into the game. It was the second fastest goal to be scored against San Jose in franchise history.

San Jose (9-11-0-2) responded over three minutes later. Joachim Blichfeld led a 2-on-1 odd man rush with Jonny Brodzinski. Blichfeld crossed it over to Brodzinski and the Minnesota native delayed before wiring a wrist shot through the five-hole of Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:56 mark.

The line of Brodzinski, Blichfeld and Kellman have quickly become the top scoring line for San Jose and the three teammates have created quite the chemistry with one another.

“You know really clicking with the linemates. We’ve been feeding off each other. I feel like we’re very similar players. When you get guys on a line like that, special things can happen. It pays off on the scoresheet,” said Brodzinski.

Korenar settled down as he was tested often in the opening 20 minutes. He made two huge saves eight minutes in when he stoned Brad Malone’s breakaway chance and the subsequent rebound chance by Gambardella.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead on an identical 2-on-1 odd man rush. Sasha Chmelevski led the rush with Lean Bergmann, who played in his first game since being reassigned to the ‘Cuda. The Hunington Beach native looked Bergmann’s way before firing a wrist shot top-shelf on the short side for his third goal of the season at the 11:37 mark.

Despite outshooting San Jose 15-12, Bakersfield found themselves down by a goal at the first intermission.

San Jose carried the momentum of the first period right into the beginning of the middle frame as they scored two goals in a 45 second span during the first five minutes.

Jeffery Viel centered a pass in between the faceoff circles over to Carrick. Carrick skated in and lifted a backhander underneath the arm on the stick side of Skinner for his third goal of the season at the 3:58 mark.

“It’s fun! This is my first one since minor hockey,” said Carrick regarding the last time he scored a hat trick. “I kind of forgot what it felt like. It felt good and it was good to see the boys pretty fired up for me.”

The third unanswered goal chased Skinner from the contest. He was replaced by back up goalie Dylan Wells. Skinner gave up three goals on just 13 shots.

Then, Keaton Middleton fired a wrist shot on Wells, his first shot he faced, and he couldn’t corral the rebound as Jayden Halbegwachs crashed the net and cashed in the rebound top-shelf past Wells for his seventh goal of the season at the 4:43 mark.

The Condors cut its deficit to a two-goal game when a shot from the point by Jake Kulevich deflected off a body in front of the crease. Gambardella picked up the loose puck, turned around and snapped a wrist shot through a sea of traffic past Korenar for his fifth goal of the season at the 8:43 mark.

The ‘Cuda regained their three-goal lead under five minutes later. Blichfeld made a turn around wing-to-wing pass over to Brodzinski, who immediately found Carrick at the left point, and Carrick blasted a one-time past Wells for his second goal of the period and fourth of the season at the 13:03 mark. It was the first multi-goal game for the defenseman out of Stouffville, Ontario.

San Jose dominated the second period as they outshot Bakersfield 14-9.

Carrick earned the hat trick while San Jose was short-handed. An error, a drop pass by Joel Persson was turned over to Alex True who skated into the Condor zone and dropped it back to Carrick, who fired a wrist shot far side in the upper left corner for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:26 mark. This was the first hat trick for the ‘Cuda this season.

“It was one of those weird games. I think I had three shots on net and all three went in. The puck was going in my favor there,” said Carrick.

It’s been literally an up and down season for Carrick, who has spent time with the Sharks this season after coming over in a trade from the Charlotte Checkers on August 9th.

“It was kind of a different start for me being up and down with the injuries (to the Sharks blueline). It’s always tough coming to a new organization, new coaching staff, new personnel and stuff like that. I’m definitely feeling a lot more comfortable,” said Carrick.

Korenar finished the night with 37 saves on 39 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Wells made 19 saves on 22 shots in mop-up duty.

As great as Carrick’s game was, this night belonged to Sommer, coaching in his last AHL game.

“It was a special night for him (Sommer). He’s a great coach. It’s sad to see him go, but it’s a great opportunity for him and he deserves it,” said Brodzinski.

GAME NOTES:San Jose was 0/1 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/2.

Brodzinski with his goal has a six-game point streak.

Halbgewachs has scored a goal in three straight games and five in his last six.

Carrick’s hat trick was the first one by a defenseman in franchise history. The last ‘Cuda hat trick was back on March 9, 2018 when captain John McCarthy scored three goals against the Cleveland Monsters at SAP Center.

The announced attendance was 3,186.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Stockton Heat on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 1:15 pm at SAP Center in the first game of a two-game weekend series.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda need to find a way to stop unanswered goals, face Bakersfield tonight at SAP Center

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (8-11-0-2) couldn’t hold the lead in their last game against the Ontario Reign (11-11-2-0), scoring four unanswered goals

#2 This is not the typical way that Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer wants to lose a game. The loss marks the fourth time in seven games the Cuda have lost.

#3 Cuda goaltender Josef Korenar stopped 42 shots, but lost the game. It was his highest total of saves this season.

#4 The Barracuda’s Jonny Brodzenski has been a bright spot. He has a five-game point streak going along with two goals and five assists.

#5 The Cuda host the Bakersfield Condors (9-10-2-1) tonight at SAP Center. It’s going to be a barnburner. The Condors have won three straight and the Cuda have won one game in their last three games.

Marko is a Barracuda beat writer and joins Sports Talk every Wednesday for the Cuda podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Reign storm back to upend Barracuda in 5-4 shootout win

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda took the foot of the gas pedal after the first period and it came back to bite them as the Ontario Reign scored four unanswered goals en route to a 5-4 shootout victory Saturday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose ended up taking three out of the four points in the weekend series against their SoCal rival. However after posting a three-goal first period, the ‘Cuda will look back on a game that were in control of and let slip away.

The Barracuda (8-11-0-2) drew first blood on the power play early in the first period.  Joel Kellman won a face off over to Jonny Brodzinski, who sent the puck back up to the point where Thomas Gregoire collected it. The ‘Cuda defenseman skated back toward the middle, where his wrist shot went through a sea of traffic in front of Reign goalie Cal Petersen into the back of the net for Gregoire’s third goal of the season at the 6:20 mark.

San Jose doubled its lead six minutes later when Brodzinski led a rush into the Reign zone, where he sent a cross-ice pass over to a streaking Kellman and he buried a one-timer past Petersen for his third goal of the season at the 12:10 mark.

Just under two minutes later Gregoire fed a pass over to Alex True in the right slot and he in turn sent a cross ice pass over to Jayden Halbgewachs, who fired a one-timer past Petersen, in a similar goal to Kellman’s, for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:13 mark. Halbgewachs has scored in back-to-back games for the ‘Cuda.

Ontario (11-11-2-0) scored the last goal of the period on the power play when Gabe Vilardi had a nice give-and go with Kale Clague inside the ‘Cuda zone. From the point, Clague snapped a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his fifth goal of the season at the 16:35 mark.

San Jose dominated the opening 20 minutes outshooting Ontario 12-8 and had the ice tilted in their favor for most of the period.

The second period didn’t see a goal being scored, but it saw a foreshadow of what would become a third period collapse for San Jose with them going continually going into the sin bin.

Ryan Stanton scored his second goal in as many games after taking a pass from Austin Strand and beat Korenar with a wrist shot at the 6:56 mark.

Ontario scored the equalizer with the man advantage when Clague collected the puck at the left point fed a cross-ice pass over to Martin Frk right above the right faceoff circle and Frk blasted a slap shot past Korenar for his 12th goal of the season at the 8:59 mark. Lance Bouma received the secondary assist.

Then with under four minutes left in the third period, Ontario struck again on the power play for their first lead of the game. Once again, Clauge was the set-up man, this time he sent a cross-ice pass over to Vilardi fired a shot from just above the right slot past Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 15:23 mark.

San Jose didn’t go quietly as Joachim Blichfeld fed a pass over to True, who buried a wrist shot past Petersen for his seventh goal of the season with 1:35 left in the third period to send the game into overtime and eventually the shootout.

In the shootout, both Frk and Vilardi scored for the Reign, while Petersen blanked all three of the Barracuda chances for the win.

Petersen finished the night making 30 saves on 34 shots for his 11th win, and third over San Jose, on the season. For Korenar, he made a career-high 41 saves out of the 45 saves he faced in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/3 on the power play. Ontario was 3/7.

Brodzinski extended his point streak to five games (two goals, five assists) as he collected a goal and an assist.

Blichfeld recorded a pair of assists for his fifth multi-point game of the year and second in as many games and now co-leads the Barracuda in scoring (17).

Gregoire scored and added two assist as he recorded his second three-point night of his career and now co-leads the Barracuda in points (17).

The three power-play goals against matched a season-high for San Jose.

San Jose is now 0-2 in shootouts this year.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda match franchise record in 9-2 onslaught over Reign

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda missed their captain. John McCarthy, who had missed the past three games due to injury, made the most of his return scoring two goals part of seven unanswered goals en route to a 9-2 victory over the Ontario Reign on Friday evening at Toyota Arena. He was one of three ‘Cuda forwards to score two goals in the game.

San Jose matched a franchise-high with the nine-goal outburst, and with their third road win, have 17 points and have tied San Diego for sixth place in the Pacific Division. Ontario is 2-8 in their last 10 games.

San Jose (8-11-0-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Maxim Letunov fed a pass over to Jayden Halbgewachs and he snapped a wrist shot past Reign goalie Cal Petersen for his fifth goal of the season at the 5:40 mark. Thomas Gregoire received the secondary assist.

McCarthy scored the first of his two goals after San Jose gained momentum killing a penalty. Seconds after Keaton Middleton’s trip to the sin bin expired, Jeffery Viel led a rush into the Reign zone where centered a pass over the ‘Cuda captain where he buried a wrist shot top-shelf past Petersen for his third goal of the season at the 15:32 mark.

The ‘Cuda scored their third goal of the period with just 36 seconds left. Sasha Chmelevski sent a shot behind the Reign net, where Letunov collected the puck and quickly wrapped around a shot into the far corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

San Jose shifted into fifth gear in the middle frame. Just 59 seconds into the second period, McCarthy scored a goal when he was able to out-wait Petersen with a sweet backhand shot for his fourth goal of the season. Evan Weinger and Viel received assists on the play.

After a scrap between Trevor Carrick and Lance Bouma, San Jose scored three goals in a 1:16 span. First, Joachim Blichfeld cleaned up his own rebound after an initial save by Petersen for his team-leading eighth goal of the season at 7:43.

That goal would chase Petersen, who had dominated the Barracuda in the first two games between the team earlier this season, as he gave up five goals on just 18 shots in 27:43 of playing time.

Backup goalie Matthew Villalta didn’t even get a chance to finish stretching when Jonny Brodzinski fired a slap shot into the twine for his fourth goal of the season at the 8:04 mark. Brodzinski has scored two goals against his former team in three games.

Alex True joined the scoring party when snapped a wrist shot past Villalta, for his fifth goal of the season at the 8:59 mark. Chmelevski recorded the primary assist for a multi-point game.

Ontario (10-11-2-0) finally erased the zero off the scoreboard when Martin Frk shot the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge from close range just underneath the crossbar for his 11th goal of the season at the 10:46 mark.

San Jose outshot Ontario 13-5 and completely tilted the ice in their favor after 40 minutes in a dominating period.

Ontario scored their second goal in the third period. Mikey Eyssimont centered a pass over to Ryan Stanton and snapped home the puck into the back of the net for his first goal with the Reign and his first goal in his last 30 games at the 7:08 mark.

San Jose regained their six-goal lead when Brodzinski led a 2-on-1 odd man rush with Blichfeld after a turnover. Blichfeld cut back into the slot before burying the puck Villalta for second goal of the night and ninth goal of the season at the 14:35 mark.

True scored his second goal of the contest 61 seconds later at the 15:36 mark. Danil Yurataykin and Jeremy Roy registered assists on True’s sixth goal of the season.

Shortridge, finally getting a smorgasbord of goal support, finished the game with 22 saves on 24 shots to earn his second win of the season. Villalta made 13 saves on 17 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/1 on the power play. Ontario was also 0/1.

Letunov with his two-point game, extended his point streak to seven games.

San Jose had ten players with multi-point games. The 26 combined points on the nine goals set a franchise record. The nine goals also set a franchise record

UP NEXT: The Barracuda and Reign go at it again on Saturday, December 7 at 6:00 pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to bounce back from loss with game on Friday in Ontario

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Cuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda held the lead in last Friday’s game for much of the way until the Bakersfield Condors came back with two goals in the third period.

#2 In the 4-3 loss, the Barracuda snapped their two-game win streak.

#3 Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease.

#4 Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said the game went south when the Condors were able to score twice after the Cuda had a 2-0 lead they saw evaporate.

#5 The Barracuda try to get back in the win column on Friday, Dec. 6th in Ontario.

Marko is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors’ two-goal third period sinks Barracuda 4-3

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda are becoming a broken record. Get off to a fast start, but allow the opposition to come back. This bad habit once again reared its ugly head as the Bakersfield Condors scored the final two goals of the game en route to a 4-3 victory on Friday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose had their two-game winning streak snapped. With the victory, Bakersfield also snapped their four-game losing streak.

Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease. After a battle with ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar, Marody took possession of the puck and slammed it home for his fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (7-10-0-1) drew first blood at the end of the first period. Lean Bergmann fed a pass over to Sasha Chmelevski then showed off his skating skills coming down the right wing and into the crease where his backhander sneaked past a confused Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 17:11 mark. Thomas Gregoire received the secondary assist.

“I feel like I’m a different player since my injury,” said Chmelevski. “I feel like I’ve been playing with confidence, been playing hard and just want to contribute to the team anyway I can.”

Bakersfield (7-9-2-1) had a golden opportunity to break through earlier when they have a 5-on-3 power play for 1:41 of ice time when Nick DeSimone went off for a delay of game penalty. Maxim Letunov was already in the sinbin for interference 19 seconds earlier.

However, thanks to some key saves by Korenar and some luck from his best friend in the goal post, San Jose killed off both power plays gaining momentum off the kill.

San Jose dominated play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Bakersfield 13-6.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead on the power play less than five minutes into the second period. Jonny Brodzinski fired a shot behind the net where Joel Kellman received the puck. After a bit of a delay, he banked the puck off Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 4:27 mark. The goal snapped a 15 game goalless drought for the Swedish forward.

It didn’t take the Condors to cut the lead in half. Kirill Maksimov fed a pass over to the Dmitri Samorukov at the right point. The Russian defenseman skated into the slot and wired a quick wrist shot beating Korenar to the short side in the lower right corner for his first professional goal of his career just 27 seconds later at the 4:54 mark.

“It went south was right when we make it 2-0 and they scored on their next shift to make it 2-1,” said Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer. “Then with 50 seconds left in the second period, they win the draw and the puck bounces over our head and goes in the net, 2-2.

Just when it looked like the San Jose was going to head into the second intermission with a lead, an innocent looking wrist shot from the point by Evan Bouchard hit off the arm of Korenar and floated up in the air behind him where Ryan McLeod cashed in the rebound for his third goal of the season with 50 seconds left in the middle frame.

“You work for your breaks and I thought the compete was there but I don’t know how many pucks we turned over through the neutral zone…at least 15 where we could have had it in behind him and maybe created something and that’s something we’ve got to look at,” said Sommer.

The ‘Cuda regained the lead in the opening minutes of the third period when Letunov had control of the puck near the right board. He made some nifty puck-handling moves around two Condors defenders before firing a shot on net that was initially saved by Skinner. The puck jumped out to Evan Weinger just to the left of the crease and he tapped home his sixth goal of the season at the 1:57 mark.

However, as we have seen of late, San Jose once again weren’t able to hold on to their lead and close out the game. Just under two minutes later Brad Malone centered a pass out in to the left faceoff circle where Lagesson’s shot was stopped by Korenar, but couldn’t control the rebound. Lagesson was able to get the puck back on his stick and fired it past Korenar, who was out of position, for the equalizer, his second goal of the season, at the 3:28 mark.

“We had a great first period, we got the lead,” said Kellman. “We’re up 2-0 and then something happened when they scored the first goal, I don’t know what, it was 2-2.  Our second period was not that good but I don’t think we got the momentum back in the third. We got up 3-2 and then I don’t know what happened.”

Skinner finished the evening 34 saves on 37 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Korenar allowed four goals on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/3.

FISTICUFFS! Jeffery Viel and Joe Gambardella squared off in a spirited fight 63 seconds into the third period. Each player successfully landed haymakers on one another.

Letunov extended his points streak to six games with the assist on Weinger’s goal.

San Jose is now 6-6-0-0 on home ice. They lead the all-time series against Bakersfield 25-17-2-4.

Three stars of the game:
1. Marody
2. Lagesson
3. Weinger

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Ontario for a weekend series with the Reign starting on Friday, December 7 at 7:00 pm at Toyota Arena.

Halbgewachs the OT hero as Barracuda shoot down Gulls 3-2

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda did something that hasn’t happened very often in their five-year history. The ability to come from behind in a hostile environment. They exorcised those demons with a 3-2 overtime victory over the San Diego Gulls on Thanksgiving Eve at Pachenga Arena in San Diego.

San Jose has won two games in a row and are currently tied with San Diego, who have lost two in a row but earned a point going for going into overtime, for last place in the Pacific Division as both teams currently have 15 points on the season.

It didn’t look good for San Jose late in the third period until Evan Weinger rescued his team with his fifth goal of the season with under four minutes left in regulation. Nick DeSimone and Joel Kellman set up Weinger’s equalizer that came at 16:33 mark.

Then, it only took just over two minutes into the extra session when Maxim Letunov set up Jayden Halbewachs for the game winner. Halbgewachs fired a shot past Gulls goaltender Anthony Stolarz for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:08 mark.

San Diego (7-8-1-0) drew first blood late in the first period when Chris Wideman scored his seventh goal of the season at the 17:31 mark. Isac Lunderstrom and Scott Moldenhauer assisted on Wideman’s tally.

Despite outshooting the Gulls by a 2-to-1 margin 12-6, the ‘Cuda found themselves down 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes.

San Jose (7-10-0-1) tied it up with their hot power play of late. Alexander True sent a pass over to Jonny Brodzinski and the Minnesota native’s shot went into the back of the net for his third goal of the season at the 3:14 mark. Joachim Blichfeld received the secondary assist.

The Gulls regained the lead just over five minutes later when Alex Dostie scored his fifth goal of the season at the 8:28 mark. Dostie has now scored in two consecutive games against the Barracuda. Daniel Sprong and Moldenhauer were credited with the assists, giving Moldenhauer a multi-point game.

‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar finished a light evening, stopping 14 of the 16 shots he faced to earn his sixth victory of the season. Stolarz, in contrast to Korenar had a very busy night, making 38 saves on 41 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/3 on the power play. San Diego was 0/2. The ‘Cuda have scored four goals with the man advantage in their last two games.

The announced attendance was 5,444.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Bakersfield Condors on Friday, November 29 at 6:00 pm at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda look for second straight win tonight in San Diego, a chance to move out of the cellar

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (6-10-0-1) got the bitter taste of defeat from Friday’s game out of their mouth and got the sweet taste of victory on Saturday with a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Eagles.

#2 The Barracuda scored six unanswered goals. Anytime you can light the lamp like that, you’re going to have a good chance to win it.

#3 After losing on Friday, it looks like a sure regroup thing. Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer had a game plan.

#4 The Cuda are trying to work their way out of the bottom of the Pacific Division occupying the cellar, but looking to have more games like they did on Saturday.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Gulls tonight in San Diego. The Cuda have had trouble with San Diego. Marko sets this game up for us.

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