Category: AHL

Barracuda power their way over Eagles 6-2

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photo from sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda didn’t have to wait long to get revenge on the Colorado Eagles. They scored six unanswered goals, including three on the power play, to take down their Pacific Division rival 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

Only 16 hours after a tough 4-1 loss to the same Eagles team, San Jose snapped out of their funk and split the two-game series with Colorado. The ‘Cuda now have 13 points on the season and went 2-2 on their four-game home stand.

San Jose (6-10-0-1) jumped out to another fast start when Alex True sent a pass back up to Thomas Gregoire at the right point. Gregoire threw a wrist shot at the net, where Lean Bergmann deflected the puck past Eagles goalie Antoine Bibeau for his fifth goal of the season at the 2:42 mark of the first period.

Just under four minutes later, San Jose doubled its lead when Joachim Blichfeld intercepted a clearing attempt by Kevin Connauton. Danil Yurtaykin quickly passed it to Joel Kellman and the Swedish forward backhanded a centering pass back to Blichfeld, who fired a one-timer past Bibeau for a tic-tac-toe goal, his team-leading seventh of the season at the 6:36 mark.

The ‘Cuda completed their first period three-goal output on the power play just a little over half way through the opening frame. A give and go passing display between Jonny Brodzinski and Gregoire led to the Quebec native teeing up a slap slot just above the slot that rocketed past Bibeau for Gregoire’s second goal of the season at the 11:10 mark.

Bibeau was sent to the showers during the first intermission as he was replaced by Adam Werner in the second period after giving three goals on 10 shots.

San Jose continued their dominance in the second period scoring two more goals. Just like the first period, both goal came in the first 10 minutes of the period.

Sasha Chmelevski, playing in his first game back since October 30th when he was out with a lower body injury, did some nifty skating into the Eagles zone as he went past two Eagles defenders before putting a backhand shot on goal that Werner stopped but couldn’t handle the rebound. Maxim Letunov’s attempt deflected over to Jeffery Viel who cleaned up the rebound into the back of the net for his fourth goal and San Jose’s second power play goal at the 2:09 mark.

“Yeah it felt great,” said Chmelevski about how healthy he feels. “I didn’t even know if I was going (to play) today with everything that’s been going on (with my injury). I just wanted to help out the team anyway I could and I’m just happy we won.”

Just under three minutes later, Letunov sent a pass behind the net that Evan Weinger collected and fed back to Jayden Halbgewachs, who quickly turned toward the net with a backhander that slid past Werner’s five-hole for Halbgewachs third goal of the season at the 4:53 mark.

Colorado (9-8-0-0) had a chance to score before heading into the second intermission when Jacob Middleton went into the sin-bin for hooking with two minutes left in the middle frame, but San Jose’s penalty kill kept the Eagles from cashing in on their opportunity.

The ‘Cuda made it 6-0 in the third period with their sixth different goal scorer when Chmelevski won a face off over to Halbgewachs. The Saskatchewan native then skated over to the right slot when he snapped a wrist shot that Chmelevski tipped past Werner for his third goal of the season and San Jose’s third power play goal of the game at the 4:27 mark.

“I feel like when we play with passion and like that will, there’s not a lot of teams that can stop us. Today I thought I provided a little bit of a spark for the team. And I thought that’s what we needed to win today,” said Chmelevski.

Colorado broke ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar’s shutout bid with a little help from the referee. A clearing attempt by Keaton Middleton hit off the ref’s skate that allowed the Eagles to sustain pressure inside the zone. After a two point-blank chances by Colin Campbell were stopped by Korenar, the rebound trickled out to a wide-open Erik Condra who tapped it into an empty net for his third goal of the season at the 10:12 mark.

Sheldon Dries completed the scoring when he came crashing in to put home a rebound off a Jayson Megna shot was kicked out to the left of the crease for a power play goal. Dries’ eighth goal of the season came at the 15:50 mark.

Korenar finished the afternoon stopping 39 of the 41 shots he faced for his fifth victory of the season. Werner nine saves on 12 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 3/7 on the power play. Colorado was 1/3. The three power play goals for the ‘Cuda were a season-high.

The three stars of the game were…
1) Chmelevski
2) Korenar
3) Gregoire

The announced attendance was 3,385.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to San Diego to take on the Gulls on Wendesday 11/27 at 7:00 pm at Pechanga Arena.

Eagles take down the Barracuda 4-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda are trying to stay afloat through stormy waters. They put forth a better effort from the other night against Tucson but still ended up on short end of the stick of a 4-1 victory by the Colorado Eagles on Friday evening at the SAP Center.

With the win, Colorado has now won two of their last three games after splitting a two-game series with the Bakersfield Condors last weekend. For San Jose, their woes continue with back-to-back losses and eight out of their last nine games.

Colorado (9-7-0-0) drew first blood in the first period. The Eagles sustained pressure in the ‘Cuda zone as Mark Alt kept the puck in and fed a pass over to Erik Condra. Condra skated near the right slot when he threw a shot on net that was tipped in by Sheldon Dries for his seventh goal of the season at the 6:29 mark.

Despite outshooting the Eagles 11-9 and having some good scoring chances late, the ‘Cuda went into the first intermission down by a goal in a penalty-free opening 20 minutes.

“It’s just tough right now,” said ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We make a mistake and it’s in (the back of) our net. That’s kind how things are going for us right now.”

Colorado doubled its lead just 32 seconds to start the third period. Nick Henry centered a pass from the left faceoff circle over to Julien Nantel, who was all alone camped out just to the right of the crease. After his inital shot was saved by ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge, a Quebec native, put away the rebound chance for fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (5-10-0-1) cut the deficit in half on the power play. From the point, Jeremy Roy fed a pass over to Noah Gregor, who skated in and from the left slot wired a wrist shot that beat Eagles goalie Adam Werner, who was screened on the play by Alex True, for his second goal of the season at the 13:32 mark. Maxim Letunov was credited with the secondary assist.

Gregor’s goal sent the Tank into a frenzy of stuffed animals being thrown onto the ice in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night the ‘Cuda have put on since moving to Silicon Valley from Worcester, Massachusetts five years ago.

“Yeah, it was cool,” said Gregor when asked how it felt to play Santa Claus for one night. “Teddy bear toss games are fun, fun for the fans. It was nice to get the one goal for myself and see the teddies fly (on to the ice).”

Shots were even at 10-10 in the middle frame. One of them Shortridge could have been charged with grand theft when he made a point blank save on Nantel with just over 11 minutes remaining that helped shift the momentum in San Jose’s favor.

San Jose had a golden opportunity to even the game midway through the third period when both Ty Lewis and Kevin Connauton went to the penalty box 63 seconds apart. However, the ‘Cuda sqaundered the 5-on-3 power play as Colorado killed it off and seized back control of the game.

“The bottom line is the five-on-three we don’t score on,” said Sommer. “That was the game right there. That’s kind of (opportunity) what you wait for and (we) didn’t get it done.”

Colorado iced the game with two empty-net goals with under a minute remaining in the game. First, Jacob McDonald fired a long shot from inside his own defensive zone after winning a battle along the boards for his fifth goal at the 19:16 mark. Then, Michael Joly won a race to a loose puck and put the biscuit in the basket for his fifth goal at the 19:31 mark.

Werner stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced to earn his sixth win of the season. Shortridge made 23 saves on 25 shots in their losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/5 on the power play. Colorado was 0/2.

Eagles forward Josh Dickinson left the game with a lower body injury early in the first period.

Fisticuffs! San Jose’s Jacob Middleton and Colorado’s Dan Renouf dropped the gloves in a fight that had two hits, one by Middleton and Renouf hitting the ice after just one punch.

San Jose Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow scored the first ever Teddy Bear Toss goal when he was a member of the ‘Cuda back on November 7th, 2015.

The announced crowd was 3,923.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their four-game homestand on Saturday, November 23 vs. the Eagles at 1:15 pm at SAP Center.

Roadrunners make Barracuda look like Wild E. Coyote in 8-2 thrashing

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Photo credit: @RoadrunnersAHL

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Tucson Roadrunners may have had revenge on their mind as their special teams came out in full force for the Pacific Division leaders as they reversed their fortunes with seven unanswered goals in a 8-2 route of the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

After being humiliated last Saturday night 7-1, Tucson has now won six out of their last seven games. However, San Jose has done the opposite, losing seven out of their last eight games.

San Jose (5-9-0-1) drew first blood 69 seconds to start the game. Alex True led a rush out to Noah Gregor, who skated down the right slot. Gregor then fed a cross-ice pass over to a wide-open Evan Weinger, who snapped home a one-timer past Roadrunners goalie Eric Comrie for his fourth goal of the season.

Tucson (12-4-0-0) scored the equalizer while San Jose was on the power play. Hudson Fasching connected with Beau Bennett and he beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar with a shot for a short-handed goal. Bennett’s second goal of the season came at the 8:03 mark.

The Roadrunners gained their first lead of the night right at the end of the opening frame. Bennett returned the favor this time feeding Nick Merkley, who beat Korenar for his second goal of the season with just nine seconds left before the intermission.

It was a back-breaking goal the ‘Cuda would not recover from as the Roadrunners took over the game in the second period.

“We just didn’t show up in any facet of the game,” said ‘Cuda captain John McCarthy. “PK was bad, PP was bad, 5-on-5 was bad. It’s disappointing cause the game before we show up and have four lines going. It’s a huge letdown to come out with an effort like that.”

Tucson’s power play gave them a two-goal lead early in the middle frame. Kyle Capobianco fed a pass from the point to the left over to Brayden Burke who delayed before lasering a wrist shot top-shelf past Korenar for his for his sixth goal of the season at the 4:50 mark. Bennett received the secondary assist to give him a three-point night.

The ‘Cuda were burnt a second consecutive time for going into the sin-bin. Lane Pedersen’s shot attempt from the point deflected off a ‘Cuda defender’s skate that caromed right over to Michael Bunting as he caught Korenar out of position for an easy tap in. Bunting’s third goal of the season came at the 15:48 mark.

Then before Bunting’s goal could be announced, Tucson struck again 17 seconds later. Fasching centered a pass over to Tyler Steenbergen, who also ended the night with a three-point night (three assists), whose shot was initially saved by Korenar. However, the rebound trickled out in front of the crease where Nate Schnarr was there to clean up the rebound for his first professional career goal at the 17:05 mark.

That goal chased Korenar out of the game as he was replaced by backup goaltender Andrew Shortridge to start the third period by ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer.

“If you were to grade these guys from one to five, they were all fours the other night. Tonight, I don’t think there was anybody that was just average,” said Sommer.

Tucson didn’t let up in the third period as they kept pouring it on. Fasching scored his second goal of the night when Steenbergen centered a pass from just below the faceoff circle. Fasching snapped a wrist shot top-shelf into the upper right corner for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:11 mark.

Jon Martin scored his second goal against his former team and fifth of the season after receiving a wrap-around pass from behind the net from Jeremy Gregoire and Martin punched home the puck at the 10:03 mark.

San Jose ended the seven unanswered goals draught late in the third period when Nick Meloche led a 3-on-1 odd man rush into the Tucson zone. He fed a pass over to the Maxim Letunov at the left slot and the Russian forward fired a wrist shot top-shelf for his fifth goal of the season at the 14:48 mark.

Jordan Gross completed the scoring for Tucscon when Steenbergen fed him a pass at the right slot from behind the net and he rifled a wrist shot past Shortridge for third goal of the season at the 17:55 mark.

“You know against a team that leads the division you should be scared to play against them,” said Sommer. “And we weren’t. They were desperate and we were just watching (them on the ice).”

Comrie had a light night making 18 saves on 20 shots in earning his third victory of the season and remains undefeated at 3-0-0. Korenar was on the losing end of the blowout making 16 saves on 21 shots. Shortridge made seven saves on 10 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Tucscon was 2/4.

‘Cuda defenseman received a game misconduct penalty with under six minute remaining in the game after the teams skirmished near the Tucson bench.

The San Jose Sharks recalled forward Antti Suomela on Tuesday for the first time since last December. He had a three-game point streak going before being recalled.

Joachim Blichfeld, who went scoreless in the game, leads the ‘Cuda in goals (6), points (10) and power play goals (3).

The announced attendance was 2,713.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their four-game homestand as they host the Colorado Eagle on Friday, November 22 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal with them to the game to participate in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After snapping 6-game skid, Barracuda look to start winning steak

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, you mentioned in your last column, head coach Roy Sommer like most coaches will usually take away some privileges from the players when a team goes bad, the Cuda had a six-game losing streak going into Saturday’s night’s game and whatever the motivation was it worked.

#2 The Barracuda came out firing on all cylinders against the visiting Tucson Roadrunners and won it on a laugher 7-1 to snap the losing streak.

#3 The 408 jerseys were gold and had a City of San Jose emblem on the front of the sweater and they looked like a different team and came out firing from the start of the game.

#4 Sommer said after the game that the Barracuda played all 60 minutes from start to finish an impressive effort.

#5 Tonight, the Barracuda are at SAP Center to face off against the Roadrunners again. Do you see them having that same drive in this one or will the Roadrunners be fired up after their Saturday humiliation?

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

Barracuda put on an offensive show in 7-1 victory over Roadrunners

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photo from sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — When teams are on a losing skid, coaches will take away some of their luxuries like a post-game meal to motivate their teams to perform better.

This media outlet doesn’t know if head coach Roy Sommer actually did such a thing, but whatever method he used, the San Jose Barrucuda put on an offensive explosion to route the Pacific Divsion leading Tucson Roadrunners 7-1 on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

Maybe it was the specialy jerseys San Jose wore on its “408 Night”, that featured a waffle eating contest between San Jose natives Joey Chestnut and Matt Stonie during one of the intermissions. The win snapped a six-game losing streak, the longest in franchise history, and ended Tucson’s five-game winning streak and four-game road winning streak.

San Jose (5-8-0-1) drew first blood a little over half way through the first period when Keaton Middleton sent a pass behind the net to Jayden Halbgewachs. Halbgewachs quickly sent a no-look backhand pass out to John McCarthy who was camped out in front of the crease. The ‘Cuda captain wristed a shot just inside the left corner past Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill for his second goal of the season at the 11:10 mark.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead three and a half minutes later when Jeffery Viel was able to get his body in front of a clearing attempt along the right boards by Hill. Viel then skated toward the back of the net where he centered a pass right out to Anti Suomela who buried the puck past the stick side of Hill for his fourth goal of the season at the 14:50 mark.

“Tonight (we played) 60 minutes,” said Sommer. “You know it’s amazing when you do that. I thought at our end we stopped (the opposition’s chances), we came out as five. I think that was the biggest thing tonight.”

The beginning and the end of the second period belonged to Joachim Blichfeld who scored the next two goals, both on the power play for the Barracuda. Just over a minute into the second period Blichfeld was at the right place at the right time when he tipped home a shot from Thomas Gregoire from the left point for his fifth goal of the season on the evening at the 14:50 mark.

Then with under a minute left in the middle frame, Noah Gregor, who was back playing in his first game since being reassigned from the San Jose Sharks, collected his own rebound from a tough angle shot. He then fed the puck to an open Blichfeld whose wrist shot trickled in off the glove of Hill for his sixth goal of the season for his team leading sixth goal of the season. Blichfeld finished with a three-point night (2G, A), the first of his career.

San Jose blew it open in the third period with three more goals and seven unanswered. Maxim Letunov centered a pass from the left board out in front of scrum that caromed off Blichfeld and right to the stick of Lean Bergmann who snapped a wrist shot past Hill for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:24 mark.

The Cuda went up 6-0 just over two minutes later when Halbgewachs won a battle along the boards among three Roadrunner defenders. He sent the puck over to Suomela who centered a pass over to a streaking Trevor Carrick, who skated in from the point, and he fired a wrist shot past Hill for his second goal of the season at the 4:32 mark.

San Jose’s final goal was a reward after some relentless play from Gregor. His initial shot and rebound chance were stopped by Hill. Alex True’s attempt was also stoned away by Hill but he wasn’t able to control the rebound that skidded out to the left of the crease where Evan Weinger found it and shot it in for his third goal of the season at the 14:35 mark.

Tucscon (11-4-0-0) spoiled the shutout bid for ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar when they scored their lone tally with under five minutes remaining in the game thanks to a nice pass from Jon Martin over to a wide open Hudson Fasching who skated in all alone, and made a forehand to backhand move to slide the puck past Korenar for his third goal of season at the 15:05 mark.

“They (Tucson) will be ready Wednesday night. They just had an off night. It happens. We had one a couple of nights ago in San Diego. It will be a different game on Wednesday”, said Sommer.

Korenar finished the game stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced to earn his fourth victory of the season. Hill suffered the defeat, ending a five-game winning streak, making 26 saves on 33 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/5 on the power play. Tucson went 0/5.

Gregor collected a pair of helpers in his first game in the AHL since October 13. The two assists were a career-high for the rookie forward.

Four Barracuda players had multiple points, led by Maxim Letunov who had a career-high three assists.

Three stars of the game:
1) Blichfeld
2) Korenar
3) Letunov

The announced attendance was 4,041.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Roadrunners on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Heat score late game-winning goal to upend Barracuda 3-2

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda have made such a bad habit of not being able to close out games this season and they still haven’t found the answer to breaking it as the Stockton Heat scored two unanswered goals in the third period to defeat their NorCal rival 3-2 on Saturday night at Stockton Arena.

San Jose has hit a season low six-game losing streak and continue to anchor down the cellar of the Pacific Division. For Stockton, they won the second game of a back-to-back as they lost to Tucscon the night before. They are currently 2-0 against San Jose this season.

Stockton scored the game-winning goal in heart breaking fashion. Ryan Lomberg led a odd man rush down the left boards when he centered a pass down the middle to a streaking Justin Kirkland, who buried the puck into the back of the net for his second goal of the season with just 17 seconds left in regulation.

“I would say that was right up there with the most complete game we’ve played.” said Kirkland. “We had everybody going, everybody making a difference.”

The Heat (9-3-1-2) drew first blood just 63 seconds in to start the game. Zac Rinaldo skated from behind the net and centered a pass over to Lomberg, whose one-timer beat ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge for his sixth goal of the season.

San Jose (4-8-0-1) responded with two unanswered goals in a span of 74 seconds. Danil Yurtaykin fed a pass up to the blueline over to Anti Suomela. The Finnish forward quickly touched pass it to the right over to Jeffery Viel, who skated past a Stockton defender and roofed a wrist shot top-shelf over the shoulder of Heat goalie Artyom Zagidulin for his third goal of the season at the 10:02 mark.

Then, Keaton Middleton fired a shot from the left point that Evan Weinger tipped on goal that Zagidulin stopped but the puck trickled out in front of the net where Alex True skated in from the corner and fired a back-hander into the back of the net for his co-team leading fourth goal of the season at the 11:16 mark.

Stockton tried to grab the momentum back in the second period as they outshot San Jose 15-10, but Shortridge held his ground not allowing a goal in the middle frame. Each team had a power play opportunity, but neither were able to cash it in.

“I think overall the team played a good, responsible brand of hockey tonight,” said Heat head coach Cail MacLean. “Huge play at the end to get that extra point and not have the game go into overtime.”

The Heat tied the game exactly at the nine-minute mark of the third period on the power play. Byron Froese threw the puck out in front of the crease that went off of Shortridge. A failed clearing attempt by Nick DeSimone went right to the stick of Luke Philp and he quickly fired a wrist shot past Shortridge for his third goal of the season.

“The power play there we excuted the breakout (well),” said Philp. “I just had to put it in the empty net. It’s nice to get em and I hope I continue doing that.”

Zagidulin made 29 saves on 31 shots to earn his sixth win of the season. Shortridge suffered another tough luck loss making 33 saves on 36 shots. The 33 saves matched a career best for Shortridge.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Stockton went 1/3.

The six-consecutive losses (0-5-0-1) matches the longest such streak in team history and the five consecutive regulation losses is the most in franchise history.

True snapped a five-game scoreless streak and Viel snapped a six-game goalless drought.

The announced attendance was 4,114.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Tucscon Roadrunners on Sunday, November 17 at 5:00 pm at SAP Center.

Carrick’s hat trick leads Gulls over Barracuda 9-3

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photo from sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

If the Anaheim Ducks need any offensive help from their minor league club, they have a strong candidate who has been putting on a show lately. Sam Carrick scored a hat trick in leading the San Diego Gulls to a 9-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at Pachenga Arena.

With back-to-back to wins for San Diego, they climb past San Jose into sixth place in the Pacific Division after winning five of their last six game. For the ‘Cuda, they fall into the cellar with their fifth straight loss and continue to be winless in the month of November.

The nine goals given up by San Jose is the most goals they have surrendered in franchise history.

San Diego (5-7-0-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Isac Lunderstrom led Justin Kloos on a breakaway. Kloos beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his first of two goals at the 1:12 mark.

San Jose (4-7-0-1) looked like they would change their fortunes when they were scored two goals in 35 seconds part in the opening 20 minutes.

Danil Yurtaykin scored his first goal as a member of the Barracuda when he beat Gulls goalie Anthony Stolarz with a wrist shot at the 8:16 mark. Dalton Prout earned his first point as a member of the ‘Cuda in the second game of his rehab assignment with the primary assist.

Then, Antti Suomela scored the first of his two goals on the evening at the 8:51 mark. Manny Weiderer received the only assist on Suomela’s goal.

San Diego answered San Jose’s goals with three of their own to close out the first period. Alex Broadhurst scored on a breakaway (that would be theme of the game as the ‘Cuda gave up four breakaway goals on five chances) at the 11:25 mark. Blake Pietila and Daniel Sprong were credited with assists.

Carrick scored the next two goals. The first came on the power play at the 12:19 mark when he blasted a rocket of a shot past Korenar. Then five minutes later he got his second one at the 17:29 mark.

The only goal in the second period came from the stick of Suomela when he scored his second of the game at the 7:06 mark. Jeffery Viel and Keaton Middleton received the assists on Suomela’s third goal of the season.

San Jose out shot San Diego 13-9 in the middle frame and looked to take momentum into the second intermission as they were down by one-goal 4-3.

However, a complete collapse in a horrific third period by the ‘Cuda allowed San Diego to break the game wide open and turn the game into a laugher as the Gulls scored five goals, including two short-handed and one on the power play.

Carrick completed the hat trick just 1:43 into the period on the power play after knocking in on his rebound through the five-hole of Korenar. Carrick has tallied six goals in his last four games. Then, less than a minute later, Alex Dostie scored his third goal in four games and fourth of the season at the 2:23 mark.

Kiefer Sherwood scored his breakaway goal and third goal for San Diego in the first five minutes of the final frame at the 5:08 mark.

It was deja vu for Kloos as he scored his second breakaway goal, which looked almost identical to his first, short-handed for his second of the season at the 7:16 mark. Chase De Leo joined the offensive party and completed the scoring with a short-handed goal, his second of the season at the 17:25 mark.

Stolarz made 32 saves on 35 shots to earn his fifth victory of the season. It was a night Korenar would like to forget as he gave up all nine goals on 32 shots in the shellacking.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. San Diego was 2/5.

The announced attendance was 5,934.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel up to Stockton to take on the Heat on Saturday 11/16 at 6:00 pm at Stockton Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda trying to avoid falling into cellar in battle for last place with Gulls tonight in San Diego

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photo from sjbarracuda.com: Jacob Middleton has re-joined the San Jose Barracuda after being reassigned from the San Jose Sharks. Middleton is expected to be in the line up tonight against the San Diego Gulls.

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda have now lost four consecutive games in their last game against tonight’s opponent, the San Diego Gulls. What will head coach Roy Sommer do to try and stop the bleeding?

#2 The Gulls are just one game back of the Barracuda and are in last place, but always give the Barracuda fits each time the clubs meet.

#3 The one thing that’s killing the Barracuda is their getting locked into tie games and being forced into shootouts. The four consecutive loses have all resulted into shootouts.

#4 How concerning is the Barracuda’s power play they were 0-4 last Sunday at SAP against San Diego?

#5 They play the Gulls again tonight. If the Barracuda lose again tonight, they will be in a virtual tie for last place, how concerning does that have to be for coach Sommer?

Listen to Marko each Wednesday for the Barracuda podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Gulls use balanced attack, take down the Barracuda 3-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Diego Gulls scored three unaswered goals and tightened their belts defensively in taking down the San Jose Barracuda 3-1 on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

It is the fourth consecutive loss for San Jose, who have hit a rut offensively this past week. For San Diego, they have won four in a row after going winless in the month of October.

San Diego (4-6-0-0) drew first blood early to open up the game. Jack Kopacka led a 3-on-2 odd man rush where he fed a pass up to Alex Dotsie at center ice. Corey Tropp then gave the puck back to Dostie on a pretty give and go where Dostie skated in all alone on ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge and snapped a shot top-shelf into the upper right corner for his third goal of the season at the 2:19 mark.

The Gulls doubled their lead toward the end of the opening 20 minutes when Brendan Guhle sent a pass into the ‘Cuda zone that caromed off the right boards where Tropp quickly moved it over to Sam Carrick, who crashed the crease and tipped it past Shortridge for his third goal of the season with 58 seconds left.

San Diego dominated the first period as they outshot San Jose 10-5.

San Diego scored an insurance goal midway through the second period. Alex Broadhurst found a wide-open Justin Kloos at the middle of the ‘Cuda blue line. Kloos skated in and fed a pass to his left over to Blake Pietila, who quickly fired a wrist shot top-shelf into the short side of the net for his second goal of the season at the 11:07 mark.

Joachim Blichfeld spoiled the shutout bid for Gulls goalie Anthony Stolarz near the end of the middle frame. San Jose (4-6-0-1)’s forward stole a pass from Guhle at the blueline and raced down on a breakaway where his initial shot was saved by Stolarz. He was able to collect his own rebound, hesitate and then wired a wrist shot top-shelf past Stolarz for his fourth goal of the season at the 17:54 mark.

San Jose would not get any closer than that. Despite some good pressure put on in the third period as they outshot San Diego 10-6, San Diego’s defense anchored down, with the help of Stolarz, and did not allow another goal.

Stolarz finished with 31 saves on 32 shot to earn his fourth win of the season. Shortridge made 22 saves on 25 shots in the losing effort.

GAMES NOTES: San Jose was 0/4 on the power play. San Diego was 0/3.

San Jose Sharks defenseman Dalton Prout made his debut for the Barracuda while on a rehab assignment. He finished with no goals or assists and a -1.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to San Diego to take on the Gulls on Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm at Pechanga Arena.

Condors power past the Barracuda 6-3

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda were frequent visitors to the sin-bin and the Bakersfield Condors took full advantage, scoring three power play goals in route to a 6-3 victory on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose have now lost three games in a row after back-to-back to shutouts to close out the month of October. The win snapped a five game losing streak at home for Bakersfield.

San Jose (4-5-0-1) drew first blood on the power play early in the first period. Jayden Halbgewachs tried to center a pass from behind the net that Thomas Gregoire picked up and he sent a pass over Trevor Carrick. The defenseman, playing in his 350th AHL game,  fired a shot past Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his first career goal at the 2:50 mark.

Bakersfield (6-6-1-0) scored the equalizer with a power play goal of their own. A shot from ‘Cuda killer Josh Currie was initially saved by San Jose goaltender Josef Korenar but Tyler Benson cleaned up the rebound for his third goal of the season at the 9:24 mark. Brad Malone was credited with the secondary assist.

John McCarthy received an early Christmas present from Skinner to pick up his first goal of the season. Skinner tried clearing the puck in front of a crashing McCarthy. However he turned it over right on to McCarthy’s stick, where it ricochet off the post and into the back of the net at the 14:49 mark. The unassisted goal was the 300th point of the ‘Cuda captain’s career.

Despite outshooting San Jose 9-5 in the period, Bakersfield found themselves down 2-1 at the first intermission.

The Condors evened the scored when Currie scored his sixth goal of the season at the 7:04 mark of the second period. On the play ‘Cuda defenseman Nick DeSimone was injured when he fell awkwardly into the boards in a battle with Malone. DeSimone was able to stay in the game. Benson received the primary assist on the goal.

Bakersfield gained their first lead of the game on a four-on-three power play. Tomas Jurco found Malone on a back door pass all alone and he tapped the puck into an empty net for his fourth goal of the season at the 11:40 mark. Malone ended the evening with a four-point game.

Benson scored his second of the night on another power play goal for Bakersfield. Caleb Jones sent a pass over to Benson and his shot rang off the post and into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season at the 15:06 mark.

The Condors out shot the ‘Cuda 10-7 in the middle frame as they scored three unanswered goals.

Bakersfield iced the game early in the period when a ‘Cuda turnover led to Kailer Yamamoto feeding Colby Cave, who wristed a shot past Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 3:18 mark.

Maxim Letunov stuffed home a rebound from a shot by Antti Suomela shot between the five-hole of Skinner for his team-leading fourth goal of the season at the 9:37 mark.

Benson completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with 37 seconds left in the game.

Skinner finished the game with 18 saves on 21 shots to earn his fifth victory of the season. Korenar made 20 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/6 on the power play. Bakersfield was 3/7. It was the second straight game San Jose has given up three power play goals.

Artem Ivanyuzhenkov made his debut for San Jose.

Johnny Brodzinki suffered an upper body injury early mid-way through the second period and did not return to the game.

Fisticuffs! Keaton Middleton and Anthony Peluso had a extended spirited fight late in the first period. DeSimone and Miles Koules also dropped the gloves in the third period.

The San Jose Sharks reassigned forward Lean Bergmann back to the Barracuda. He is expected to play tomorrow against San Diego.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the San Diego Gulls on Sunday, November 10 at 5:00 pm in SAP Center.