Category: AHL

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda looking to bury Condors again in Bakersfield Saturday night

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 What’s scary about the Barracuda is they can’t hold a lead past the third period. What does head coach Roy Sommer need to do to correct that?

#2 A four-goal period can really do a lot of damage and Tucson has in the postseason and now in the regular season put an offensive flurry on the Barracuda.

#3 To start the game, the Barracuda’s Joel Kellman sent a pass over to Thomas Gregoire, whose shot was initially saved by Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill. Joachim Blichfeld grabbed the puck on a rebound and scored the Cuda’s first goal of the game.

#4 Sommer said after the game: “Unfortunately, the game is 60 minutes and we only played 40 of it.” There have been some games where time just ran out for San Jose.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Bakersfield Condors who they last played on Wednesday, Oct. 30th in a day game and shut them out 5-0. This game is on the road, could the Cuda expect the same kind of offense in this one Saturday night?

Catch Marko talking Barracuda hockey each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Roadrunners bury Barracuda 5-3 with 3rd period outburst

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — For the second game in a row the San Jose Barracuda couldn’t hold a third period lead and it cost them dearly as the Tucson Roadrunners used a four-goal outburst to defeat San Jose 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

It was the most goals San Jose has given up in the third period this season as they have lost two games in a row.

San Jose (4-4-0-1) jumped out to a fast start when Joel Kellman sent a pass over to Thomas Gregoire, whose shot was initially saved by Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill. The rebound jumped out into the middle of the crease where Joachim Blichfeld crashed in and cleaned up the rebound for his third goal of the season just 38 seconds into the game. It was the fastest goal to open a game for the ‘Cuda this season.

The ‘Cuda doubled its lead nine minutes later on the power play when Lean Bergmann bulldozed his way into the Roadrunner zone and had the puck roll over onto the stick of Danil Yurtaykin. The Russian forward then fed a wide open Anti Suomela in the slot and he fired a wrist shot past Hill for his first goal (and first point) of the season at the 9:35 mark.

Tucson (8-3-0-0) cut the lead in the half on the power play late in the second period on what would be the start of four unanswered goals when Robbie Russo sent a pass over to Michael Bunting and he fired it home past ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge for his second goal of the season at the 17:11 mark.

“We take the penalty late in the second and they score on that, it’s 2-1,” said ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We gave life to a team that was lifeless really.”

The Roadrunners dominated the third period with three straight goals. First, Lane Pederson scored his ninth goal of the season while Tucscon was on the power play at the 2:37 mark. Bunting and Jordan Gross received assists.

Then less than two minutes later, former ‘Cuda forward Jon Martin, who signed with Tucscon in the offseason, scored his third goal of the season and first against his old club from Jeremy Gregoire and Nate Schnarr at the 4:28 mark.

Brayden Burke scored Tucson’s third power play goal of the contest at the 11:12 mark of the final period with Hudson Fasching and Kyle Capobianco receiving assists on the goal.

“Unfortunately the game is 60 minutes and we only played 40 of it,” said Sommer.

The ‘Cuda cut the deficit to a one-goal game less than minute later when Radim Simek sent a cross ice pass over to Gregorie at the right point. Gregoire then threw a wrist shot toward the net that went past Hill, who was screened on the play by his own defenseman Cam Dineen, for his first goal of the season at the 12:20 mark. Bergmann was credited with the secondary assist.

Simek has registered points in his two games since the San Jose Sharks reassigned him for his conditioning rehab.

But that was as close as San Jose would get as Tucson’s Gregoire sealed the deal with a short-handed empty-net goal at the 18:46 mark. It was the center’s first goal of the season.

Hill finished 34 saves on 37 shots to earn the victory. Shortridge allowed four goals on 22 shots in suffering the loss.

GAMES NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Tucson finished 3/6.

Bergmann notched his first multi-assist game of his AHL career.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Bakersfield to take on the Condors on Saturday, November 9 at 7:00 pm at the Rabobank Arena.

Heat comeback to upend Barracuda 3-2 in shootout victory

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sjbarracuda.com

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda weren’t able to hold on to a one-goal lead in the third period and it ended up burning them as the Stockton Heat rallied with a late third period power play goal that led to a 3-2 shootout victory on Friday evening at Stockton Arena.

It only took 48 seconds for San Jose (4-4-0-0) to draw first blood. Alex True won a battle along the boards and sent a pass behind the net over to Evan Weinger. Weinger than skated out to the right slot and slid a pass over to an incoming Jayden Halbgewachs, who fired a shot top-shelf over the shoulder of Heat goalie Jon Gillies for his second goal of the season. It was the quickest goal the ‘Cuda have score to begin a game.

Stockton (7-1-0-1) scored the equalizer midway through the first period on the power play when Matthew Phillips entered San Jose zone down the right boards. He fed a pass over to Heat captain Byron Froese, who quickly whipped a wrist shot into the back of the net, that surprised Cuda goalie Joesef Kornear, for his fifth goal of the season at the 10:20 mark.

Forese’s goal ended a steak over 170 consecutive minutes for Korenar without allowing goal.

San Jose regained the lead in the second period on the power play. Weinger shot the puck from the left faceoff circle that Gillies kicked over to the right side where Maxim Letunov was at the right place at the right time. Letunov pounced on the loose puck and hammered it home for his third goal of the season at the 12:58 mark. All three of Letunov’s goals have come on the power play, which leads the team.

The Heat wouldn’t go down quietly in the third period. They forced the extra session with their second power play goal of the game. Justin Kirkland skated in from the left shot with a shot that Korenar was able to get a pad on. However, he wasn’t able to freeze the puck as it jumped on to the stick of Ryan Lomberg, who backhanded the puck past Korenar for his fifth goal of the season at the 15:18 mark.

It was a special teams battle and they won that one,” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We take kind of a bad penalty there with five minutes to go. They (Stockton) have always had a good PP against us. That was the eventual dagger through the heart so-to-speak.”

Neither team generated a good scoring chance in the overtime period with only three shots combined by both teams. In the shootout, all three of Stockton’s shooters scored with Glenn Gawdin credited with the shootout winner.

Gillies finished 30 saves on 32 shots to earn the victory. Korenar made 28 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/8 on the power play. Stockton finished 2/5.

Weingr extended his point streak to four games (2G, 3A) with his first multi-assist game of his career,

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return back home to host the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday, November 3 at 3:00pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda shoot down Condors in 5-0 shutout win

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from: sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It doesn’t matter what time of the day the San Jose Barracuda take the ice to play a game. For the second straight game, they dominated and shutout their opponent in a 5-0 victory over the defending Pacific Division champion Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday morning at SAP Center.

The early start time of 11:00 am was due to the annual Cuda Classroom Day where students from the area’s elementary and middle schools were among the 3,648 spectators inside the arena.

The game featured the first game back for Radim Simek, the San Jose Sharks defenseman who suffered an ACL injury to his knee back on March 12. The Sharks sent him down to the Cuda for an rehab assignment to get him into game shape before he joins the parent club.

“I felt great on the ice,” said the Czech native Simek. “The first period was harder for me. It was eight months without (playing) hockey for me. The second and third period was better and we got a big win.”

San Jose (4-3-0-0) jumped out to a 1-0 lead late in the first period with the man advantage. Jayden Halbgewachs sent a pass along the left boards over to Joel Kellman. Kellman found a wide open Joachim Blichfeld in between the circles and he sent a quick wrist shot past Condors goalie Dylan Wells into the lower right corner of the net for his first goal of the season at the 18:49 mark.

“Great play by Blichy (Blichfeld) to start it off on the power play,” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “Which is starting to click a little bit. It’s starting to finally find some traction.”

Alex True found himself in the right place at the right time as he doubled the ‘Cuda lead just halfway past the second period. Kellman cleared the puck out of the zone just as the penalty to True had expired. It found its way right to True’s stick as he skated in on a breakaway using a backhand shot to beat Wells for his third goal of the season at the 11:56 mark.

Less than three minutes later, Blichfeld scored his second goal of the game when received a pass from Lean Bergmann and wristed in his second goal of the season at the 14:17 mark. Keaton Middleton received the secondary assist on the goal.

Despite out shooting San Jose 19-14 through 40 minutes, Bakersfield (3-5-1-0) found it self trailing 3-0 and not being able to find any answers on their five power play opportunities, including a five-on-three they failed to cash in on.

“I though the goalie (Korenar) kept us in the game early,” said Sommer. “It was similar to the Colorado game where we kind of got opportune goals.”

San Jose put the game away with 6:17 remaining in the third period. Halbgewachs led a two-on-one odd man break with Evan Weinger. Halbgewachs made a spin-o-rama move around Dmitri Samorukov before centering the puck out in front of the crease over to Weinger who one-timed it into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

The ‘Cuda put the icing on the cake less than three minutes later on the power play. Thomas Gregoire fed a cross-ice pass over to Simek who fired a shot toward the middle of the ice where Bergmann camped out and used his stick to tip the puck past Wells for his third goal of the season at the 16:43 mark. With the goal and assist, Bergmann has scored in all four games he’s played with San Jose totalling six points (3G, 3A).

“The penalty kill has been good for us the last few games,” said Sommer. “Last two teams have been 0 for 12 or 0 for 13. That makes a big difference and we’re scoring (goals) five-on-five.”

Korenar (3-2-0) finished the game stopping all 28 shots he faced for his second shutout in a row. Wells finished with 22 saves on 27 shots in the losing cause.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/6 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/6.

Kellman recorded two assists to extend his point streak (1G 7A=8) to six games.

The Barracuda had five players earn multiple points in the victory.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel up north to Stockton to take on the Heat on Friday, November 1 at 7:00 pm at Stockton Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda host Bakersfield in Wednesday matinee at SAP Center

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda (3-3-0) are coming off a split in Colorado last Friday and Saturday nights taking the second game. How important is it for the Cuda to get that split going into Wednesday’s game against the Bakersfield Condors (3-4-0)?

#2 The Barracuda not only got the win last Saturday in Colorado (4-3-0) in game 2, but they threw a shutout 4-0 after getting beat on Friday night.

#3 Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (2-2-0) made 31 saves to collect his first shutout of the season and his fifth of his AHL career.

#4 The game last Saturday against the Eagles was the Barracuda’s 150th victory in franchise history.

#5 The Condors are a team that could give the Barracuda fits and their looking to pick up their fifth win. Meanwhile, the Barracuda have won two of their last five games and have home ice for today’s matinee.

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

Barracuda’s first period outburst shoots down Eagles in 4-0 shutout win; San Jose-Colorado split series

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

Never underestimate the difference 24 hours can make. After being shut down, the night before, the San Jose Barracuda used a four-goal first period outburst en route to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Colorado Eagles for their first road victory of the season on Saturday evening at the Budwiser Events Center.

San Jose (3-3-0-0) drew first blood on the power play early in the first period. Sasha Chmelevski fed a pass up to Maxim Letunov. The second year forward raced in from center ice down the left side and skated in with a backhanded wrist shot from a tough angle that deceived Eagles goalie Adam Werner (4-2) as it sneaked in past his pad near the left post for Letunov’s second goal of the season at the 2:24 mark.

The goal snapped a 0-for-11 streak for the 25th ranked stuggling power play. It was just their third power play goal of the season.

Evan Weinger doubled San Jose’s lead short-handed after some determination. Alex True sent a no-look pass that led to a breakaway for Weinger whose intital shot was stopped by Werner. Weinger then picked up a loose puck and he buried a backhander past Werner for his first goal of the season at the 7:49 mark. It was the Cuda’s first shorthanded goal of the season.

San Jose scored their third goal of the period when Joachim Blichfeld made a nice move around a sprawled out defender and centered a pass over to Lean Bergmann, open in the middle of ice, who rifled a shot past Werner for his second goal of the season at the 16:55 mark. Bergmann’s goal extended his point streak to three games. He now has four points in three games.

The Cuda concluded their four goal outburst when Letunov sent Jeffery Viel on breakaway with just over a minute remaining. Viel skated in and snapped a wrist shot through the five-hole of Werner for his second goal of the season at the 18:55 mark.

Hunter Miska replaced Werner to start the second period. Werner went to the showers early after giving up four goals on just seven shots.

Colorado (4-3-0-0) had two power play opportunities in the middle frame but San Jose penalty kill led by goalie Josef Korenar (2-2) kept the Eagles off the scoreboard. The Cuda held the Eagles to just four shots in the period.

Korenar stopped all 31 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season. Miska stopped all 21 shots he faced coming in on mop up duty.

There was no scoring in the third period despite the Cuda having two power play opportunities in the second half of the final frame.

GAME NOTES: San Jose 1/3 on the power play. Colorado 0/6.

The victory was the 150th all-time in franchise history.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday, October 30 at 11:00 am at SAP Center.

Eagles’ quick start dooms Barracuda in 4-2 win

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The Colorado Eagles used two goals in the first three minutes of the first period to take down the San Jose Barracuda 4-2 in the first game of the two-game weekend series on Friday evening at Budwiser Events Center.

Michael Joly got things started just 69 seconds into the opening 20 minutes when he scored an unassisted goal with a shot that beat Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge (1-1) for Joly’s fourth goal of the season.

Nick Henry joined the scoring party under two minutes later when he scored his first goal of the season at the 2:53 mark. Collin Campbell and Kevin Connauton picked up assists on the play.

Neither team scored in the second period. Colorado had a chance to take a three-goal lead 55 seconds into the middle frame when Cuda captain John McCarthy went to the sin-bin for hooking. However San Jose’s penalty kill came through to keep them in it heading into the third period.

San Jose (2-3-0-0) cut the lead in half at the 7:33 mark of the third period when Lean Bergmann scored his first AHL goal after beating Eagles goalie Adam Werner (4-1) with a wrist shot. Joel Kellman and Evan Weinger received assists on Bergmann’s goal.

Colorado (4-2-0-0) extended their lead to 3-0 less than three minutes later with an insurance goal when Julien Nantel scored his first goal of the season at the 10:27 mark. Campbell and Henry were credited with assists.

San Jose wouldn’t go down quietly when defenseman Keaton Middleton scored his first goal of the season with just under five minutes remaining in the game. Bergmann and Jeremy Roy assisted on Keaton’s goal.

T.J. Tynan iced the game for Colorado with an empty net goal with 1:03 left in the game as the Cuda pulled Shortridge for an extra attacker.

Werner made 33 saves on 35 shots in earning his fourth win of the season. Shortridge made 23 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort.

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

Forward Sasha Chmelevski led the Cuda with five shots on goal.

UP NEXT: Both teams faceoff against each other once again on Saturday, October 26 at 6:05 pm at the Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to improve their game against the Reign; Ontario beats SJ twice already

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Ontario Reign scored three first period goals in their win over the San Jose Barracuda at SAP Center on Saturday.

#2 Josef Korenar, the Barracuda goalie, recorded his second loss of the season facing three goals on 17 shots.

#3 The Cuda’s Carl Grunstrom and Tobias Bjorn each scored goals in their AHL debuts.

#4 Nick DeSimone collected his first goal of the season and the Barracuda goal of the first period.

#5 The Barracuda open up the first of two games on Friday against the Colorado Eagles to be played in Colorado.

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

Reign take down Barracuda in 5-2 victory in SJ

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sjbarracuda.com photo: After the Ontario Reign defeated the San Jose Barracuda back on opening day 5-0 the Reign came calling on Saturday at SAP Center in San Jose and beat the Barracuda again 5-2.

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif- The Ontario Reign lived by the quality over quantity moto as they scored three-first period goals en route to a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

The game featured the first AHL action for forwards Lean Bergmann and Danil Yurtaykin, who both recently were reassigned to the Barracuda after spending the first two weeks of the season with the parent club Sharks.

Ontario (3-2-0-0) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Carl Grundstrom was cherry-picking at center ice when he received a long feed from Martin Frk. Grundstrom skated in all alone and wired a wrist shot from the left slot that beat Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for first goal of the season at the 9:18 mark.

San Jose (2-2-0-0) tied it up less than 90 seconds later when Alex True won a face inside the Reign zone. Joachim Blichfeld tapped it back to the point over to Nick DeSimone, who sent a rocket top-shelf over the left shoulder of Reign goalie Cal Petersen for his first goal of the season at the 10:46 mark.

Ontario regained the lead on the power play. Rasmus Kupari entered into the Cuda zone and fed a drop pass to the left point over to Tobias Bjornfot. The Swedish defenseman sent a innocent looking wrist shot, that fooled Korenar, into the back of the net for his first goal of the season at the 13:19 mark.

The Reign went into the first intermission with a two-goal lead when Brett Sutter centered a pass from behind the goal line that kicked off the skate of Lance Bouma into the back of the net for his second goal of the season with 24 seconds remaining in the opening 20 minutes. San Jose head coach Roy Sommer challenged the call believing that Bouma used a kicking motion, but after a replay review, the call was upheld.

Tonight (we got) kind of behind the 8-ball”, said Sommer. “Down 3-1, especially the first 10 minutes we were all over them. (Then) they’d come down and score, come down and score. The one that killed us was the one with 24 seconds left in the first (period).”

The Cuda made it a one-goal game late in the second period. Joel Kellman sent a pass up to Lean Bergman that ended up on a two-on-two with Jonny Brodzinski. Bergman stopped on a dime, spun around with a back hand pass over to Brodzinski who was able to chip the puck over the stick of Petersen for his second goal of the season at the 13:15 mark.

“You know I played a lot today”, said Bergmann after being a healthy scratch the past few games with the Sharks. “Playing a lot is always good. Just get more comfortable with the (Sommer’s) system. Just learning everything (I can).”

San Jose controlled the play in the third period. However, despite out shooting Ontario 14-5 and creating all kinds of havoc in front of Petersen, the Reign goaltender made many key stops throughout the final 20 minutes, frustrating the Cuda for a second straight time this season.

Ontario wrapped up the game with two empty net goals with under a minute remaining when San Jose pulled Korenar for an extra attacker. First Frk scored his fourth goal of the season with 1:10 left to seal the deal for Ontario. Then Grundstrom finished off his two-goal afternoon with his own empty netter with 15 second left in the game.

“I was actually happen with our game”, said Cuda captain John McCarthy. “We carried the pace of play. They were opportunistic on their chances and it came back to bite us (in the end).”

Petersen finished his busy afternoon stopping 32 shots of the 34 he faced to earn his third win of the season. Korenar made 14 saves on 17 shots in the losing effort.

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

Fisticuffs! Cuda’s Keaton Middleton danced the tango with Ontario’s Boko Imama at 11:36 of the second period.

Sasha Chmelevski, Manny Wiederer and Evan Weinger were healthy scratches.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to Colorado to take on the Eagles on Friday 10/25 at 6:05pm.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Comeback game last Sunday may prove to Barracuda to be ready for Ontario Saturday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Down 2-0 in the second period to the Bakersfield Condors, the San Jose Barracuda made a comeback scoring three unanswered goals at SAP Center last Sunday to end up beating the Condors 4-3.

#2 This was the second straight win for the Barracuda who handled the San Diego Gulls on Friday with authority in a 5-1 and exhibited the ability to attack the net and shoot without hesitating.

#3 After the Cuda’s first loss of the season to the Ontario Reign 5-0 it looked like coach Roy Sommer changed the offense up a bit what was those changes?

#4 In that second period the Condors led the Barracuda 3-2 but in the third period the Barracuda got goals from Noah Gregor and Ivan Chekovich to tie and go ahead

#5 The Barracuda host the Ontario Reign next Saturday Oct 19th at SAP Center for a 1:15pm matinee, Ontario took the Barracuda to the woodshed last time they met after the way they won their last two games do you see a different outlook for Saturday’s game?

Marko Ukalovic is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com