Category: AHL

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Well-prepared Barracuda get a healthy two-goal win over Bakersfield in last game

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda took on their on nemesis the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday night and never looked behind, which is a first in a long time against a team that usually is all over them.

#2 The Barracuda got a two-goal win and just really never let up. What was the difference in their game preparation for them?

#3 One the important things is the Barracuda’s five-game losing streak against the Condors is over. The Cuda finished 5-5 for the season against Bakersfield.

#4 Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer knows to win games it’s best to score early and that’s what the Barracuda did when Matt Fonteyne’s stick took a deflected pass and was directed in the net for the first goal of the night.

#5 In the third period, there were three goals in five minutes to make things interesting, but the Barracuda came up two goals ahead 4-2.

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

Barracuda take down Condors 4-2

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by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda exorcised their demon known as the Bakersfield Condors. San Jose never trailed in a 4-2 victory over the Pacific Division leaders for their third straight win on Saturday evening at Rabobank Arena.

A pair of streaks were snapped with the Cuda’s win. San Jose’s five game losing streak to Bakersfield is history and they finished the season series 5-5 against the Condors. Bakersfield also lost their six game winning streak.

Bakersfield (39-18-2-3) had the ice tilted in their favor in the first period as they out shot San Jose 15-7. However Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (21-8-2) stood his ground as the rookie net minder stopped all 15 shots he faced.

San Jose (35-20-2-4) finally drew first blood early in the second period. Anti Suomela sent a pass over to Marcus Vela whose shot was partially fanned on that deflected off of Matt Fonteyne’s stick past Condors goalie Shane Starrett (25-5-5) for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:09 mark. was credited with the secondary assist.

Bakersfield scored the equalizer in the final minute of the middle frame. Luke Esposito scored his sixth goal of the season at the 19:11 mark. Cameron Hebig and Jacob Stukel received assists.

The third period featured three goals in the first five minutes. With Evan Polei in the sin-bin for hooking, the Cuda’s Cavan Fitzerald didn’t waste any time giving San Jose the lead. The faceoff came right to the stick of Fiztgerald who blasted the puck off the far bar and into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season 28 seconds into the period.

Bakersfield responded as P.C. Labrie found an open Cooper Marody and he buried the puck past Korenar for his 19th goal of the season at the 4:25 mark. Tyler Benson received the secondary assist.

San Jose regained the lead just 31 seconds later. Nick DeSimone found Maxim Letunov open in the high slot. Letunov skated in and wristed a shot on the short side over the pad of Starrett for his 11th goal of the season at the 5:06 mark.

Bakersfield pulled Starrett for an extra attacker in the last 1:40 of the third period but Jeffery Viel iced the game with an empty net goal for his 10th goal of the season with 58 second left. Alex True and DeSimone were credited with assists.

Kornear stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to earn his 21st win of the season. Starrett made 25 saves on 28 shots in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. They have scored a power play goal in three straight games. Bakersfield was 0/6.

DeSimone is currently on an eight-game scoring streak.

San Jose is now 4-6-1-2 when they are tied after 2nd period.

The announced attendance was 6,502.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday 4/3 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda dethrone the Reign in 5-0 shutout

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda fighting for their playoff lives, used the power play to their advantage and cruised their way to a 5-0 shutout win over their Pacific Division rival, the Ontario Reign, on Friday evening at SAP Center.

With the win coupled with San Diego’s loss to Bakersfield, San Jose is now in sole possession of second place in the division with 75 points, two points ahead of the Gulls with seven games left in the regular season.

San Jose (34-20-3-4) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Evan Weinger led a rush, where he sent a drop pass down to Jayden Halbgewachs, who threaded a pass over to John McCarthy at the left slot. The Cuda captain buried the puck past Reign goalie Cal Petersen (10-18-3) to the right side for a tic-tac-toe goal and his 12th of the season at the 10:39 mark.

The Cuda doubled their lead as they beat the buzzer at the end of the opening frame. Jacob Middleton sent in a shot from the point that was blocked. McCarthy seized the puck and snapped a back-hander past Petersen for his second goal of the evening and 13th on the season with 0.5 seconds left to give San Jose a 2-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.

The Cuda opened up the second period with a power play goal. TJ Hensick fed a pass over to Nick DeSimone, who fired a shot that ricochet off Reign defenseman Daniel Brickley that rattled into the back of the net for DeSimone’s 13th goal of the season at the 6:44 mark. Francis Perron was credited with the secondary assist.

The Reign (22-30-6-3) could not stay out of the sin-bin as San Jose continued their dominance on the power play just over two minutes later. It took them 16 seconds to score on the hooking penalty by Nikita Scherbak. Hensick found an open Jeffery Viel, who wasted no time beating Petersen with a wrist shot for his ninth goal of the season at the 9:10 mark.

Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (14-12-5) was sharp, despite the lack of shots he saw. He made two spectacular saves in the middle frame. First, he stoned an attempt by Sam Herr on a two-on-one odd man rush. Then, with a little over a minute left, he robbed Brett Sutter when he reached out along with his left arm to keep the puck out of the back of the net.

Anti Suomela completed the scoring with 22 seconds left in the game as fired a shot off the cross-bar and into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season at the 19:38 mark. Viel and Matt Fonteyne received assists on the goal.

Bibeau has won back-to-back games as he stopped all 21 shots he faced to earn his 14th win of the season and his first shutout of the season. Petersen made 24 saves on 29 shots in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/4 on the power play. Ontario was 0/1.

McCarthy played in his 251st game in a Cuda uniform, a franchise record.

San Jose went 5-3 in the season series against Ontario.

DeSimone now has a current seven-game point streak, a career-best for the Cuda defenseman.

Bibeau has 16 career shutouts.

The announced attendance was 4,187.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Bakersfield to take on the Condors on Saturday, March 30 at 7:00 pm at Rabobank Arena.

Special teams key in Barracuda’s 3-2 win over Gulls

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

San Diego may be America’s Finest City but it has been a House of Gorrors for the San Jose Barracuda for more than a year. Thanks to a late power play goal in the third period by Alex True, San Jose reversed their fortunes with a 3-2 regulation victory over the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday evening at Pechanga Arena.

It was the first victory in San Diego this season (1-3) and the first win since January 20, 2018. With the much-needed win, the Cuda have tied the Gulls for second place in the Pacific Division with 73 points.

True’s heroics came when Cavan Fitzgerald sent in a low shot from the point that gave captain John McCarthy a chance, but was initially stopped by the Gulls’ goalie Kevin Boyle. True pounced on the rebound and punched it in for his team-leading 23rd goal on the power play at 15:16 mark of the third period.

San Jose (33-20-3-4) drew first blood early in the first period. Jeffery Viel executed a big body check during a battle for a puck inside the Gulls’ zone that resulted in a loose puck gathered up by TJ Hensick. Hensick quickly fed it over to Dylan Gambrell, who snapped a wrist shot far side past Boyle (22-10-1) for his 18th goal of the season at the 6:30 mark.

The Cuda doubled their lead when Francis Perron fed a pass over to Nick DeSimone in the high slot. DeSimone wasted no time and fired a shot just underneath the glove of Boyle for his 12th goal of the season at the 13:44 mark.

San Diego (33-21-4-3) cut the lead in half with just three seconds left in the opening frame. Sam Carrick won a faceoff over to Chase De Leo, who fed it over to Ben Street, who wired a shot past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (13-12-5) for his fifth goal of the season at the 19:57 mark.

The Gulls drew even late in the second period. Adam Cracknell was able to poke home a shot from close range for his 16th goal of the season at the 14:15 mark. The goal snapped six-game goal-less drought for Cracknell. Street and Brent Gates Jr. were credited with assists.

Despite outshooting the Gulls 13-5 in the middle frame, San Jose went into the second intermission tied up at 2-2.

In the third period, San Jose were in penalty trouble to start the third period. Their penalty kill unit responded by killing 1:18 of a 5-on-3 opportunity as Bibeau made some big saves to be the best penalty killer for the Cuda.

Bibeau, who played one of his best games of the season, was finally rewarded with a victory, making 23 saves on 25 shots to push his record to a game over the .500 mark. Boyle stopped 23 of the 26 pucks he faced in suffering the defeat.

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

The announced attendance was 6,934.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return back home to host the Ontario Reign on Friday, March 29 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Race in playoff standings tightening as Cuda battle San Diego tonight

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sjbarracuda.com photo: The score explains the results of the last game between the San Jose Barracuda and the Tucson Roadrunners. The Barracuda will be in San Diego tonight trying to get back into the win column.

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko in recent weeks the Barracuda have fallen from grace looking like a sure lock team for post season but fell on hard times will this be a scratch and claw how shaky is it now for them to make the AHL playoffs?

#2 Has promoting some of the key players they had from earlier this season to their parent club the Sharks taken away from their talent pool and as a result this is what you see now?

#3 Tough road trip so far they lost by a goal on Sunday 2-1 to the Tucson Roadrunners this is a game they really wanted to get but the Roadrunners are always a very vibrant and resisting club on their home ice and this was a late goal on a tip shot from the Roadrunners Michael Bunting that sank the Barracuda’s game.

#4 The Roadrunners have closed the gap now and are just four points behind the Barracuda and the Barracuda move onto San Diego tonight how crucial of a game is this with wiggle room getting less and less in the playoff race for San Jose?

#5 With some of the players getting promoted this season and you see the depth on defense changing how much pressure has this been put upon on goaltender Antoine Bibeau?

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

Roadrunners score late goal to edge Barracuda 2-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

by Marko Ukalovic

Just a few weeks ago, the San Jose Barracuda looked like a lock to make the playoffs, but now are looking a bit shaky after The Tuscon Roadrunners received a late goal to defeat them 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

Micheal Chaput led a 2-on-1 rush and threaded a pass over to Micheal Bunting, who tipped a shot up and over Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (12-12-5) for his 17th goal of the season and the game-winning goal with only nine seconds left in the game to seal the Cuda’s fate.

With the victory, Tuscon closed the gap to within four points behind both San Jose and Colorado for the final two playoff spots in the Pacific Division.

There was no scoring in the first period as Tuscon (30-25-5-2) outshot San Jose 14-11 as each team exchanged scoring chances, but neither team was able to get the puck into the back of the net, despite two power plays for the Roadrunners and one for the Cuda.

Like the opening frame, the second period also remained scoreless. San Jose (32-20-3-4) was outshot 11-9 by Tuscon as the middle frame was played penalty-less.

In the third period, Tucson controlled the period, firing 21 shots on Bibeau. They finally drew blood when Nick Merkley found Chaput, who snapped a wrist shot off the cross-bar past Bibeau for his 14th goal of the season at the 6:44 mark.

The Cuda pulled Bibeau for an extra attacker and were rewarded for their action when after a mad scramble in front of the crease. Alex True found the puck and poked it home past Roadrunner goalie Adin Hill (13-12-3) for the equalizer and his team-leading 22nd goal of the season with 56 seconds left.

Hill finished the game, stopping 32 of the 33 shots he faced to earn his 13th win of the season. Bibeau had an excellent game, making 44 saves on 46 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

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

The announced attendance was 3,519.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their road trip in San Diego as they take on the Gulls on Wednesday at 7:00 pm at The Pechanga Arena.

Roadrunners edge the Barracuda 3-2 in OT

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

Two points were on the line for the San Jose Barracuda, who got themselves in a tussle with the Tuscon Roadrunners in the Tuscon Convention Center Saturday night.

San Jose’s starting lineup featured Francis Perron, Alexander True, Dylan Gambrell, Jacob Middleton, Thomas Gregoire and Josef Korenar.

The Barracuda apparently weren’t afraid of the Roadrunners’ terrors. The Cuda got on the board first as Gambrell scored a power play goal at 12:54 of the opening period. Jeffrey Viel and TJ Hensick were credited with the assists. The Roadrunners’ Hudson Fasching was penalized for high-sticking at 13:01 of the period.

The Roadrunners tied the game 1-1 with 2:06 left in the period. Lane Pederson came in clutch and scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season. Jeremy Gregoire and Cam Dineen were credited with the assists.

The score was 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.

Cuda captain John McCarthy lifted the Cuda to a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal just 2:16 into the second period. However, Tuscon tied the game once again. Pederson scored his second goal of the game to make it a 2-2 game with 8:39 left in the period. Brayden Burke and Robbie Russo were credited with the assists.

The score was 2-2 after 40 minutes of play.

No goals were scored on either end of the ice, which meant that the score remained in a 2-2 deadlock after 60 minutes of play, so the game went into a 4-on-3 overtime, but it wasn’t in favor of the Cuda. Pederson netted a hat trick with his third goal of the game just 59 seconds into overtime. Pederson now has 19 goals on the season. Russo and Michael Chaput were credited with the assists. The Roadrunners edged the Cuda 3-2 in overtime.

Adin Hill stopped 20 saves on 22 shots and allowed two goals in the Roadrunners’ win. Korenar allowed three goals and made 30 saves on 33 shots in a losing effort for the Cuda. Korenar played well, and so did the other Cuda players, but they were sort of overwhelmed in the third period.

Notes: The Sharks reassigned defenseman Nick DeSimone and center Dylan Gambrell to the Cuda Saturday morning.

Up Next: The Cuda conclude their weekend set with game two against the Roadrunners on Sunday at 4:05 pm.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After record-setting game against Eagles, Cuda start three-game road trip

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On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda, in their record-setting 9-0 victory, got off quick with two goals to start the first period.

#2 The Colorado Eagles came in with a nine-game win streak and it was kind of amazing their streak got snapped with that kind of definition by the Barracuda.

#3 The Cuda are a in a three-way tie with the Eagles and the San Diego Gulls for second place with 70 points and 11 games left.

#4 The Eagles are 11 games over .500. How surprising after winning nine straight that they would have such a poor defensive game? Was it a matter that they were due for a bad game like this or were they tired and flat?

#5 The Cuda open a three-game road trip with the Tucson Roadrunners this Saturday and Sunday and San Diego next Thursday.

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

Barracuda set franchise record in 9-0 shutout win over Eagles

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By: Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda reversed their fortunes in thundering fashion. They scored three-unanswered goals in the first period and never took their foot off the gas in an explosive 9-0 shutout victory over the Colorado Eagles on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

The Barracuda set a franchise record with their nine-goal outburst. The loss snapped the Eagles nine-game winning streak and with the win, the Cuda are in a three-way tie with the Eagles and San Diego Gulls for second place in the Pacific Division at 70 points with 11 games left in the regular season.

San Jose (32-19-2-4) struck first and often in the first period. John McCarthy led a 2-on-1, fed a pass over to Jeffery Viel and rifled a shot past Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz (25-14-2) for his eighth goal of the season at the 2:10 mark.

The Cuda doubled their lead over five minutes later when Lukas Radil sent a pass over to Nick DeSimone whose wrist shot was stopped by Francouz. DeSimone collected his own rebound and cashed in for his 11th goal of the season at the 7:42 mark.

The Cuda defense continued the scoring when Cavan Fitzgerald found his way on a breakaway just before the end of the opening frame. As he skated in, he fumbled the puck, regained possession and then made a nice deke in the crease and put the pack over the glove of Francouz for his fifth goal of the season at the 18:20 mark.

San Jose completely dominated Colorado (33-23-3-1) in the first period as they out shot the Eagles 17-7 and had the ice tilted in their favor.

Things got chippy to start the second period. Matching roughing penalties were issued to Fitzgerald and AJ Greer just 10 seconds in. Then, Jon Martin and Mark Alt exchanged some pleasantries with one another three minutes later that also resulted in matching roughing penalties.

The Cuda extended their lead by four goals when they were pressuring in the Eagles’ zone. TJ Hensick’s shot was stopped but not controlled by Francouz. Radil was on the far side to collect the rebound and lifted it over his left pad of a sprawling Francouz for his third goal of the season and second in back to back to games at the 5:24 mark. Jacob Middleton was credited with the secondary assist.

San Jose put the game away less than nine minutes remaining in the middle frame. Thomas Gregoire ripped a shot from the point that Francis Perron, who was able to get his stick on the puck to redirect it past Francouz for his 17th goal of the season at the 11:42 mark. Fitzgerald was credited with the secondary assist.

That would be the end of the afternoon for Francouz as he replaced by Spencer Martin. Francouz gave up fives goals on 25 shots in suffering the loss for the first time in his last eight games.

TJ Hensick joined the scoring party with 1:49 left in the middle frame when he received a pass from Radil and he sneaked a wrist shot past the Martin for his fourth goal of the season at the 18:11 mark. Maxim Letunov received the secondary assist.

San Jose added the extra point half way through the third period. Letunov sent a shot on a goal where defenseman Thomas Gregoire crashed the net and jammed home the rebound for his first pro goal at the 10:16 mark. Hensick had the secondary assist.

Gregoire wasn’t satisfied with just one goal as he gave an encore just 59 seconds later. He sent a wicked wrister from the right point that found its way past Martin for his second goal of the game at the 11:15 mark. Jon Martin and Perron received assists on the play.

Jayden Halbgewachs completed the scoring as the eighth different goal scorer for San Jose. He weaved through the high slot and snapped home a wrist shot past Martin his 11th goal of the season at the 12:24 mark. The goal ended an 18 game scoreless drought. Middleton and captain John McCarthy were credited with assists.

Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (20-8-1) stopped all 31 shots for his 20th win and fourth shutout of the season. The win snapped Korenar’s three-game losing streak. Martin made 11 saves on 15 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/4 on the power play. Colorado was 0/6.

The Cuda are 6-1 when wearing a specialty/throwback jersey. They wore green jerseys in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

San Jose is 3-1-1-1 against Colorado this season.

The announced attendance was 4,051.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda go back on the road to start a three game road trip in Tuscon as the take on the Roadrunners on Saturday 3/23 at 7:05 pm at Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

Eagles edge out Barracuda in 3-2 win

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by Marko Ukalovic

The Colorado Eagles are playing like a team that can’t lose. They scored three unanswered goals in the second period and then held on to beat the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

Colorado (33-22-3-1) has won nine games in a row and have jumped both San Jose and San Diego for second place in the Pacific Division with 70 points. The Cuda have lost five of their past six games.

San Jose (31-19-2-4) drew first blood late in the first period on a 3-on-2 odd man rush. Maxim Letunov sent a pass over to Lukas Radil, who played in his first game since being sent down by the San Jose Sharks, and Radil lasered a wrist shot past Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz (25-13-2) on the far side for his second goal of the season at the 19:00 mark.

In the second period, Colorado took control of the game. Max McCormick sent over a cross-ice pass over to Logan O’Connor on a 2-on-1 opportunity and O’Connor buried a one-timer past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (12-11-5) for his 15th goal of the season at the 3:42 mark.

The Eagles went ahead two goals toward the end of the middle frame when AJ Greer from below the goal line sent a pass over to Igor Shvyrev, who blasted a wrist show over the glove of Bibeau for his sixth goal of the season at the 16:12 mark.

Then, just over a minute later, another 2-on-1 odd man rush led to a mini breakaway for Sheldon Dries, who made a nice deke going forehand-to-backhand as he slid the puck past Bibeau for his third goal of the season at the 17:28 mark for a 3-1 lead.

The Cuda looked like they would have a consecutive game with a third period comeback. Jayden Halbgewachs sent a zone-wide pass over to John McCarthy and the Barracuda captain fired a wrist shot past Francouz for his 10th goal of the season at the 4:47 mark.

However San Jose was not able to get the equalizer late in the period when they pulled Bibeau for an extra attacker.

Francouz stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced to earn his 25th win of the season. Bibeau made 20 saves on 23 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

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

The announced attendance was 3,353.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Eagles on Sunday 3/17 at 3:00 pm at SAP Center.