Category: AHL

Barracuda end three-game losing streak with thrilling 4-3 OT victory over Roadrunners

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

With the San Jose Barracuda’s (27-24-4-3) playoff hopes hanging by a thread, Jacob Middleton gave his team a glimmer of hope with the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime to defeat the Tuscon Roadrunners (35-18-5-1) by a score of 4-3 on Tuesday evening at the Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

San Jose salvaged the last game on their four-game road trip, where they went 1-2-1 and snapped their three-game losing streak.

Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (19-13-3) started the rush when he outraced a Tuscon attacker to the puck after the puck was cleared out of the Roadrunner zone. Bibeau’s outlet pass went to Brandon Mashinter, who skated back into the zone and passed it over to Middleton, who fired a shot inside the right post past Roadrunner goalie Adin Hill (16-10-4) for the game-winning goal. The defenseman’s fourth goal of the season came at the 2:07 mark of overtime.

San Jose would draw first blood in the first period. Colby McAuley pounded home a rebound for his third goal on the season after a wraparound attempt by Rourke Chartier was saved by Hill at the 8:16 mark of the first period. Zach Frye received the secondary assist.

Mashinster would quickly make it 2-0 just 31 seconds later. Alex True sent over a pass to Mashinter down in the low slot and the veteran winger fired a spinning back-hander past Hill for his ninth goal on the season at the 8:47 mark. McAuley received the secondary assist for his first multi-point game of his career.

San Jose had a close call late in the first period when a shot from Tuscon’s Mike Sislo hit off the cross-bar, pinballed off of Bibeau that was rolling back toward the net until defensman Radim Simek rescued the puck out of danger before it crossed the goal line to keep Tuscon off the board heading into the first intermission.

Tuscon would cut the lead in half early in the second period. Dakota Mermis sent a pass to Sislo, who skated down the left side of the boards and was able to bury a shot just inside the right post past Bibeau’s short side. Sislo’s team-leading 23rd goal on the season came at the 3:18 mark.

The Cuda regained their two-goal lead back on the power play. Mashinter crashed the net putting a shot on goal that bounced off Hill. Manny Wiederer pounced on the loose puck and slammed home the rebound for his sixth goal on the season for the rookie forward at the nine-minute mark of the second period. Nick DeSimone received the secondary assist.

Joel Hanley cut the lead down to one goal early in the third period. Michael Bunting won a battle inside the Cuda zone, fed the puck over to Hanley who fired a shot past Bibeau for his first goal (and first goal in 93 games) on the season at the 4:42 mark.

The Roadrunners would get the equalizer when Carter Camper went coast to coast from his own zone, skated through the Cuda defense and snapped a shot past Bibeau with 1:17 left in the third period. It was his 15th goal on the season, including his 14th point in nine games since being acquired by Tuscon from the Cleveland Monsters at the trade deadline.

Bibeau responded with a nice bounce back game, making 31 saves on 34 shots.

Hill suffered his first regulation loss since the All-Star break, making 14 saves on 18 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/5 on the power play while Tuscon went 0/3

Captain John McCarthy missed the game due to an upper body. Calvan Fitzgerald and Jeremy Roy were also injury scratches.

Mashinter hit the post on a breakaway shot seconds after Sislo’s goal.

Tuscon’s rookie sensation Nick Merkley was an injury scratch. Merkley leads the team with 11 power play goals.

Bunting now has eight points in seven games played against the Barracuda this season – (6G, 2A).

With the loss, the Roadrunners four-game winning streak, tied for their longest win streak of the season, was snapped.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home for a two-game weekend series starting on Saturday, March 24 as they play their final game of the season against the Ontario Reign at SAP Center at 5:30 pm PST.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda try to make the second time the charm after getting shutout by Tucson on Tuesday night

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

The San Jose Barracuda went into Tucson Tuesday and just laid an egg and matter of fact got goose-egged in a 4-0 shutout. The Roadrunners are firing on all cylinders right now as they’re the best team in the Pacific Division. They’ve been the best team from the start of the season up to now in March. The Roadrunners were without their leading scorer, Dylan Strome, who was promoted to the Arizona Coyotes.

You would have not know that Strome was not there because everyone else just stepped up in Tucson and pitched in and had a great game all-around from the first to the fourth line. They proved why they’re a first place team by dominating from start to finish. At one point, the Barracuda only had 13 shots on goal through the first 40 minutes of play. So not only are the Roadrunners getting good chances and getting the Barracuda to take a bunch of penalties, but they were limiting the Barracuda offensive attack, which led to the shutout.

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

 

Roadrunners make road kill out of Barracuda in 4-0 shutout victory

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The Pacific Division-leading Tuscon Roadrunners (35-18-4-1) flexed their muscles in dealing a big blow to the San Jose Barracuda’s (26-24-4-3) fading playoff hopes with a dominating 4-0 shutout victory on Tuesday evening at the Tuscon Convention Center Arena. It was the Cuda’s third consecutive loss and sixth time they have been shutout this season.

The Roadrunners drew first blood on their second power play opportunity when Connor Garland was able to light the lamp after snapping home a rebound off a shot from Mike Sislo that got past the outstretched arms of Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (18-13-3) for his sixth goal of the season at the 7:11 mark of the first period. Dakota Mermis received the secondary assist.

Tuscon made it a 2-0 game just seconds after killing off a penalty by Lane Pedersen. Carter Camper sent in a shot on goal that Bibeau was able to deflect behind the goal. Pedersen collected the puck, circled around the net and slid the puck into an empty net for his 11th goal on the season at the 13:53 mark. Goalie Adin Hill (16-10-3) received an assist on the goal.

Mario Campe would chase Bibeau from the game when he scored a breakaway goal at 4:36 mark of the second period. After a failed clearing attempt out of the Cuda zone, Garland fed a pass over Campe, who skated in with a pretty move going backhand to forehand to bury the puck past Bibeau for his 16th goal on the season. Stephon Williams took over for Bibeau in net.

Michael Bunting made it 4-0 on the power play. After Williams was able to stop consecutive shots by Pederson and Lawson Crouse, Bunting made the third attempt a charm, scoring his 17th goal on the season at the 15:37 mark.

Hill, who wasn’t busy during the first 40 minutes, was strong in the third period and finished with 20 saves for his third shutout of the season. Bibeau suffered the loss, making 14 saves on only 17 shots. Williams, in his first relief appearance for the Cuda, made 17 saves on 18 shots.

GAMES NOTES: San Jose went 0/4 on the power play. Tuscon went 2/5.

Tuscon was without their leading point scorer, Dylan Strome, who was recalled up to the Arizona Coyotes.

Despite suffering from the flu, Julius Bergman–initially listed as a scratch–was in the lineup for the Cuda.

The Cuda are now 5-1-0-1 all time against Tuscon.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! San Jose’s Emerson Clark and Tuscon’s Garland exchanged fisticuffs in a penalty-filled first period at the 7:26 mark.

Streaks stopped–Captain John McCarthy and Rourke Chartier both had their four-game scoring streaks end and Adam Helewka’s three-game streak stopped.

It was the first loss for San Jose at Tuscon Convention Center Arena this season.

With the loss, the Cuda dropped to last place in the Pacific Division.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda will look to salvage the end of their four-game road trip in the back-end of their two-game series against Tuscon on Wednesday 3/21 at 7:05 pm PST.

Barracuda gain a point, but fall 5-4 to Reign in overtime

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Barracuda were looking to rain on the Ontario Reign’s parade at the Citizens Business Bank Arena on Sunday.

The Barracuda tweeted out their starting lineups in a fairly creative manner.

The Reign got off to a strong start as Philippe Maillet finished a wraparound to open the scoring for a 1-0 lead at the the 16:06 mark of the first period. A Reign player then fired a shot into the net, but Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau stopped the shot with a notable save.

The Barracuda went on their first power play of the game after the Reign committed a faceoff violation. However, Ontario made it a 2-0 game when Jonny Brodzinski (Mike Brodzinski’s older brother) buried a one-timer from the far side with a minute left in the first.

Shots were 7-6 in favor of the Reign, who led 2-0 after the first.

But the action was just getting started in the rivalry game. Both teams exchanged words with each other. This time around, they remained at even strength, which was a rare occurrence.

A Reign player was called for high-sticking and the Cuda returned on the power play. Not only that, San Jose scored just 10 seconds into that power play. Alex True collected a deflection from Nick DeSimone and fired the puck into the net to cut Ontario’s lead in half at the 13:12 mark of the second period.

After a Cuda power play that was sparked by a Reign tripping penalty, Julius Bergman helped his team erase a two-goal deficit with a full-strength goal to tie the game with 7:08 left in the second. San Jose then went on a 5-on-3 penalty kill as Adam Helewka and Brandon Mashinter went to the box for boarding.

The Cuda were short-handed and the Reign capitalized with the man advantage as Jonny Brodzinski scored a power-play goal–his second of the game–with 4:57 left in the second. With that goal, Brodzinski tallied his 1,000th AHL point.

The Cuda’s power play was most definitely good. Jacob Middleton tied the game at three apiece with 28 seconds left in the second. The officials reviewed Middleton’s goal and decided that it was still good.

Shots were 22-21 in favor of the Cuda, but the score was even at three apiece after the second.

Nobody predicted a wild start, but the Cuda took a 4-3 lead on a short-handed play by DeSimone early in the third period.

It was a first for both teams when San Jose’s Zach Fryes dropped the gloves with Ontario’s Jordan Subban (P.K. and Malcolm Subban’s youngest brother). Fryes experienced his first professional fight, while Subban and his team had their first fight against the Cuda since the 2015-16 AHL season.

Since the Cuda didn’t want to be left out of time in the box, the game headed into a 4-on-4 and the Reign tied the game at four apiece. After that, Ontario headed back on the power play for the remainder of the game, which went into a sudden death overtime.

There’s nothing like an extra dose of hockey, but the game was in favor of the Reign. Just 59 seconds into overtime, Reign captain Brett Sutter scored the overtime winner for a 5-4 win over the Cuda, who gained a point regardless of the final result.

Notes
Tonight’s Matchup: On Sunday, the Barracuda and Reign collided for the seventh of eight matchups on the season. The Barracuda are 2-4-0-0 against the Reign this year and are coming off a 2-1 shootout win against the Reign in the last meeting on March 4 at SAP Center.

Century Mark: The Cuda earned franchise victory #100 with a 4-0 win over the Monsters on March 10. The Barracuda joined the Reign, Gulls and *Texas Stars (*play 76 game schedule) as Pacific Division teams to reach 100 wins since 2015-16.

Killing It: The Cuda have killed 17 straight on the PK after going 2-for-2 on Friday and have not given up a power-play goal since March 23 at Bakersfield. San Jose ranks first in the Pacific on the kill and seventh in the AHL.

Oh Captain: Cuda captain John McCarthy collected six points (three goals, three assists) in two games against the Monsters last weekend, culminating in his first CCM/AHL Player of the Week nomination. McCarthy helped lead San Jose to a 6-2 win on Saturday as he collected his first pro hat-trick (sixth in Cuda history) and his first four-point night. The Olympian ranks first on the Cuda in plus/minus (+7), first in power-play goals (6), T-second in goals (10), and third in points (23). McCarthy is riding a three-game point streak (three goals, four assists).

Hey Rudy: Among first-year AHL players, Rudolfs Balcers ranks eighth in points (40), T-10th in assists (22), and T-13th in goals (17). The Liepaja, Latvia native leads the Cuda in points, assists, goals, and is T-first in game-winning goals (4). Balcers is currently on a three-game point streak after collecting a goal and an assist on Friday.

Goalie Time: In his fourth professional season, and first within the Sharks’ organization, AHL All-Star Antoine Bibeau is 18-12-2 in 32 games played with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. The Victoriaville, Quebec, native is T-fourth in the AHL in shutouts (4), fifth in goals-against average, T-seventh in save percentage, and T-10th in wins.

Coach Knows Best: Cuda head coach and Bay Area native Roy Sommer collected the 700th AHL win of his career on December 3 at Bakersfield. Sommer is the first coach in the 82-year history of the AHL to reach 700 coaching wins. In 2015-16, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook as the AHL’s all-time leader in wins and collected his first A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL Coach of the Year in 2016-17. Sommer, who’s in his AHL record 20th season behind the bench for the top affiliate of the Sharks, coached his 1,500th game in the AHL on December 8 at SAP Center against Tucson.

Up Next
The Barracuda visit the Roadrunners for the first of a back-to-back set Tuesday night at 7:05 pm PST.

Barracuda’s win streak ends at four as Currie powers Condors’ explosive attack in 8-4 triumph

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

Josh Currie wished he could play every game against the San Jose Barracuda (26-23-3-3 as his fifth career hat trick powered the Bakersfield Condors (24-22-9-1) to a 8-4 victory on Friday evening at Rabobank Arena. The loss snapped the Cuda’s four-game winning streak.

For Currie, also known as the Cuda killer, it was his second hat trick of the season against San Jose, and third overall against his NorCal rival. It was also his 14th career goal versus the Cuda and eighth goal in eight games so far this season.

The Cuda got the start they wanted getting on the board just 33 seconds into the game as Adam Helewka sent a shot in on net that rebounded off Condors goalie Laurent Brossoit (9-6-4) right to the stick of rookie sensation Rudolfs Balcers, who banged the puck into an empty net for with his team leading 17th goal of the season. Cuda captain John McCarthy received the secondary assist on the goal.

The Condors were able to tie the game up late in the first period when David Gust was able to make a great back-door pass over to Greyson Downing for an easy tap-in goal past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (18-11-2) at the 14:10 mark. It was Downing’s fourth goal of the season.

The Cuda regained the lead with just under a minute left in the period when Helewka controlled the puck from left corner and circled around the zone before snapping home a shot over the left shoulder of Brossoit for a 2-1 lead. Helewka’s ninth goal of the season came on an almost impossible angle that surprised Brossoit at the 19:08 mark. Balcers received the lone assist on the goal.

The lead was short-lived. Just 35 seconds later, Currie scored his first of three consecutive goals and 17th goal of the season. Currie was able to make a move to skate around Sam Warning from the slot and fired a shot past Bibeau to complete a wild final minute of action.

Currie would give back the lead to Bakersfield with his second goal of the night just 19 seconds into the second period. Currie had a nice give-and-go with Joey LeLeggia, who dropped it back to Currie. Currie proceed to fire a one-timer past Bibeau for his team-leading 18th goal of the season.

The Cuda would fall victim to some bad luck when the Condors scored off a shot by Patrick Russell that hit off the back of Nick DeSimone and ricocheted into the net. The unassisted goal was Russell’s 10th goal of the season at the 5:19 mark of the second period.

Currie completed his hat trick against the Cuda when he was able to shoot the puck between his legs that snuck under the blocker of a surprised Bibeau. Zach O’Brien and Leleggia assisted on Curry’s 19th goal on the year at 13:37 mark of the second period.

The Cuda would get two goals 21 seconds apart in the first two minutes of the third period when Radim Simek put home a rebound off a Brandon Mashinter shot for his sixth goal of the season at the 1:33 mark. Then Colby McAuley would take advantage of a Condor turnover when he was able to roof a backhander top-shelf past Brossoit for his second career goal at the 1:54 mark to make it a one-goal game at 5-4.

However, Bakersfield regained their composure and scored the next three goals to squash any Cuda comeback attempt. Russell scored his second goal of the night after sending in an innocent-looking wrist shot that caught Bibeau by surprise as the puck cruised past his blocker for Russell’s 11th goal on the year at the 5:29 mark. Evan Polei had a puck ricochet off his jersey from a shot that hit the post for his third goal of the season at the 9:06 mark.

Polie would get his first multi-goal game when he completed the scoring for the Condors with an empty-netter at the 18:59 mark.

Brossoit made 23 saves on 27 shots to earn the victory, while Bibeau took the tough loss, making 23 saves on 30 shots.

GAMES NOTES: Both teams went 0/2 on their power plays, respectively.

Bakersfield was without their leading scorer, Ty Rattie, who was recalled up to the Edmonton Oilers. McCarthy is currently on a three-game point streak.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down the road to Ontario to take on the Reign on Sunday 3/18. Faceoff is at 3 pm PST.

San Jose Barracuda Podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda hit the road for four games after successful four-game homestand sweep

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the San Jose Barracuda Podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda 26-22-3-3) swept the Cleveland Monsters (20-31-4-3) in a two game series last Friday and Saturday at SAP Arena in a 4-0 shutout, which is a morale builder for the club.

#2 The win for the Barracuda represented the first time that the club swept a four-game series in franchise history.

#3 There’s a lot that goes into a shutout and to do it a lot was riding on goaltender Antoine Bibeau (18-11-2), who stopped 23 shots.

#4 The Barracuda’s John McCarthy help set up Manny Wiederer’s pass at 1:37 Widderer got an insurance goal when he shot it past the Monster goalie Jeff Zaltoff’s (2-4-1) for McCarthy’s fifth goal of the season.

#5 Marko answers the question: Is this where the real heavy lifting begins as the Barracuda start a four-game road trip starting Friday in Bakersfield, Sunday in Ontario, and Tuesday and Wednesday in Tucson?

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

 

 

Barracuda take down Monsters in a 4-0 shutout victory to sweep homestand

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Call it something out of The Matrix. It was deja vu for the San Jose Barracuda (26-22-3-3) as they carried a one-goal lead into the third period and once again were able to close out the game with three goals in the period for the second straight night to sweep the weekend series against the Cleveland Monsters (20-31-4-3) in a 4-0 shutout victory on Saturday evening at SAP Center. It was also the first time in franchise history the Cuda swept a four-game homestand.

There was not much action in the opening period as neither team scored. San Jose had a good scoring chance when Manny Wiederer had an odd-man rush with Rudolfs Balcers, but Wiederer wasn’t able to connect a pass to Balcers who had an empty net to shoot at.

Cleveland had a late power play opportunity when Radim Simek went to the sin bin for holding. However, Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (18-11-2) held down the fort making key saves, including a point-blank save on Jordan Schroeder right in front of the net. Cleveland outshot San Jose 10-5.

The Cuda would break the deadlock early in the second period once again on the power play. Alexander True would score his eighth goal of the season at the 1:28 mark. Balcers would slide a pass over to True who snapped a shot under Monsters goalie Jeff Zatkoff’s (2-4-1) glove in the far left post. Nick DeSimone received the secondary assist.

The Cuda received a five-minute power play late in the second period when Kale Kessy slammed Wiederer against the boards for a major boarding penalty with 1:37 left. However, they weren’t able to generate many chances in the beginning of the third period as the Monsters were able to kill it off.

Wiederer would get an important insurance goal just seconds after the Monster penalty kill. Captain John McCarthy set up Wiederer with a nice pass and he was able to bury it past Zatkoff for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:24 mark. It was Wiederer’s first goal in his last 22 games. Rourke Chartier received the secondary assist.

Chartier thought he gave the Cuda a 3-0 lead when after a great toe drag move by Sam Warning was able to skate past Terry Broadhurst and send in a shot on Zatkoff that resulted in a rebound causing a mad scramble in front of the net that Chartier argued he had put the puck in the back of net. After video review, no goal was called.

Blacers did make it 3-0 when he blasted his team leading 16th goal of the season past Zatkoff from outside the hashes that hit just under the crossbar in the far left post at the 5:40 mark. McCarthy had a two-point night with his second assist of the night. Julius Bergman received the secondary assist.

Emerson Clark put the game on ice for the Cuda when he skated in on a power move on Zatkoff, then fired a shot that was initially saved but Zatkoff was unable to collect the rebound as Clark was able to jam it home for his seventh goal of the season at the 12:19 mark. Caleb Herbert and Alex Schoenborn received assists on the goal.

Bibeau had a great game, stopping all 23 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season. Zatkoff took the loss, making 25 saves on 29 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 1/6 on the power play. Cleveland was 0/2.

There was a big post whistle scrum that led to roughing penalties to San Jose’s Emerson Clark and Zach Frye and Cleveland’s Kale Kessy and Calvin Thurkauf, who received a double minor for his actions.

The Cuda set an attendance record with an announced crowd of 8,046.

The game was the second part of Hockey Day in San Jose. The San Jose Sharks hosted the Washington Capitals earlier in the afternoon. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Clark and Zac Delpe exchanged fisticuffs with under four minutes left in the third period. San Jose won the season series over Cleveland 3-1.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take their four-game winning streak on the road where they begin a four-game road trip when they travel out to Bakersfield to take on the Condors on Friday 3/16 at 7 pm PT.

McCarthy’s hat trick powers Barracuda over Monsters 6-2

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The two worst two scoring teams in the AHL put on a fireworks show on Friday evening at the SAP Center. Led by captain John McCarthy’s first ever career hat trick, as well as the franchise’s first, the San Jose Barracuda (25-22-3-3) dominated the Cleveland Monsters (20-30-4-3) in a 6-2 victory. Coming into the game, San Jose had scored a league worst 128 goals while Cleveland only had 138.

The Monsters would draw first blood early in the first period when Nathan Gerbe was able to score his second goal of the season at the 4:47 mark. Sam Vigneault carried the puck into the Cuda zone and passed the puck over to Gerbe who fired a shot from the left point that slid past the five-hole of a screened Antoine Bibeau (17-11-2) for a 1-0 lead.

The power play would be good to San Jose on this night. The Cuda tied the game up on their first power play opportunity when Jacob Middelton needled a pass to Brandon Mashinter who, in a spin-o-rama motion, made a behind the back pass to a wide-open Adam Helewka, who buried the puck past Monsters goalie Matiss Kivlenieks (11-17-2) for his eighth goal of the season at the 9:18 mark of the first period.

Just under three minutes later, the Cuda would strike again on the power play when McCarthy was the fortunate recipient of a Rourke Chartier shot that deflected right to McCarthy after hitting Kivlenieks. McCarthy snapped the puck in the back of the net for his eighth goal of the season at the 12:10 mark. It was McCarthy’s first goal since coming back from the Olympics in South Korea.

“It’s been kind of a thorn in our side all year,” said head coach Roy Sommer on his team’s power play futility. “They kind go in waves, the power play (goals). It’s like the Sharks, I thought their power plays looked real good. They hadn’t scored in 10 games (until last game). They weren’t getting any bounces. We had a couple of bounces tonight.”

The lead wouldn’t last longer than 41 seconds when the Monsters were able to take advantage of a bad clearing attempt that resulted in a turnover to Brady Austin, who immediately fired the puck that hit Bibeau resulting in a big rebound that found the stick of Justin Scott, who buried the puck past Bibeau for his fifth goal of the season.

McCarthy gave the lead back to the Cuda early in the second period with his second goal of the evening. Rudolfs Balcers raced down the left wing and was able to make a spectacular pass between two Monster defenders from just behind the net over to a wide-open McCarthy, who was left all alone in the middle of the slot to snap the pack over the right shoulder of Kivlenieks for his ninth goal of the season at the 3:28 mark.

“One of our strengths is our speed,” said McCarthy. “Every game we’re looking to drive wide (along the boards) and generate chances that way. For whatever reason, we had more success with it tonight. So it was good to see.”

Cleveland had a chace to get back in the game when they started the third period on the power play that carried over from the second period. Terry Broadhurst walked in all alone and deked out Bibeau only to have his back hand attempt sail over the net early.

The Cuda took control of the game with two goals in 50 seconds. Their fourth goal of the game was a result of a battle along the right boards by won by Alexander True. He fed the puck over to McCarthy, who quickly fired a pass over to Balcers in the right slot and snapped home a shot past Kivlenieks for his team leading 15th goal of the season at the 4:40 mark.

Sam Warning skated down the right boards making a pretty cross-ice feed through the crease to a wide open Brandon Mashinter who fired it into an empty net for his eighth goal of the season at the 5:30 mark for a 5-2 lead.

“It was great to see,” said Mashinter regarding his team’s offensive outburst. “We haven’t had one of those in a long time. For me to get that (the goal) it was a huge monkey off my back.”

The Cuda finished out the scoring when McCarthy won a clean face off and sent the puck back to the point where defenseman Zach Frye, who was making his debut with the Cuda, wristed a shot that McCarthy positioned himself perfectly in the middle of slot to tip the puck past for Kivlenieks to complete hat trick. His 10th goal came at the 14:58 mark.

Bibeau, who didn’t allow another goal in the final 47:09 of the game, made 30 saves on 32 shots for the victory. Kivlenieks suffered the defeat making 32 saves on 38 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/3 on the power play and perfect on the penalty kill with Cleveland going 0/4.

Frye, who just signed out of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks this week, scored 11 goals and a career high 34 points his senior season for the Nooks. Helweka suffered a lower body injury with over 12 minutes remaining in the third period. He was injured on a hit along the boards. He left the game under his own power. He is listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game. Colby McAuley and Garret Cockerill spared off with each other early in the third period after McAuley took exception to Cockerill’s high hit near the boards on Chartier.

The announced attendance was 3,684.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their four-game homestand on the back end of their weekend series against Cleveland on Saturday at 5:30 pm PT.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to extend two-game win streak with two-game series against Cleveland Monsters Friday

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

1 Two-game win streak for the San Jose Barracuda after getting by the Bakersfield Condors on Friday and the Ontario Reign on Sunday. Both games were at the SAP Center. The Cuda are trying to improve on losing two two-game series, going 0-4 in February in back-to-back games.

2 The Cuda have had shootout problems, but were able to overcome them on Sunday as the Cuda’s Michael Brodzenski scored the only goal in the shootout.

3 In the shootout, Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau stopped all three of the Reign’s shots.

4 The Reign scored early at 12:46 in the first period on Oscar Fratenberg’s shot from the point that created a scrum in front of the net. The Reign’s Andrew Crescenzi scored past Bibeau for the Reign’s only goal of the night.

5 In the second period, the Cuda’s Radim Simek intercepted a clearing attempt and shot from the left circle for his fifth goal of the season at 18:38 for the tie.

6 The Barracuda host the Cleveland Monsters for two games in a back-to-back starting on Friday night at 7:00 pm at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

Marko Ukalovic is the San Jose Barracuda beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Barracuda win second in a row in a 2-1 shootout victory over Reign

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The shootout hasn’t been too kind to the San Jose Barracuda (24-22-3-3), but they were able to change their fortunes with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Ontario Reign (27-19-4-2) on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

Michael Brodzinski scored the only goal in the shootout and Antone Bibeau (16-11-2) stopped all three Reign attempts to preserve the Cuda’s second win in a row on their current four-game homestand.

Ontario would draw first blood at the 12:46 mark of the first period. Oscar Frantenberg fired a shot from the point that Bibeau saved off his blocker, creating a rebound in front of the crease. After a mad scramble in front of the net, Andrew Crescenzi was able to get a hold of the puck and shoot it past Bibeau for his 11th goal of the season. The goal came seconds after the Cuda killed off a penalty by Jacob Middleton.

The best scoring chance in the period for San Jose came at the eight-minute mark. Filip Sandberg’s tip-in attempt was stopped by Reign goalie Cal Petersen (16-9-1) as well as Rourke Chartier’s rebound chance immediately after.

The Cuda’s top line of John McCarthy, Rudolfs Balcers and Adam Helewka created sustained pressure five minutes into the second period, but were unable to put the pack in the back of the net, despite numerous shots on goal.

Bibeau made a nice save on Matt Roy’s shot that came on a 3-on-2 odd man with three and a half minutes left in the period.

“I saw the puck really well,” said Bibeau after the game. “The boys played hard and really well. On top of that the effort was there, which is one thing that has been lacking in the last few weeks was lacking. There’s 16 games left and we’re really looking forward to it.”

The Cuda tied the score late in the second period when Radim Simek was able to intercept a clearing attempt by Ontario and snapped a shot from just atop the left circle that snuck past Petersen to lower left corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 18:38 mark.

There was no scoring in the third period, however, McCarthy had two separate scoring chances on an abbreviated power play with five minutes left in the period as he whacked at the puck twice each time in front of the crease only to have Petersen send him away empty-handed. Ontario out shot the Cuda 10-8 in the period.

“It was kind of a broken play,” said McCarthy. “The puck squirted over to me and I had two pretty clear looks, tried to beat him and he saved them. As long as the chances keep coming, I think we’ll be going in the right direction.”

The overtime would also go scoreless. Bibeau made two critical saves in overtime. First on Alex Lintuniemi and then on Michael Mersch on a breakaway.

“He’s been solid for us all year,” said head coach Roy Sommer about his #1 goalie. “If he can stay to (only allowing) one goal per game we’ll get in (to the playoffs), let’s put it that way.”

Bibeau’s impressive day concluded with 38 saves on 39 shots for the victory, while Petersen suffered the defeat, making 28 saves on 29 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose’s power play–the worst in the AHL–was 0/2, while Ontario also went 0/2.

Cuda defenseman Calvan Firtzgerald suffered a lower body injury in the first period and did not return to the game. He is listed as day-to-day.

Things got chippy in the third period when there were to separate skirmishes on both sides of the net. Neither resulted in any penalties.

The announced attendance was 4,095.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their four-game homestand with a weekend series against the Cleveland Monsters beginning on Friday night on March 9 at 7 pm PT.