Category: AHL

fearofthefin.com photo: San Jose Barracuda Ryan Carpenter (40) celebrates goal scoring with teammates  from previous game

Unfortunately for the San Jose Barracuda the loss on Wednesday night to the Texas Stars has to come in a shootout 2-1. The Cuda offense came alive in the third period the Cuda’s Ryan Carpenter scored the game tying goal but the Stars found  way to bounce back and you can’t win them. For the Barracuda to play a regular season game at Sharks Ice the practice facility is a lot smaller than the usual rink as Bon Jovi was playing at SAP Center on Wednesday night.

The Cuda on Wednesday night seemed to be more nervous with all the fans closer to them that might have got into their heads at Sharks Ice but who knows what exactly it was bothering them and effected them. The Barracuda who travels to Stockton on Saturday and then the next night they’ll host San Diego on Sunday night as anyone who travels for work is going to be exhausted and fatigued the Barracuda are a bunch of young guys that’s not saying the back to back trips would be grueling they’ll get worn out and this is a good hockey team they could overcome adversity.

Ana Kieu covers the Barracuda at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

sjbarracuida.com photo: San Jose Barracuda forward Barclay Goodrow (23) battles for the puck with Texas Stars left winger Austin Flynn (15) in front of the net Stars goaltender Justin Peters (32) on Wednesday night at Solar4America Ice in San Jose

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE— The San Jose Barracuda’s 14-game win streak came to an end as they lost 2-1 to the Texas Stars in a shootout at Solar4America Ice on Wednesday night.

The Stars received a power play after Dan Kelly was called for cross-checking at the 13-minute mark of the first period. The Barracuda successfully killed off their penalty.

The Stars played with a physical edge. The Barracuda were able to handle the intensity, but they weren’t really playing their best hockey.

“They played last night,” head coach Roy Sommer said when asked about the Barracuda’s ability to handle the Stars’ physicality. “I think they had a little bit of a lay off and I think it just took us a while to get back into it, and I think it was just kind of different…this wasn’t the greatest place to play a home game, but we had to do it, and they had to do it. And I think they were just a little more hungrier than us.”

The Barracuda and Stars each had nine shots as they skated to a scoreless tie after 20 minutes.

Buddy Robinson was called for slashing at 12:16 of the second period. Just seconds after Robinson’s penalty expired, Ethan Werek scored his seventh goal of the season to put the Stars on the board 1-0 at 11:09.

Brandon DeFazio was called for tripping with 1:43 left in the period. The Barracuda received their first power play of the game, but were unable to capitalize with the man advantage.

Shots were 26-23 in favor of the Barracuda, who trailed the Stars 1-0 after 40 minutes.

Ryan Carpenter collected a pass from Tim Heed and tipped it into the net for his ninth goal of the season, tying the score 1-1 at 10:32 of the third period.

The game went into overtime as the score was tied 1-1 after 60 minutes with the Barracuda outshooting the Stars 39-35.

The game was eventually decided by a shootout as the two teams remained tied at 1-1 after overtime with the Barracuda outshooting the Stars 43-38.

In the first round, neither Daniel O’Regan or Travis Morin scored. In the second round, neither DeFazio or Barclay Goodrow scored. In the third round, Adam Helewka missed a shot, but Werek’s game-winner lifted the Stars to a 2-1 win over the Barracuda.

With the win, the Stars snapped the Barracuda’s 14-game win streak. Justin Peters finished with 42 saves for Texas.

Troy Grosenick made 37 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.

“They didn’t score enough goals,” Sommer said when asked about what went wrong with the Barracuda’s offense. “We had chances. We hit a post there late. We had a couple of good looks on the 3-on-3. We had a couple of breakaways and some point-blankers. We just didn’t score tonight, and you got to give it to their goalie (Peters) because he played well.”

The Barracuda visit the Stockton Heat (22-22-4-1) on Saturday at 7:30 pm PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.

sjbarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda forward John McCarthy (17) battles for the puck with Tucson Roadrunner center Laurent Dauphin (15) in front of Cuda goalie Tony Grosenick  (1) Saturday night in Tucson

By: Eric He

The San Jose Barracuda (32-11-1-3) stretched their win-streak to a franchise-record 14 games on Saturday with a 4-3 win over the Tucson Roadrunners (22-20-5-0)  that needed overtime.

Timo Meier fired home a slot from the slot less than two minutes into overtime to give the Barracuda another win to add to the astounding streak.

The Barracuda led 2-1 going into the third, but the Roadrunners scored twice to open the period to take the lead. After Kyle Wood tied the game on a power play goal early in the third, Laurent Dauphin scored with less than three minutes left in regulation to give Tucscon the lead and put the Barracuda’s win streak in jeopardy.

But Nikolay Goldobin managed to equalize late to force overtime.

After a scoreless first period, there were three goals in the second period. Mitch Moroz opened the scoring with a wraparound goal for Tucson. But San Jose scored twice to take the lead after two, both goals coming courtesy of Marcus Sorensen. First, he scored a power play goal at 4:10 to tie the game at 1-1. Then, he finished a shorthanded odd-man rush later in the period to give the Barracuda their first lead.

The Barracuda will now return home to face the San Diego Gulls on March 5^th as they look to extend their win-streak to 15 games.

sjbarracuda.com photo: The San Jose Barracuda did some high wire balancing to maintain their consecutive win streak on Friday night in Tucson against the Roadrunners they’ll try it again tonight in Tucson

By: Eric He

The San Jose Barracuda rallied in the third period to beat the Tucson Roadrunners on the road on Friday to push their franchise-record win streak to 13 games.

In their 4-3 win, the Barracuda received third period goals from Rourke Chartier and Marcus Sorensen to pull off the victory. Chartier evened the score at 3-3 less than five minutes into the period on a shorthanded goal, and Sorensen delivered the eventual game-winner midway through the third on a hard shot from the right faceoff circle.

The two unanswered goals came after Tucson had scored to take the lead early in the period. Christian Fischer snuck in on a breakaway to give the Roadrunners a 3-2 lead.

The game was tied 2-2 entering the third, but the Barracuda didn’t trail until Fischer’s goal. Buddy Robinson led off the scoring with a goal 6:28 into the game, though the Roadrunners tied it up with 10 seconds left in the first period on a shorthanded goal.

Scoring in the second was almost a mirror image of the first; Nikita Jevpalovs fired a puck in from the slot to give the Barracuda a 2-1 advantage, only to have Tucson even the score with 1.7 left in the period. It was Laurent Dauphin, who had also scored to end the first.

The Barracuda, though, prevailed in the end. Troy Grosenick won his 11^th straight game, making 21 saves in the winning effort. San Jose has also won nine road games in a row, and will look to make it 10 straight road wins – and 14 overall – on Saturday when it faces Tucson again.

THREE STARS
1. Marcus Sorensen (SJ: 1+0=1)
2. Christian Fischer (TUC: 1+2=3)
3. Laurent Dauphin (TUC: 1+0=1)

sjbarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda forward Marcus Sorenson who had an assist in Monday night’s game at SAP Center takes a shot of his own on net against the visiting Texas Stars

by Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda beat the Texas Stars 5-3 at SAP Center for their 12th straight win Monday afternoon.

Barracuda mascot Frenzy celebrated his first birthday in style as his party guests Sharkie, Lou Seal, Sourdough Sam, etc. were in attendance. Fans took photos with their favorite mascots and watched them play in an exclusive game during the — intermission.

The Barracuda were off to a good start, capitalizing with the man advantage. They took a 1-0 lead at 14:21 of the opening period. Mattias Backman was called for tripping at 14:29. Nikolay Goldobin collected a pass from Joakim Ryan and fired the puck into the net on the power play for his 14th goal of the season.

Barclay Goodrow sent a nice pass to John McCarthy, who managed to beat Justin Peters after a few unsuccessful attempts for his 13th goal of the season. The Barracuda took a 2-0 lead at 10:10.

“It’s a good sign we’re getting goals,” McCarthy said when asked about the keys to the recent power play success. “We’re getting goals from the point. We’re getting goals from low points…I think everyone is figuring what their role is on the power play.”

However, the Barracuda’s lead was short-lived as the Stars scored two goals less than four minutes apart to tie the contest at 2-2.

Nikita Jevpalovs dropped the gloves with Austin Fylen at 9:48 after the Stars took some rights in the Barracuda zone. Both players received five-minute majors for fighting. Jevpalovs also received a two-minute minor for roughing.

Ludwig Bystrom cut the lead in half at 9:24 when he activated a shot from the point and fired it past Troy Grosenick for his first goal of the season.

The Stars tied the contest 2-2 when Remi Elie scored a fluke goal for his sixth of the season with 4:36 left in the period.

The Barracuda went ahead 3-2 when McCarthy finished a tic-tac-toe play from Ryan and Goodrow for his second of the game and 14th of the season with just 12 seconds left in the period.

The Barracuda outshot the Stars 13-9 and led 3-2 after 20 minutes.

Danny O’Regan converted on a centering pass from Marcus Sorensen less than two minutes into the second period to extend the Barracuda’s lead to 4-2.

“That’s like an easy question,” O’Regan said when asked about his thoughts on McCarthy, drawing laughter from the local media. “He’s just the best guy ever. Honestly, on and off the ice, he does everything right…Such a good guy on the team for the guys to look up to.”

Patrick McNally went to the box for holding at 14:07. The Stars capitalized with the man advantage as Bystrom picked up a pass from Fyten and beat Grosenick short-side to pull the Stars within one with his second of the game and season just one minute later.

Julius Bergman almost fired the puck through Maxime Lagace’s pads, but Ebert swept it away as it headed into the goal line with 26 seconds left in the period.

The Barracuda outshot the Stars 24-16 and held a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.

Once again, the Barracuda capitalized with the man advantage, expanding their lead to 5-3 at 9:32. O’Regan picked up a pass from Marcus Sorensen and beat Lagace with a high slap shot for his second of the game and 16th of the season.

The Barracuda beat the Stars 5-3 for their 12th straight win. Grosenick finished with 28 saves for San Jose.

Peters allowed four goals and made 10 saves before being pulled in favor of Lagace, who stopped 14 of 15 shots in relief of Peters.

“The first one was a backdoor play we missed,” Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said when asked about what the Stars did well on the power play. “And then, the other one, we gave it because we were on a 4-on-3 and it was a turnover on the blue line, which is uncharacteristic. But we’ve been scoring short-handed…It happens. Every time the dog is going to bite you back.”

The Barracuda head to the Tuscon Convention Center to take on the Tuscon Roadrunners (22-18-5-0) in the first game of a back-to-back set Friday night. The action starts at 6:05 p.m. PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.

sjbaarracuda.com photo: The San Jose Barracuda faced off against the Ontario Reign to extend their winning streak to 11 games on Saturday night

By: Eric He

ONTARIO–The San Jose Barracuda stretched their win streak to 11 games on Saturday with a 2-0 shutout over the Ontario Reign on the road.

Goaltender Troy Grosenick recorded 20 saves in the win while Adam Helewka and John McCarthy scored the only goals of the game, all for San Jose.

Helewak scored on a break in the first period, taking a pass from Buddy Robinson and pulling a forehand-to-backhand deke on the Reign goaltender to give the Barracuda a 1-0 lead.

Despite being outshot 13-4 in the second period, the Barracuda were able to double their lead, courtesy of McCarthy. The forward deflected a shot by Joakim Ryan into the net midway through the period to put San Jose ahead 2-0.

It could have been a 3-0 lead for the Barracuda entering the third, but Patrick McNally’s goal was called off due to goaltender interference.

They wouldn’t need it, though, as San Jose outshot Ontario 17-2 in the third – and 31-20 overall – to finish off the win.

Grosenick recorded his AHL-leading seventh shutout of the season, while the Barracuda kept rolling with their eighth straight road win and 11^th consecutive victory overall.

San Jose will look to make it 12 in a row on Monday at home against Texas.

sjbarracuda photo: San Jose Barracuda’s Dan O’Regan camps out in front of the Stockton Heat’s net on Friday night in Stockton

By: Eric He

The San Jose Barracuda can’t seem to stop winning these days. They defeated the Stockton Heat 5-4 at home on Friday for their franchise-record 10th straight win.

The Barracuda took a 3-0 lead after one period and held off a comeback attempt by the Heat. They let Stockton tie the game in the second period, with the lead cut to 3-2, 4-3 and eventually even 4-4.

Rasmus Andersson and Mark Jankowski scored early in the period for Stockton to the cut the lead to 3-2. Timo Meier responded to double the Barracuda lead, only to have the Heat respond with two goals to tie the game. But Joakim Ryan gave San Jose the lead back heading into the third with a crucial goal, a hard shot from the point past the goaltender.

San Jose held on to the one-goal lead in the third, as goaltender Mantas Armalis made nine saves to earn his second straight win. The Barracuda scored twice on the power play despite being outshot 30-26.

The Barracuda will look to make it eight straight road wins and 11 consecutive victories overall on Saturday when they play the Reign in Ontario.

sjbarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda forward Marcus Sorenson (20) skates behind the net during a break in the action against the Tucson Roadrunners at SAP Center on Tuesday night

The San Jose Barracuda are a happy dressing room and who wouldn’t be after winning nine in row. The Barracuda are a level headed bunch and like any other AHL club they have their ups and downs no one’s win streak or losing skid goes on forever but the win streak which started January 25th vs. the Stockton Heat and is current through last Tuesday when the Cuda got a home win over the visiting Tucson Roadrunners.

The Barracuda have back to back nights in different venues first they head to Stockton Friday night and then it’s off to Ontario and you be assured that each of these clubs will be up for the challenge to try to knock off the Barracuda as any club with that kind of a win streak teams are out to stop them. The Ontario Reign are a physical team and frustrated after their loss to the Barracuda last Sunday in San Jose and look forward to face the Cuda on their home ice which will be the second of back to back road games for San Jose which will be a real test.

Ana Kieu does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

sjbarracuda photo: San Jose Barracuda players have something to celebrate with their California state flag jerseys on Sunday night winning their eighth straight game over the Ontario Reign at SAP Center

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Barracuda beat the Ontario Reign 4-1 at SAP Center on Sunday night.

The Barracuda continued their four-game homestand with a rivalry game against the rival Reign Sunday.

Dan Kelly opened the scoring for the Barracuda at the 12:13 mark. Kelly shot the puck through traffic off a pass by Buddy Robinson that found its way past Jack Campbell for his first goal of the season.

“We’re a lethal team,” Kelly said. “And when we’re on fire, we string together wins.”

The Barracuda’s lead lasted for about 10 minutes. Patrick Bjorkstrand picked up a pass from Hensick and fired it into the net for his sixth goal of the season, tying the score 1-1 late in the period.

The two teams skated to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes. The Reign edged the Barracuda in shots 11-10.

The Barracuda started the second period on a positive note, killing off the Carpenter penalty at 19:42. They applied some pressure on the Reign as they gained a 13-10 shot advantage roughly above the 16 minute mark.

The Barracuda grabbed a 2-1 lead with 3:43 left in the period as Danny O’Regan sent a pass to Nikolay Goldobin, who fired the puck past Campbell short side for his 12th goal of the season.

The Barracuda outshot the Reign 21-13 and led 2-1 after 40 minutes.

The Barracuda scored an insurance goal just 3:42 into the third period as Michael Brodzinski got into a scuffle with a Reign player for the puck, but managed to send a pass to Nikita Jevpalovs, who fired a shot through traffic that got past Campbell for his third goal of the season.

The rivalry between the two teams heated up late in period as Bergman received a minor penalty for roughing after dropping the gloves for a fight.

Barclay Goodrow sealed the Sharks’ 4-1 victory with an empty-net goal — his 16th of the season — with 1:03 left in regulation.

The Barracuda (27-11-1-3) extended their win streak to eight games with a 4-1 win over the Reign (24-12-8-0). Troy Grosenick finished with 23 saves in a San Jose victory.

“I just got my glove on it and held on,” Grosenick said when asked about his notable saves. “The next one was on a faceoff play and they got Brodzinski in the middle where he saw the play.”

Campbell made 26 saves in a losing effort for Ontario.

“I’ve been doing this for 19 years or 20,” Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said when asked about the message from the coaching staff. “They’re hard to get on. You could win five in a row. You win five in a row, you’re playing pretty good hockey. You win eight, that’s a pretty good run…We beat some really good teams along the way…It’s been like the next guy up. Kelly got one tonight and then Goldy (Goldobin).”

The Barracuda return to action Tuesday night when they host the Tuscon Roadrunners (21-16-5-0) in a special Valentine’s Day game.