Barracuda close out season with OT victory over Roadrunners 5-4

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Barracuda closed out their season against the Roadrunners on Saturday, April 20th.

In goal for San Jose was Gabriel Carriere who was making his first start in a San Jose uniform.

On the other side of the rink, it was Dylan Wells in between the pipes. Heading into this one Wells had a 10-5-2 record with a 3.20 GAA and .900 SV%.

Tuscon ended up getting off to a scorching hot start in this one as just 24 seconds in former Shark John Leonard scored his 12th of the season.

The period though ended up being one of firsts as Mitchell Russel got his first career goal in the AHL to tie the game. Less than five minutes later it was another first as Gannon Laroque scored his first-ever goal in the AHL to give San Jose the lead.

Scoring took a little longer to get going in the second as the first goal wouldn’t come until 15:26 into the period when Filip Bystedt scored his fourth of the campaign. Shark fans have to be excited by Bystedt’s play so far as in just eight games he has seven points.

The final period in this one was one that San Jose probably would want to forget as they found a way to blow their lead.

It started with Milos Kelemen scoring just 1:05 into the period which was then followed up by a power play goal from Colin Theisen.

With the game tied the Roadrunners kept their foot on the gas and scored just 26 seconds later as Travis Barron got them the lead 4-3.

It looked like the Roadrunners were gonna pull off the comeback until Mason Klee also got his first goal in the AHL tying the game back up at four.

The game went to overtime and was ended by a breakaway goal scored by Tristen Robins getting his seventh of the season and securing the Barracuda’s 23rd win of the season.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Tristen Robins 2nd: Milos Kelemen 3rd: Kyle Rau

The shots in this one favored San Jose 33-22 while the Barracuda went 0/4 on the power play and the Roadrunners went 1/5.

San Jose will end their season 23-34-10 with 60 points good enough for last place in the Pacific Division.

It was another dissapointing season for the Barracuda who will look to bounce back next season with a playoff berth.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda can’t rally on Texas; End season in Tucson Fri and Sat

The San Jose Barracuda and the Texas Stars battled to a 2-1 Texas win on Sat Apr 14, 2024 at Tech CU in San Jose to conclude the 2023-24 home season for the Barracuda (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, the San Jose Barracuda got on the board first on Saturday night against the Texas Stars at Tech CU Arena in the second period when Daniel Gushchin scored at 5:14 for a 1-0 Barracuda lead.

#2 In the second period the Stars Matej Blumel forward tied up the game at 1:12 with assists from Derrick Pouliot and Mavrik Bourque making it 1-1.

#3 Once again Blumel scores against the Barracuda for the game winner for Texas with as Bourque and Pouliot assisted for the 2-1 win.

#4 The Barracuda just wasn’t able to get much offense going after the first period but Barracuda goaltender Magnus Chrona stopped 38 shots and allowed two goals but the offense couldn’t deliver.

#5 It’s off to Tucson this Friday and Saturday for a two game series that will conclude the Barracuda road schedule and season. The Roadrunners are not a slouchy team they are second in the AHL Pacific with a 41-23-3 record and have six of their last ten games.

Marko Ukalovic podcasted the Barracuda for the 2023-24 season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda open final homestand Wednesday against Henderson

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Georgi Ramanov (31) had another great outing stopping 41 shots this time against the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Center in Ontario on Sun Apr 7, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 San Jose Barracuda (21-33-9-4) took a tough loss to the Ontario Reign (38-21-3-4) 3-2 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario last Saturday. Despite the loss Barracuda goaltender Georgi Ramanov stopped 41 shots in the one goal loss.

#2 The Reign dominated on offense in the first period with control of the puck the Reign made one mistake turning over the puck at the blue line taken by the Barracuda’s Ethan Cardwell who passed the puck Danil Gushchin who hit it from the low short side.

#3 In the second period the Barracuda got the lead back at 1:54 when Tristen Robins scored his fifth goal of the season to take a 2-1 lead.

#4 The Barracuda in the third period just couldn’t get anything going getting shutout by the Reign and goaltender Erik Portillo.

#5 Wednesday the Barracuda face off against the Henderson Silver Knights (27-33-3) the Knights have lost five of their last ten games. The Barracuda open their final homestand and are hoping to start it with a win against Henderson.

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda continue 5 game road trip Wednesday In San Diego

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 Marko, the San Jose Barracuda (21-32-9-2) who took a quick 3-0 lead on Sunday in Calgary. The Barracuda never fell behind and won it 4-1 defeating the Calgary Wranglers (34-24-5-3).

#2 The Barracuda goaltender Georgi Ramanov saved 30 shots and allowed one goal. With the win the Barracuda went 5-3 against the Wranglers for the 2023-24.

#3 The first period the Barracuda struck first with a goal from Ethan Cardwell for his 20th goal of the season at 6:56 and Jack Thompson got his sixth goal for the year at 11:11 to take a 2-0 lead. Talk about how important it was to jump to a 2-0 lead early?

#4 The Barracuda picked up two more goals in the third period Danil Gushchin scored his 16th goal of the season and in the third period the Barracuda added one more with Nathan Todd scoring his 18th of the season.

#5 Marko, the Barracuda continue this five game road trip against the San Diego Gulls (23-31-8-0) on Wednesday for a 7:00pm PDT face off. Both teams are at the bottom of the standings who do you like in this match.

Marko Ukalovic is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and podcaster heard on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda host Reign to close out four game homestand on Wednesday at Tech CU

The Tucson Roadrunners forward Jan Jenik (24) and the San Jose Barracuda forward Tanner Kaspick (41) settle their differences on the ice at Tech CU Arena in San Jose on Sun Mar 24, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (20-30-9-2) scored three goals all on power plays and got goaltending support from Eetu Makiniemi who shutout the Tucson Roadrunners( 36-21-3-2) 4-0 at Tech CU in San Jose.

#2 The Barracuda in the game got the man advantage nine times in the game the most for this season while both Tucson and San Jose chalked up a season high of 158 penalty minutes in a physical contest.

#3 Marko, talk about Makiniemi who picked up his third shutout of the season and his seventh of his career and it was the second time he blanked the opposition in his last five games.

#4 To show you how impressive Makiniemi was stopping the Roadrunners this was Tucson’s third time this season they were shutout. The Roadrunners had not been shutout in a game since Nov 22, 2023.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Ontario Reign next at Tech CU to close out their four game homestand. San Jose and Ontario face off on Wednesday night at 7:00pm PDT. Tell us how you see these two matching up.

Join Marko for the SJ Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Classroom day at Tech CU as Barracuda host San Diego Wed morning

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Eetu Makiniemi (32) stopped 21 of 25 shots against the Rockford IceHogs at BMO Arena in Rockford IL on Sun Mar 17, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (18-29-9-2) got swept in a two game series to the Rockford IceHogs (28-22-5-2) losing 4-1 in Rockford. The Barracuda just couldn’t get any offense going. After seeing the Barracuda on Saturday night the IceHogs figured out San Jose’s offense.

#2 The IceHogs went right to work on the Barracuda in the first period getting goals from Mike Hardman scoring his 18th goal and Cole Guttman scored his 11th goal of the season for the 2-0 lead. At 14:52 Ethan Cardwell scored his 17th goal a team leading total for the Barracuda. The IceHogs took a 2-1 lead into the second period.

#3 The IceHogs ran away with the game with Cole Guttman scoring his second goal and his 12th goal of the season in the second period at 18:21 and in the third period Jackson Cates put the frosting on the cake in the third period with his 11th goal of the season for a 4-1 win.

#4 The thing about the loss the Barracuda outshot the IceHogs 13-6 but again just couldn’t get any scoring going.

#5 Marko, It’s Classroom day on Wednesday morning at 10:30AM PDT at Tech CU as the Barracuda host the San Diego Gulls (22-26-8-0). What makes Classroom day special for AHL teams hosting and how do you see this match between the Barracuda and Gulls.

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Power play falls flat for Barracuda as they lose to IceHogs 4-1

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Cole Cassels screens goalie Drew Commesso (taken on 3/17/24).

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

After losing to the IceHogs on Saturday the Barracuda looked to bounce-back against them on Sunday.

In goal for San Jose was Eetu Makiniemi who heading into this game had a 6-7-0 record with a 3.48 GAA and .887 SV%. On the other side of the ice it was Drew Commesso had a 12-13-4 record with 2.73 GAA and .904 SV%.

The first period was a penalty filled affair as the teams in total combined for five penalties. Unfortunately for San Jose those penalties ended up helping the IceHogs rather than them.

The first goal in this game came on the power play as Mike Hardman scored his 18th of the season only five minutes into the game.

Later in the first Cole Guttman added to their lead with his 11th of the season assisted by Nolan Allan and Rem Pitlick.

Not long before the buzzer San Jose did respond on the power play as Ethan Cardwell one of San Jose’s hottest scorers got his 17th goal.

The middle frame saw the offense slow down considerably as we wouldn’t get a goal until 18:21 into the period. That goal came from the IceHogs as Guttman got his second of the game making it 3-1.

Funnily enough the final frame saw the opposite happen as just 41 seconds in Rockford made it 4-1 as Jackson Cates got his 11th.

That goal ended up being the last one in this game as San Jose only managed to get one past Commesso who had a great game making 34 saves.

A big part of the reason why the Barracuda only put up one goal was their power play as they went 1/5.

With three assists on the night Pitlick improves to an extremely impressive 16 points in just 13 games played for the IceHogs.

The three stars in this game were: 1st: Cole Guttman 2nd: Mike Hardman 3rd: Rem Pitlick

With the loss San Jose falls to 18-29-9 as the IceHogs improve to 28-22-5.

San Jose will look to snap their three game losing streak at home against one of the bottom feeders in the AHL the Gulls on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

San Jose Barracuda Sat game wrap: Barracuda can’t hold on lose to IceHogs 4-3 in overtime

The San Jose Barracuda goaltender Georgi Romanov (31), defenseman Shakir Mukhamdullin (85), and the Rockford IceHogs leftwinger Brandon Baddock (13) stay around the net anticipating the puck at the BMO Center in Rockford IL on Sat Mar 16, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

By Titus Wilkinson and Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda (18-28-9-2) picked up a point getting into an overtime stanza with the Rockford IceHogs (27-22-5-2) at Rockford IL in the BMO Center. The Barracuda just couldn’t hold on and ended up dropping their ninth overtime game of the 2023-24 campaign losing 4-3.

The Barracuda’s Ethan Cardwell scored a goal and picked up two assists. To start the contest the IceHogs wasted no time Luke Phillip scored his first goal of the season for a 1-0 lead. This was Phillip’s first game of the season and he hit a ripper while being defended two on one at 2:55.

The Barracuda answered back with a goal from Cardwell at 13:26 in the first period for his 16th goal of the season the goal looked pretty much the same as Phillip’s in a two on one situation. Prior to Cardwell’s goal the IceHogs put eight consecutive shots on net that was defended by Cuda goaltender Geogie Ramanov.

The IceHogs in the second period shut the Barracuda out not allowing them a goal by the well defending netminder of Rockford Stauber Jaxson. On the other hand the IceHogs got by Ramanov with a short handed goal by Cole Guttman his tenth of the season at 3:51 and David Gust who scored his 14th goal of the season at 6:04. The IceHogs took a 3-1 lead going into the third period.

Ramanov ended up shutting the IceHogs in the third period to make it turn abouts fair play while the Barracuda scored two goals to tie up the game from Cole Cassels his eight of the season at at 40 seconds and Tristen Robins scored a crucial tying goal at 3:46 to make it 3-3 forcing overtime.

In the overtime stanza the IceHogs Colton Dach buried his tenth goal of the season at 2:38 to close out the contest as the IceHogs picked up their 27th win of the season.

There’s no time to feel sorry or bad for the Barracuda over this one as they return to the rink on Sunday for a 2:00pm face off at the BMO Center in Rockford.

Titus Wilkinson and Marko Ukalovic are beat writers covering the San Jose Barrracuda at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda split in Texas; Face off with Rockford next Sat and Sun

The San Jose Barracuda who split two games with the Texas Stars at Cedar Rapids TX at H-E-B Arena (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Another tough loss for the San Jose Barracuda (17-27-8-2) this time a three goal beating at the hand of the Texas Stars (26-22-3-2) at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park Tx.

#2 The Barracuda scored three goals we’ll take a look at each of them starting with Ozzy Wiesblatt’s. Wiesblatt’s was the only goal for San Jose in the first period at 7:28.

#3 Barracuda defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov scored the second goal of the season for San Jose this one coming at 14:08 in the second period. Knyzhov was overdue it may have been not enough but Knyzhov has to be glad to get that second goal.

#4 Marko, how about the season that forward Scott Sabourin has had he scored the last Barracuda goal of the game at 19:31 for his 16th of the season. Sabourin no doubt has been a silver lining for the Barracuda this season?

#5 The Barracuda play the third game of this road trip against the Rockford Ice Hogs (25-21-5-2) next Sat Mar 16 at 5:00pm PDT and Sun Mar 17th at BMO Harris Bank Arena Rockford IL. The Barracuda don’t get to see the Ice Hogs too often?

Join Marko for the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda drop second of back-to-backs against Stars 6-3

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

After managing to beat the Stars last night the Barracuda looked to repeat their previous success on Saturday.

Getting the start in this one for San Jose was Eetu Makiniemi who was suiting up in his first game for San Jose since January 26th. Heading into this one he was sporting a 6-7-0 record with a 3.42 GAA and .890 SV%.

For Texas it was Matthew Murray who got the call who’s record before this game was 13-11-2 with a 2.97 GAA and .898 SV%.

The opening frame in this one was rather uneventful as neither team found the score sheet. The only penalty of the period was taken by Texas as Jake Murray was called for tripping but the Barracuda did not score.

In contrast to the first the second period was the exact opposite as just 1:53 into the period Texas scored as Mark Rassell notched his sixth of the season.

Then less than minute later MATEJ BLÜMEL tacked on to his teams lead with his 23rd of the campaign.

Even with the rough start San Jose did fight back as Ozzy Wiesblatt scored cutting the Stars lead in half.

In the dying moments of the second though Texas scored a crushing goal as once again BLÜMEL found the back of the net this time on the power play.

It would take a bit longer to find scoring in the final frame of this one but it would once again come from the home team as Jack Becker this time found the back of the net.

Riding the momentum Becker struck again making the Stars lead 5-1 putting the game pretty much out of reach.

San Jose did attempt a late comeback as Nikolai Knyzhov and Scott Sabourin scored to make it 5-3.

With the goalie pulled though the Stars officially put things away as FREDRIK KARLSTRÖM scored on the empty cage ending the game at 6-3.

Special teams did not go well for San Jose as they went 0/3 on the power play and the one time they went on the penalty kill they gave up a goal.

The shots in this one ended in a tie actually at 30 apiece.

With the loss San Jose falls to 18-28-8 while the Stars improve to 27-23-3.

The Barracuda will face these Stars two more times before the season is out as they will play them on the 12th and 13th of April. Funnily enough those will be San Jose’s last two home games of the season.

The three stars in this one were: 1st: Jack Becker 2nd: MATEJ BLÜMEL 3rd: Mark Rassell

San Jose will continue this road trip as they will travel to play against the Rockford Icehogs on Saturday the 16th at 5 p.m.