Barracuda lose sixth in a row in 5-1 loss to Condors

Raphael Lavoie celebrates his goal with his teammates during the Condors win over the Barracuda at Tech CU Arena on Tuesday Dec 27, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Seth Griffith just loves playing against the San Jose Barracuda.

Griffith scored two goals against the ‘Cuda to help the Bakersfield Condors to a 5-1 victory on Tuesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost a season worst six games in a row. Bakersfield has won two of its past three games.

Bakersfield (11-15-1-0) drew first blood with a power play goal late in the first period. Raphael Lavoie sent a rink wide pass over to Carter Savoie who whipped a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Strauss Mann for his fourth goal of the season at the 14:26 mark.

It was the 14th time in the last 15 games that San Jose had conceded the first goal of the game.

The Condors only needed 37 seconds to double its lead when Ty Tullio led a rush up the ice from out of its own zone. Tullio found Griffith in the slot and the ‘Cuda killer made one move into the middle before beating Mann with a wrist shot for his seventh goal of the season.

Bakersfield scored its third unanswered goal with two seconds left in the opening frame when Michael Kesselring led a two on one odd man rush down the left side. Kesselring snapped home a wrist shot past Mann for his ninth goal of the season.

San Jose (13-16-0-1) got on the scoreboard with a power play goal early in the second period. Artemi Kniazev sent a cross ice pass over to Thomas Bordeleau who blasted a one-timer past Condor’s goalie Olivier Rodrigue for his team leading 14th goal of the season at the :46 mark.

Bordeleau leads all rookies in the AHL with his 14 goals.

Griffith recorded his second goal of the game halfway through the middle frame. Luke Esposito found Griffith down low near the net. Griffith then fake a passed through the crease and backhanded a shot through the short side past Mann for his eighth goal of the season at the 10:21 mark.

Bakersfield put the game away with its second power play goal of the contest just under three minutes later. Lavoie cleaned up his own rebound after his initial shot was blocked for his fourth goal of the season at the 13:25 mark.

San Jose put on an offensive push in the third period as they outshot Bakersfield 15-10 in the period but could not get another puck past Rodrigue who played one of his best games of the season.

Rodrigue stopped 36 of the 37 shots to earn the victory. Mann made 23 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-6 on the power play. Bakersfield went 2-for-5.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Rodrigue 2) Griffith 3) Lavoie.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Coachella Valley Firebirds for a two-game series on Friday 12/30 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Barracuda drop sixth straight as Condors get victory 5-1

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Barracuda Captain Andrew Agozzino skates up the ice.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- Despite coming back home to kick off a four game home stand San Jose came out flat losing to the visiting Condors 5-1.

The scoring took a minute to get going on either side but finally 14:26 into the the first Carter Savoie broke the ice scoring his fourth of the year on the power play. Raphael Lavoie and Yannis Kaldis both got assists on the goal.

Looking to capitalize on the momentum Seth Griffith scored his seventh of the season less than a minute later. Ty Tullio got the lone assist on the goal.

In the dying moments of the first with less than three seconds on the clock Michael Kesselring scored his ninth goal of the season. Both Noah Philip and Jason Demers assisted on the goal making it 3-0.

The shots at the end of the first favored Bakersfield 10-9.

Unlike the first the scoring in the second came much quicker as just 46 seconds in on the power play Thomas Bordeleau scored his 14th goal of the season. Artemi Kniazev and Andrew Agozzino assisted on the goal.

With their lead shrunk to just two goals the Condor’s responded as Seth Griffith scored his second of the game and ninth on the year. The lone assist on the goal went to Luke Esposito.

Then 13:25 into the second on the power play Bakersfield got another one as Raphael Lavoie scored his fourth goal of the season making it 5-1. Yanni Kaldis and Brad Malone got the assists on the goal.

The shots at the end of the second favored San Jose 22-18.

In the third period there was no scoring as the game finished 5-1 in favor of the Condors. There were plenty of penalties in the period as in total between the two teams 12 penalties were taken.

Both Graham McPhee on the Condors and Darren Brady on the Barracuda were given ten minute misconducts in the period.

On the night the Condors power play went 2/5 while the Barracuda’s power play went 1/6.

The shots in total favored San Jose at 37-28.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Olivier Rodrigue 2nd: Seth Griffith 3rd: Raphael Lavoie

San Jose’s next game will be at home on Friday at 7 p.m. against the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barrcuda host Condors Tuesday night at Tech CU Arena

The Abbottsford Canucks Will Lockwood (7) scores a second period goal against San Jose Barracuda defenseman Artemi Kniazev (25) in Abbottsford on Wed Dec 21, 2022 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (13-15-0-1) had leads in the first period on Wednesday against the Abbottsford Canucks (16-9-1-1) in Abbottsford but the defense went soft and gave up four unanswered goals in the 6-3 loss.

#2 Andrew Agozzino would score the Barrcuda’s first first period goal in 14 games for the 1-0 lead. The Canucks Phil Di Giuseppe answered back with a goal to tie the game up at 1-1. The Cuda’s Max Vernoneau put San Jose back in the lead scoring on a rebound shot.

#3 In second period action: Justin Dowling’s goal at 14:42 in the second period gave San Jose a two goal lead 3-1. At 1:07 after Dowling’s goal the Canucks Will Lockwood scored on Barracuda goaltender Eteu Makiniemi to cut the lead to one 3-2.

#4 With the Barracuda up by two goals the Canucks would strike back scoring three third period goals by Jake Rathbone, Chase Wouters, and Linus Karlsson for the 6-3 win.

#5 The Barracuda return back to San Jose for a Tuesday match with Bakersfield Condors a 5pm face off at Tech CU Arena. After this past road trip how much will playing back at home matter facing the Condors Tuesday.

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

Barracuda drop another one on the road against the Canucks 6-3

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. A mass of players piles up in front of Abbotsford goaltender Collin Delia.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

San Jose went into Abbotsford and took on the Canucks Wednesday night and proceeded to drop their fifth in a row by a final of 6-3.

The first period saw the Barracuda open up the scoring with Andrew Agozzino scoring his 10th goal of the season. Both Darren Brady and Artemi Kniazev assisted on the goal.

The Canucks rallied back mere minutes later as Phil Di Giuseppe scored his fifth goal of the season and his second in as many games. Vasily Podkolzin and Guillaume Brisebois assisted on the goal.

With the period tied the Barracuda struck back this time Max Verronneau scored getting his first goal of the campaign. The assists on the goal went to Luke Johnson and Ozzy Wiesblatt.

At the end of the first the shots finished in favor of the Barracuda at 14-10.

In the second period the first goal wouldn’t come till the 14:22 mark were Justin Dowling scored his sixth of the season to get the Canucks the lead back.

A little over a minute later the Canucks got the fans up on their feet again as Will Lockwood scored his 12th goal of the season.

The shots still favored San Jose at the end of the second 27-20.

Opposite to the second the scoring in the third happened a lot quicker as at the 4:36 mark Rathbone scored on the power play to bring the Canucks lead up too two goals.

Later in the game the Barracuda pulled their goalie but Chase Wouters scored on it to get his third goal of the season and put the game away.

Despite being down, on the power play Danil Gushchin scored his eight goal of the season to bring the score back to 5-3.

Trying once again to come back San Jose pulled their goalie but once again the Canucks scored on it this time Linus Karlsson scored his eight goal of the season.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Phil Di Giuseppe 2nd: Jack Rathbone 3rd: Vasily Podkolzin

The shots at the end of the game finished in favor of San Jose at 34-25.

San Jose will get a little bit of a break as they won’t play again until Tuesday where they’ll play the Condors at home at 5:00 p.m.

On the road Barracuda drop their fourth straight against the Canucks 6-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Thomas Bordeleau gets warmed up before a game.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

In Abbotsford the Barracuda took on the Canucks and dropped another one this time by a final of 6-2.

For San Jose it’s been a rough road trip with no wins to speak of and in this one they’d look to reverse their fortunes.

The Barracuda did not get off to a great start however when just 3:58 into the first Kyle Rau scored to get his sixth of the season. The assists on the goal went to both Justin Dowling and Christian Wolanin.

At the 11:07 mark the Canucks doubled up their score by getting another one this time John Stevens scored to get his sixth of the season. Phil Di Giuseppe got the lone assist on the goal.

That ended up being all the scoring in the first as both teams powerplay’s went 0/2.

The shots at the end of the period also favored Abbotsford at 10-4.

Down 2-0 the Barracuda found a response 5:16 into the second as Andrew Agozzino got his ninth goal of the season with both Patrick Sieloff and William Eklund getting assists on the play.

Not long after San Jose got closer the power play unit for the Canucks struck to get the lead back to two with Dowling getting his fifth goal on the year. Both Wolanin and Tristen Nielsen assisted on the goal.

Nick Cicek at the 13:34 mark took a hooking penalty and put Abbotsford’s power play unit back on the ice.

Feeling the momentum of their last power play goal they scored again this time Will Lockwood scored his 11th goal of the season. Dowling and Wolanin joined in again on the scoring both assisting on the goal.

On top of giving up two power play goals Aaron Dell got a surprising ten minute misconduct for abuse of an official. He stayed in the game though and the Canucks did not score on the power play.

At the end of the period the shots still favored the Canucks at 18-14.

In the third just 3:32 in Abbotsford continued the offensive push this Di Giuseppe scored tallying his fourth of the season. John Stevens got the lone assist on the goal.

The Canucks offense was not done yet though as Rau scored his second of the game making it 6-1 with both Lockwood and Dowling assisting on the goal.

With little time left in the third San Jose’s power play hit the ice once again and this time scored as Thomas Bordeleau scored to get his 13th of the season. Eklund and Danil Gushchin both assisted on the goal.

That ended up being the final goal of the game with the score finishing at 6-2.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Justin Dowling 2nd: Christian Wolanin 3rd: Kyle Rau

The shots at the end of the game ended tied at 24.

San Jose’s next game will be tomorrow against the Canucks once again in Abbotsford at 7 p.m. 

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda and Canucks battle in Abbotsford tonight

In their last game against the Colorado Eagles the San Jose Barracuda dropped a three goal match in Colorado on Fri Dec 16, 2022 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 In their second of back to backs against the Eagles the Barracuda lost another one on the road 5-2.

#2 The penalty unit despite being forced out there early killed the PP off and went perfect in the first period killing all four penalties they faced. Though the penalty kill went fine five-on-five the Eagles got a goal 9:39 into the first period from Ryan Wagner who got his fourth goal of the season. Both Spencer Smallman and Keaton Middleton got assists on the goal.

#3 Less than five minutes after the first goal for Colorado they followed that up as Smallman got another his second in as many games. The Barracuda’s Middleton and Josh Jacobs also got assists on the goal.

#4 At just a two goal deficit San Jose looked to tie it by pulling their goalie. Burke though would end that push with an empty net goal his seventh of the season from Anton Blidh and Ryan Wagner.

#5 San Jose’s next game will be on Tuesday on the road against the Abbotsford Canucks at 7 p.m.

Marko is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and covers Barracuda home games at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda drops second of backs to backs against Colorado 5-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Patrick Sieloff gets warmed up before a game against the Colorado Eagles

By Titus Wilkinson

In their second of back to backs against the Eagles the Barracuda lost another one on the road 5-2.

Kicking off the first period San Jose quickly found themselves done taking a penalty just 1:59 into the game.

The penalty unit despite being forced out there early killed the PP off and went perfect in the first period killing all four penalties they faced.

Though the penalty kill went fine five-on-five the Eagles got a goal 9:39 into the first period from Ryan Wagner who got his fourth goal of the season. Both Spencer Smallman and Keaton Middleton got assists on the goal.

Less than five minutes after the first goal for Colorado they followed that up as Smallman got another his second in as many games. Middleton and Josh Jacobs also got assists on the goal.

That ended up being all the scoring in the first as the Eagles hung on to their 2-0 lead.

The shots at the end of the period favored Colorado 11-5.

Heading into the second the last thing I’m sure head coach John McCarthy would’ve wanted was for the Barracuda to take more penalties. But they did just that as Jasper Weatherby took a delay of game penalty just a couple minutes into the period.

On this power play the Eagles did not miss as Cedric Paré got his fourth goal of the season making it 3-0. Callahan Burke and David Farrance both got assists on the goal.

The early goal certainly was deflating San Jose but they would respond with a decent rest of the period.

Which the Barracuda would be rewarded for as 16:54 into the second Thomas Bordeleau scored his 12th goal of the season leading all AHL rookies. Both William Eklund and Jalen Smereck got assists on the goal.

The second period finished at 3-1 with the shots still favoring the Eagles at 19-18.

The third period was opened up again with an early goal as just 2:25 into the third Shane Bowers scored his third goal of the season. Oskar Olausson and Alex Galchenyuk both got assists on the fourth goal.

Less than a minute later the Barracuda did respond as Brandon Coe sniped one in from an awkward angle to get his third goal of the season.

At just a two goal deficit San Jose looked to tie it by pulling their goalie. Burke though would end that push with an empty net goal his seventh of the season from Anton Blidh and Ryan Wagner.

That goal would end up being the last one of the game with the score finishing at 5-2.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Cedric Paré 2nd: Ryan Wagner 3rd: Spencer Smallman

The shots at the end of the game favored Colorado at 28-27.

San Jose’s next game will be on Tuesday on the road against the Abbotsford Canucks at 7 p.m.

Barracuda drop close game against Colorado Eagles 4-3

Photo Courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Andrew Agozzino celebrates a goal against the Colorado Eagles.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Barracuda took on the Eagles on the road and lost a tight affair against Colorado by a final of 4-3 on Friday night.

The first period between the two teams was a tight checking period with no goals for most of the period.

At the 17:00 mark however the Barracuda got a powerplay opportunity thanks to high-sticking penalty against Nate Clurman.

Shorthanded though the Eagles scored a minute and 30 seconds into the powerplay from Spencer Smallman who got his first goal of the season. The goal was also unassisted.

That ended up being all the scoring in the first with the shots finishing in favor of San Jose at 13-11.

The second period started exactly opposite to the first period as just 1:09 in Andrew Agozzino scored for San Jose to get his eight goal of the season. Both William Eklund and Danil Guschin got assists on the goal.

The tie however did not last for long as just 28 seconds later Cedric Paré got his third goal of the season for Colorado with Smallman getting the lone assist on the goal.

After the quick outburst of goals to start the period both offenses quieted down with just a couple penalties for around the next 15 minutes.

15:20 into the second though Martin Kaut got his fourth goal of the season extending the lead for Colorado making it 3-1. Callahan Burke and Anton Blidh got assists on the goal.

Down by two with the minutes ticking away in the second the Barracuda pressed looking for a response.

For San Jose they would find that response with Tristen Robins getting his ninth goal of the season brining it back to just a one goal deficit. The goal itself ended up being unassisted.

That would be the final big play of the period as the score remained at 3-2 heading into the third.

The shots still favored San Jose at 23-22 going into the final period of play.

The third period did not get off to a great start for the Barracuda as far as penalties as they took two back to back to kick of the third.

San Jose’s penalty unit did come up big though and killed off both.

8:19 into the third period however Sampo Ranta scored his fourth goal of the season for the Eagles making it 4-2. Burke and David Farrance got assists on the goal.

Despite the goal Colorado also committed a couple errors also taking multiple penalties in the period.

On one of these penalties Guschin scored his seventh goal of the season to make it a one goal contest. Both Thomas Bordeleau and Eklund got assists on the play.

San Jose did push to tie it but it would not be enough as Colorado hung on to finish the game at 4-3.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Spencer Smallman 2nd: Martin Kaut 3rd: Callahan Burke.

The shots at the end of the game still favored the Barracuda at 31-30.

San Jose will look to rebound tomorrow playing the Eagles once again in Colorado at 6 p.m.

Barracuda on the road blanked by Henderson Silver Knights 5-0

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Brandon Coe gets warmed up before their game against the Silver Knights.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

On the road the Barracuda failed to find a goal getting blanked by the Henderson Silver Knights by a dominating 5-0 score.

The game got off to a quick start for the Silver Knights as just 3:06 into the first period Byron Froese got his fourth goal of the season. Both Gage Quinney and Sheldon Rempal got assists on the play.

Then not to long after Montana Onyebuchi would be assessed with a unsportsmanlike penalty and a ten minute misconduct.

On that same penalty Henderson would widen the margin to 2-0 with Mason Primeau getting his third goal of the season. The assists ended up going to both Brendan Brisson and Lukas Cormier.

At the 10:40 mark then Adam Raska decided to drop the gloves with Kyle Marino to try and get the Barracuda going.

It did not end up working and as a matter of fact the Silver Knights actually scored again this time Pavel Dorofeyev with his fifth of the season. Brisson and Ivan Morozov got assists on the play.

By the end of the first the shots actually favored San Jose at 15-11.

Heading into the second the Barracuda were looking for a response but rather the Silver and gold had something else in store. As just 27 seconds into the period Ivan Morozov scored his second of the season to increase the lead to 4-0.

On the goal both Dorofeyev and Brisson got assists.

Then not less than 20 seconds after the first goal of the period Froese got his second goal of the night to make it 5-0. Both Quinney and Lukas Cormier got assists on the goal.

After that goal the Barracuda would pull Eetu Makiniemi who had a rough night between the pipes.

With Aaron Dell in net the scoring stopped for the rest of the period.

The shots by the end of the second still favored San Jose at 24-23.

The third period would be a continued show of no offense for the Barracuda as they were only able to muster seven shots in the period.

They also were held off the scoresheet as Laurent Brossoit got a 31 save shutout.

With no goals from the Silver Knights either it was a pretty quiet final period.

The shots at the end of the game though did still favor San Jose at 31-30.

The Barracuda’s next game will be on the road against the Colorado Eagles on Friday at 6 p.m.

Wild score early then hang on to edge Barracuda 4-3

The Iowa Wild celebrate a goal along the bench against the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena on Tuesday NOV 29, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Iowa Wild scored three unanswered goals in the first period and then hung on at the end for a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose had its two-game winning streak snapped. Iowa snapped its two-game losing streak with its sixth win in the month of November.

San Jose (10-8-0-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Andrew Agozzino intercepted a pass at the red line from a pass that exited the Wild zone. The ‘Cuda captain skated down the left wing and on a delayed penalty beat Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt with a wrist shot from a tough angle for his fifth goal of the season at the 2:50 mark.

Agozzino has been streaking with points in his last seven of eight games.

Iowa (7-6-2-2) answered back three minutes later. Daemon Hunt fed a pass down to Joseph Cramarossa who slid a backhander past ‘Cuda goalie Strauss Mann for his third goal of the season at the 5:52 mark.

The Wild went ahead with a power play goal late in the opening frame. Joe Hicketts found Marco Rossi along the left slot and Rossi rifled home a wrist shot top shelf past Mann for his first goal of his AHL career at the 13:40 mark.

Iowa scored its third unanswered goal in the first period on its second consecutive goal with the man advantage. Sammy Walker blasted a shot from the point past Mann for his eighth goal of the season at the 15:27 mark. Rossi and Adma Beckman were credited with assists.

San Jose cut Iowa’s lead down to one early in the second period. Luke Johnson beat Wallstedt with a show between the five-hole for his fourth goal of the season at the 4:38 mark. Ryan Merkley and Scott Reedy recorded assists on the team’s second goal.

It didn’t take long for Iowa to regain its two-goal lead. Damien Giroux set up Hunt at the left slot and the Wild defenseman roofed a wrist shot top shelf for his first goal of the season 38 seconds later.

San Jose closed the gap to a one-goal deficit with 58 seconds left in the third period with the man advantage. A shot from right slot by Tristan Robbins deflected off Reedy and was batted out of the air by C.J. Suess for his third goal of the season.

Wallstedt finished with 30 saves on 33 shots to earn the victory. Mann made 29 saves on 33 shots in the losing effort that snapped his two-game winning streak.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Iowa went 2-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Rossi 2) Hunt 3) Hicketts.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Iowa conclude their two-games series on Wednesday 11/30 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.