Reign dominate overmatched Barracuda 6-3

The San Jose Barracuda were beaten by three goals by the Ontario Reign in a Wed Mar 30, 2022 matinee at the SAP Center in San Jose (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — It was an early morning mismatch.

The Ontario Reign scored every which way but loose in a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday morning at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost five games in a row and anchor the basement of the Pacific Division with 44 points and 10 games remaining in the season. Ontario has won three out of its last four games and have clinched a playoff spot in the division as they sit in second place with 79 points.

Ontario (36-14-4-3) drew first blood just under five minutes into the first period. An odd man rush led to Akil Thomas poking home his own rebound for his second goal of the season at the 4:36 mark.

The Reign doubled its lead at the 12:45 mark of the opening frame. A shot from Thomas Hickey was cleaned up by Samuel Fagemo who banked the puck off of ‘Cuda goalie Alex Stalock into the back of the net for his 22nd goal of the season.

San Jose (20-34-2-2) responded with a late goal in the first period. Evan Weinger skated in on Reign goalie Matthew Villalta, who made the initial save on Weinger’s shot. Jasper Weatherby trailed the play and cashed in the rebound for his fourth goal of the season at the 15:50 mark.

Ontario scored a tic-tac-toe goal on the power play with just under a minute left in the first period. Thomas hammered a home a one-timer from between the faceoff circles for his second goal of the game and third of the season at the 19:02 mark.

Thomas. who hadn’t scored in his first 25 games, now has three goals in his last three games.

Ontario dominated the shot clock 18-6 in the first period.

“We’re just taking it one game a time,” said ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We’re trying to get some wins. No one is throwing in the towel. The trade deadline hurt us a lot. Now we’re just trying to find ways to win and stay in games early if we can.”

The Reign extended its lead early in the second period. Fagemo finished off a two-on-one odd man rush when he beat Stalock with a wrist shot for his second goal of the game and 23rd of the season at the 1:30 mark.

The Reign went up a 5-1 with a shorthanded goal. 10 second into the Barracuda power play Nikita Pavlychev skated in from the left wing and beat Stalock with a wrist shot for his second goal of the season at the 8:33 mark.

San Jose scored a power play goal just past the halfway mark of the middle frame. Joachim Blichfeld wired a wrist shot to the far side off the post that beat Villata for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 10:41 mark.

Blichfeld’s 11th power play goal tied a franchise record.

“It’s been (an) up and down (year),” said Blichfeld about how his season individually. “Obviously you want to be playing in the NHL and that has not happened so far. You just want to go out there and show the guys at the top that you can play in the NHL.”

Aiden Dudas scored his 10th goal of the season 39 seconds into the third period. Stalock had lost his goal stick during the play and Dudas took advantage with a wrist shot to the far side that Stalock had no chance at.

San Jose cut Ontario’s lead in half when Adam Raska set up Evan Weinger in the low slot and Weinger’s one-timer beat Villata for his 12th goal of the season at the 5:27 mark.

Villata finished the game stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced in earning the victory. Stalock made 27 saves on 33 shots in suffering his third straight loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Ontario was 1-for-2.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Thomas 2) Fagemo 3) T.J. Tynan

It was the second ‘Cuda Classroom Day promotion of the season for the Barracuda.

UP NEXT: San Jose begins a weekend series with the Stockton Heat on Saturday 4/2 at 6:00pm at the Stockton Arena.

Eagles have their way with the Barracuda in 4-0 shutout win

San Jose Barracuda center Kyle Topping (71) and his teammates suffer another loss to the visiting Colorado Eagles at the SAP Center in San Jose on Wed Mar 28, 2022 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Colorado Eagles scored four goals in the first period en route to a commanding 4-0 shutout victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Monday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost four games in a row and remain in the cellar of the Pacific Division with 44 points. Colorado has won two games in a row.

Colorado (32-19-4-3) drew first blood past the halfway mark of the first period. Martin Kaut found Jordon Gross along the left wing. Gross lasered a wrist shot to the far side top shelf past ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko for his 10th goal of the season at the 11:46 mark.

The Eagles doubled its lead 34 seconds later. Kiefer Sherwood set up Stefan Matteau in the slot and Matteau beat Sawchenko with a one-timer for his third goal of the season.

Colorado made San Jose pay for taking a frustration penalty just nine seconds into their first power play to score their third unanswered goal of the opening frame. Rob Hamilton blasted a slap shot to the short side for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:57 mark.

The Eagles scored its second power play goal just under two minutes later. Dylan Sikura set up Mikhail Malstev right front of the crease. Maltsev beat Sawchenko with a shot between legs for his 16th goal of the season at the 16:55 mark.

Maltsev has three goals in two games against San Jose.

“We didn’t have a whole lotta jump (in our game),” said assistant head coach Michael Chiasson. “We didn’t defend from the inside out. We didn’t bring the puck out cleanly when we had to.”

San Jose (20-33-2-2) only had six shots on goal despite having a five-on-three power play toward the end of the first period.

Neither team was able to score in the middle frame as Colorado outshot San Jose 11-9.

Special teams play haunted San Jose by giving up two power play goals and not being able to score on six opportunities with the man advantage.

“The special teams put us behind the eight ball. We didn’t generate too much on the power play,” Chiasson said.

San Jose, having played with a depleted lineup, didn’t show any desperation in the third period with just five shots on goal.

Eagles goalie Hunter Miska had a relatively easy evening as he stopped all 20 shots to earn his first shutout victory of the season. Sawchenko made 31 saves on 35 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Colorado was 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Gross 2) Miska 3) Jayson Megna

San Jose traded defenseman Mark Alt to the Rochester Americans for forward Mason Jobst. Alt three goals and a total of eight points for the Barracuda this season.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its five-game homestand when they host the Ontario Reign on Wednesday at 10:00am.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda can’t hold onto lead with second period meltdown at SAP Center

The San Jose Barracuda Joachim Blichfeld (86) scored his 50th career AHL goal in the first period against the Colorado Eagles at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 26, 2022 (photo from wikipedia.com)

On San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko if you light the lamp the San Jose Barracuda lit it up in the first period with goals by Joachim Blichfeld, Evan Weinger, Adam Raska, and Antonine Morand only Jayson Megna the long goal for the Colorado Eagles. Blichfeld’s goal was his 50th AHL career goal.

#2 That first period was what many can recall as one of their best starts of a game in a long while at the first period intermission the Cuda had a 4-1 lead.

#3 The Eagles wasted no time beginning the second period scoring at 36 seconds by Callahan Burke, Mikhail Maltsev was the key goal scorer for the Eagles in the second period scoring at 2:51 to make it 4-3 later with the score Barracuda 5 and Eagles 4 Maltsev tied it up scoring a full strength goal at 9:39 making it 5-5. The Eagles closed the period off to regain the lead with a goal by Jacob McDonald at 19:50 on the power play to take the lead at the intermission 6-5.

#4 Like we talked about just before the third period that the goal scoring settled down between both teams taking shots on net talk about the defense from both the Eagles and Barracuda in the third period. The Eagles added an empty net goal by Kiefer Sherwood to finish up with a 7-5 win at SAP Center tonight.

#5 Tough finish for the Barracuda who opened the game up with that 4-1 lead and finish losing by two goals 7-5 and couldn’t get on the board to come back and tie this one up in the third period. It just seemed like they petered out after that four goal first period.

#6 Little eye opener towards the end of the contest when the Barracuda’s Montana Onyebuchi and the Eagles Stefan Matteau tangled for fighting penalties.

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

Eagles overcome first period deficit in 7-5 comeback win over Barracuda

The Colorado Eagles made a second period comeback on the San Jose Barracuda at SAP Center in San Jose on Sat Mar 26, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — It was a good old Wild Wild West shootout at the Shark Tank.

The Colorado Eagles overcame a three goal deficit with a five goal second period for a 7-5 comeback victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

San Jose have lost three games in a row. Colorado snapped its two-game losing streak.

San Jose (20-32-2-2) drew first blood early in the first period. Jayden Halbgewachs set up Joachim Blichfeld on a two-on-zero odd man rush. Blichfeld beat Eagles goalie Justus Annunen with a wrist shot for his team leading 21st goal of the season at the 4:29 mark.

It was Blichfeld’s 50th career AHL goal.

The Barracuda doubled its lead just over two minutes later. Jasper Weatherby sprung Evan Weinger on a breakaway in the neutral zone. Weinger skated around one defender before depositing the puck between the five-hole of Annunen for his 11th goal of the season at the 6:54 mark.

San Jose scored its third unanswered of the period a faceoff win in the Eagles zone. A shot from the point pinballed in front of the crease that leaked behind Annunen. Adam Raska cleaned up the rebound for his fourth goal of the season at the 14:06 mark.

Colorado (31-19-4-3) answered back when Jayson Megna was left all alone in the crease to tap home a centering pass from Kifer Sheerwood for his eighth goal of the season at the17:40 mark.

Newly acquired Antoine Morand made it 4-1 when he scored his first goal in a Barracuda uniform. Off of a turnover, Raska found Morand between the faceoff circles and he wired a wrist shot off the post and into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 18:37 mark.

Morand was one of the players the San Jose Sharks traded for at the NHL trade deadline back on Monday. He came via the Tampa Bay Lightning for goalie Alexei Melnichuk.

Annunen was replaced by Hunter Miska to start the second period as he made six saves on just 10 ten shots.

Colorado cut the lead in half 36 seconds into the second period. Callahan Burke got ‘Cuda goalie Alex Stalock to go down before sliding the puck past him for a short-handed goal, his 11th of the season.

The Eagles special teams made it a one-goal game over two minute later on the power play. Jordan Gross’ shot from the point was redirected by Mikhail Malstev for his 14th goal of the season at the 2:51 mark.

Colorado scored the equalizer with its second short-handed goal in less than five minutes. Martin Kaut scored on a breakaway for an unassisted goal, his 13th of the season at the 4:15 mark.

San Jose responded on the same power play when Nick Cicek rifled home a wrist shot to the far corner top shelf 29 seconds later for his fifth goal of the season at the 4:54 mark.

The Eagles made it an even 5-5 when Malstev sent a shot off of Stalock that bounced up in the air and was accidentally knocked in by Kyle Topping who was attempting to clear the puck. It was Malstev’s second goal of the game and 15th of the season.

Colorado gained its first lead with their second power play goal of the period. Jacob MacDonald blasted a slap shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Stalock to the short side for his fourth goal of the season with 10 seconds left in a wilder middle frame.

The Eagles sealed the deal with 1:33 remaining in the third period when Sheerwood scored an empty net goal, his 28th on the season.

Miska stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced in 40 minutes to earn the victory. Stalock made 25 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Colorado was 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Weatherby 2) Mastev 3) Raska

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its five-game homestand versus the Colorado Eagles on Monday 3/28 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

Canucks cruise past Barracuda 4-1

The Abbottsford Canucks made work of the San Jose Barracuda with a three goal win at SAP Center in San Jose Thu Mar 24, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Abbotsford Canucks had four different goal scorers in a balanced attack to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-1 on Thursday evening at Solar4America Ice at San Jose.

San Jose has lost three of their past four games and are nine points out of the seventh and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Abbotsford has won four games in a row and five of its past six games and have climbed up to third in the division with 65 points.

Abbotsford (30-19-4-1) scored two goals in a two-minute span in the first 10 minutes of the first period.

Jarid Lucosevicius set up Sheldon Rempal in front of the crease. Rempal’s wrist shot trickled past ‘Cuda goalie Alex Stalock for his 25th goal of the season at the 6:54 mark.

Then Sheldon Dries cleaned up the rebound from a Madison Bowey shot from the point for his team leading 32nd goal of the season at the 8:56 mark.

San Jose (20-31-2-2) outshot Abbotsford by a two-to-one margin 12-6 but headed into the first intermission scratching their heads down by two goals.

The Barracuda cut the lead in half early in the second period. Santeri Hatakka found Jayden Halbgewachs along the left wing as he skated in from the point. Halbgewachs beat Canuck’s goalie Spencer Martin with a wrist shot to the far side top shelf for his 16th goal of the season at the 7:22 mark.

Halbgewachs now has 34 points on the season, one shy of his career high with 13 games remaining.

Abbotsford scored an insurance goal on the power play near the halfway mark of the third period. John Stevans sent a centering pass to the back post where Yushiroh Hirano tapped home the puck past Stalock for his fifth goal of the season at the 9:26 mark.

Bowey sealed the deal for the Canucks with an empty net goal, his seventh of the season, at the 19:01 mark.

Martin finished the night stopping 32 of the 33 shots he faced to earn the victory. Stalock made 14 saves on 17 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Abbotsford was 1-for-5.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Martin 2) Dries 3) Rempal

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its five-game homestand hosting the Colorado Eagles on Saturday 3/26 at 1:15pm at SAP Center.

Heat edge Barracuda 3-1; San Jose looses two of last three games

The San Jose Barracuda defenseman Artemi Knyazev (25) skates against the Stockton Heat at the SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 22, 2022 (file photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE— The Stockton Heat scored two unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 3-1 on Tuesday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost two out of its past three games. Stockton leads the Pacific Division with 79 points as they have won two games in a row. This was a make-up game that was originally scheduled back on December 29th, 2021.

The Barracuda (20-30-2-2) drew first blood early in the first period when Brinson Pasichnuk scored his first goal of the season at the 1:32 mark. Kyle Topping received the only assist on Pasichnuk’s goal.

Stockton (37-11-4-1) answered back just past the midway point of the opening frame. Matthew Phillips scored an unassisted goal, his 25th of the season, at the 11:18 mark.

There was no scoring during the second period despite Stockton outshooting San Jose 19-11 in the middle frame. Both Dustin Wolf and Zachary Sawchenko kept the game tied heading into the second intermission.

The Heat scored what proved to be the game winning goal just past the halfway mark of the the third period. Justin Kirkland scored his 15th goal of the season, with help from Juuso Valimaki, at the 11:22 mark.

Stockton sealed the deal with an empty goal from Kevin Gravel, his third of the season, at the 18:37 mark when San Jose pulled Sawchenko for an extra attacker.

Wolf finished the evening stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the victory. Sawchenko, played brilliant in his first start since being sent back down to the Barracuda, as had 40 saves on 42 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-4 on the power play. Stockton was 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Sawchenko 2) Kirkland 3) Pasichnuk.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its five game homestand hosting the Abbotsford Canucks on Thursday 3/24 at 7:00pm at Solar4America Ice at San Jose.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to get revenge on Heat Tuesday night at SAP Center

The San Jose Barracuda Sasha Cmelevski scored the Barracuda first goal of their game against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Arena on Sat Mar 19, 2022 ( file photo from nhl.com)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The SJ Barracuda are getting some offense from The San Jose Barracuda beat the Tucson Roadrunners 5-2 Saturday. Sasha Cmelevski, Lane Pedersen, Nick Cicek, Joachim Blichfeld and Nick Merkley who scored goals against the Arizona Roadrunners on Saturday night in the 5-2 win.

#2 The Barracuda goaltender Alexei Melnichuk made 32 saves for the win and allowed two goals.

#3 For the first Barracuda goal of the game, Sasha Chmelevski scored the opening goal for San Jose at 6:18 of the first period. He carried the puck into the zone and then cut across to the slot, evading defenders. As he passed through the slot he took the shot and beat Prosvetov on the glove side. 

#4 Lane Pedersen made it 2-0 at 14:45 with a shot from a bad angle along the boards that snuck by Prosvetov. An assist went to Jayden Halbgewachs.

#5 The Barracuda return back to SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 22 to host the Stockton Heat the last time these two teams met the Heat beat the Barracuda by three goals 6-3 on Sat Mar 12th at Stockton Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcasts with Marko are heard Sundays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda Beat Roadrunners 5-2; San Jose takes two out three from Roadrunners

The San Jose Barracuda take the rubber game match against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Arena on Sat Mar 19, 2022 to conclude the three game series (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

By Mary Walsh

TUCSON– The San Jose Barracuda beat the Tucson Roadrunners 5-2 Saturday. Sasha Cmelevski, Lane Pedersen, Nick Cicek, Joachim Blichfeld and Nick Merkley scored for San Jose. Alexei Melnichuk made 32 saves for the win. Cole Hults and Travis Barron scored for Tucson. Ivan Prosvetov made 28 saves in the loss.

Sasha Chmelevski scored the opening goal for San Jose at 6:18 of the first period. He carried the puck into the zone and then cut across to the slot, evading defenders. As he passed through the slot he took the shot and beat Prosvetov on the glove side. Assists went to Evan Weinger and Patrick Holway.

Lane Pedersen made it 2-0 at 14:45 with a shot from a bad angle along the boards that snuck by Prosvetov. An assist went to Jayden Halbgewachs.

The Roadrunners got on the board during a five-on-three power play at 10:17 of the second period. The Barracuda’s Ryan Merkley and Sasha Chmelevski were in the box. Cole Hults took the shot from above the circle on a pass from Jan Jenik who was down by the goal line. The puck went over Melnichuk’s shoulder and in. Assists went to Jenik and Michael Carcone.

Nick Cicek restored San Jose’s two-goal lead at 16:24 with a shot from above the circle. Assists went to Weinger and Adam Raska.

At 7:15 of the third, Travis Barron tipped Matt Foley’s shot from the point and made it 3-2. Assists went to Foley and Mitchell Lewandowski. Right before Barron’s goal, Prosvetov made three impressive saves at the other end, fending off a shooting frenzy from the Barracuda.

Joachim Blichfeld scored on the power play at 8:38. After scrambling to keep the puck in, he carried it down to the face-off dot and took a shot that went through some traffic and over Prosvetov’s shoulder. Jake McGrew got an assist.

Sasha Chmelevski won a race to the puck behind the net and made a quick pass to Nick Merkley who had just arrived in front of the net. Merkley wasted no time and whipped the puck into the net at 13:25.

The shots were very close through the game, with the final count being 34-33 Roadrunners. Artemi Kniazev led San Jose in shots with seven. The Barracuda had five power plays and scored on one. Their penalty kill allowed one goal in five penalties.

The Barracuda next play on Tuesday back in San Jose against the Stockton Heat at 7:00 PM PT.

Barracuda give it their best effort but can’t hang on lose to Tucson 4-3 in OT

The San Jose Barracuda’s left winger Jayden Halbgewachs (89) and goaltender Zachary Edmond (35) prepare to defend the net against the Tucson Roadrunners offense at Tucson Arena on Fri Mar 18, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

By Len Shapiro

The San Jose Barracuda (19-30-2) gave it all they had but just couldn’t hold onto the lead at Tucson Arena. The Barracuda down two goals came back in the third period to knot it up 3-3 to force overtime. The Barracuda were outshot in the shootout and dropped their second of this three game series 4-3 to the Tucson Roadrunners (18-28-4).

The Barracuda did have one positive outcome from Friday night’s thriller they continue to put the puck in the net on the power play they did it twice to later tie the Roadrunners. In the first period San Jose got help from Joachim Blichfeld. It was the ninth power play goal this season scoring in the first 27 seconds on the game.

San Jose’s Lane Pederson continues to be consistent scoring in his third straight game and notching his fifth goal of the season scoring in five of his last six games. In facing the Roadrunners Pederson’s former team he has got revenge on his old teammates scoring a goal in each of the three games he’s faced them.

Jayden Halbgewachs who hadn’t scored a goal in five games picked up one on Friday night for his 15th of the season. Halbgewachs third period goal was the tying goal and it couldn’t have come at a better time marking his sixth power play goal for the 2021-22 campaign.

The Barracuda goaltender Zach Edmond playing in his seventh game for San Jose (3-2-2) had his hands full trying to stop the Roadrunners who kept him standing on his head all night. Edmond stopped 33 shots allowing four goals.

Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer has one big take away from Friday night’s game and that the Barracuda have now scored multiple power play goals over their last seven games. While the power play has improved the Barracuda have now lost three of their four games.

The Barracuda are 1-1 in this series with the Roadrunners and play the rubber game of this match tonight at Tucson Arena for a 7:00pm PDT face off. The Barracuda return back to SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Mar 22 to host the Stockton Heat the last time these two teams met the Heat beat the Barracuda by three goals 6-3 on Sat Mar 12th at Stockton Arena.

Stalock gets in front of 40 shots for 4-0 shutout over Roadrunners

San Jose Barracuda gets the 4-0 shutout as Barracuda players celebrate against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Arena in Tucson on Wed Mar 16, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

By Len Shapiro

The San Jose Barracuda (19-29-2) get a 4-0 shutout behind the mastery work of Barracuda goaltender Alex Stalock who saved 40 shots over the Tucson Roadrunners (17-28-4) at Tucson Arena. San Jose has dominated the Roadrunners this season beating them in three straight games and now are 13-2 in goals scored for the season against them.

The Barracuda have now shutout the Roadrunners twice for the season. Stalock who played with the Barracuda parent club the NHL San Jose Sharks and got roughed up by the Nashville Predators on Sat Mar 5th 8-0 looked and looks like he turned over a new leaf with the 4-0 shutout on Wednesday night.

Stalock last played with the Barracuda six years ago on Feb 6, 2016 and what a way to make a comeback with a shutout to start his return with the team. This is the 12th career shutout in the AHL for Stalock. The Barracuda got scoring help from Jake McGrew who scored twice for his 10th and 11th goals of the year.

McGrew is finding the back end of the net scoring three times in his last two games. The Barracuda’s Montana Onyebuchi got down with the Roadrunners this was his ninth fight of the season and Onyebuchi leads rookies in the AHL in fighting majors and penalty minutes with 99.

Evan Weinger’s goal on Wednesday was his tenth and needs one more goal to tie his career best for a season at ten. Weinger scored tenth goal just 57 seconds into the game. Lane Pederson scored his second goal in two games. Pederson scoring against his former team the Roadrunners making this his fourth goal in eight games.

The Barracuda and Roadrunners play game two of this three game series on Friday Mar 18th at 7:00 pm PDT at Tucson Arena.