San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda return home to face Bakersfield; SJ has won two of their last three games

The San Jose Barracuda right winger Nick Merkley scored his first goal in 13 games against the Texas Stars on Sun Feb 20, 2022 in Cedar Park Tx (file photo from nhl.com)

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Texas Stars (15-18-5-4) who were down 1-0 to the San Jose Barracuda (15-27-1-0) came back and scored four unanswered goals at the H-E-B Center. How does Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer address the defense at this juncture?

#2 Barracuda goaltender Zach Emond in his fifth AHL game stopped a career high 38 shots out of 40 in Sunday’s game.

#3 The Barracuda’s Nick Merkley who went without scoring a goal in 13 games found the back end of the net with a goal in the second period his seventh of the season to start Sunday’s game.

#4 Marko, one thing you could say for the Barracuda they’re improving on the penalty kill. On Sunday they killed off four Stars power plays making that 19 straight penalty kills.

#5 The Barracuda are back at it again when they host the Bakersfield Condors at SAP Center for a 7 PM face off. The Barracuda have won two of their last three games.

Marko Ukalovic does the Barracuda podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stars scored three goals in the third period upend Barracuda 4-1

San Jose Barracuda can’t defend against the Texas Stars barrage of goals in their three goal loss on Sun Feb 20, 2022 at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

CEDAR PARK, Texas — A much tighter game resulted in a different result.

The Texas Stars scored three goals in the third period en route to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday afternoon at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose have lost eight out its last nine games. Texas have won two of its past three games. San Jose finished 2-2 in the season series against Texas.

It was a much tighter game played between the two teams compared to the wild 13 combined goals the previous night.

The first period featured a scoreless 20 minutes. Both teams had 11 shots a piece as the official scorer added a shot to the Barracuda during the intermission.

San Jose (15-27-1-0) had the only power play opportunity during the opening frame but weren’t able to capitalize on their chance.

Texas (15-18-5-4) had the best scoring chance in the first period when Fredrik Karlstorm had his breakaway attempted stoned away by ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Edmond with 3:18 remaining.

The Barracuda drew first blood in the first minute of the second period. Jayden Halbgewachs set up Nick Merkley in the left slot. The former first round draft pick skated in and sniped home a wrist shot past Stars goalie Matt Jurusik for his seventh goal of the season at the :58 mark.

Merkley snapped a 13-game goal less draught.

Texas answered back late in the middle frame. A shot from the point by Jerad Rosburg was initially stopped by Emond but the rebound was put into an open net by Jeremy Gregoire for his seventh goal of the season at the 16:05 mark.

The Stars dominated the Barracuda in the middle frame as the outshot them 17-3 and controlled the majority of the play.

Texas gained their first lead of the game a second after their power play expired early in the third period. Ben Gleason sent a back pass from the left end boards out to Joel L’Esperance who wired a wrist shot past the five-hole of Emond for his 16th goal at the 3:31 mark.

The Stars iced the game with two empty net goals in the final minute. Ty Dellanrea scored his 11th goal of the season at the 19:14 mark and Rosburg scored his first of the season with nine seconds left.

Jurusik finished the game stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced to earn the victory. Edmon, who made his first start since mid-December, made 38 saves on 40 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) L’Esperance 2) Gregoire 3) Merkley

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda snap losing streak with wild 7-6 shootout win over Stars

San Jose Barracuda players congratulate each other after one goal win over the Texas Stars at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Sat Feb 19, 2022 (San Jose Barracuda image)

by Marko Ukalovic

CEDAR PARK, Texas —Roy Sommer can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The San Jose Barracuda blew a two-goal lead late in the third period but finally gave their head coach a reason to smile with a 7-6 shootout victory over the Texas Stars on Saturday evening at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose snapped its season worst seven-game losing streak (as well as a six-game road losing streak). Texas has lost four of its past five games.

San Jose (15-26-1-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Kyle Topping sent a rink wide pass over to Cole Moberg in the left faceoff circle. Moberg snapped a wrist shot to the far side past Stars goalie Adam Scheel for his second goal of the season at the 5:45 mark.

Texas (14-18-5-4) answered back immediately on the ensuing faceoff. Joseph Cecconi sprung Jeremy Gregoire on a breakaway with a home run pass from his own zone. Gregoire skated in on ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk and beat him with a wrist shot for his sixth goal of the season 15 seconds later at the 6:00 mark.

The Stars gained their first lead of the game seconds after the Barracuda had killed off a penalty. Fredrik Karlstrom found Ryan Shea atop at the point. Shea fired wrist shot top shelf past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 17:56 mark.

San Jose evened the score in the early in the second period. Sasha Chmelevski made a back pass to Mark Alt along the left slot. Alt fired a wrist shot past Scheel for his third goal of the season at the 4:00 mark.

Texas countered over three minutes later. Karlstrom skated in a breakaway and his initial shot was saved by Melnichuk. However, Karlstrom cleaned up his own rebound as he lifted the puck over the right pad of Melnichuk for his eighth goal of the season at the 7:42 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer on the power play late in the middle frame. Joachim Blichfeld found Artemi Kniazev up at the right point. The 21-year defenseman blasted a slapshot past a screened Scheel for his second goal of the season at the 14:45 mark.

The Barracuda scored their third goal of the period 31 seconds later to regain the lead. Chmelevski led a two-on-one with Santeri Hatakka. Chmelevski dished the puck over to Hatakka and the Finnish defenseman sniped home a wrist shot top shelf to the far side for his first career goal in North America at the 15:16 mark.

Stars head coach Neil Graham pulled Scheel after allowing four goals on 18 shots and replaced him with backup netminder Matt Jurusik.

San Jose went up 5-3 with their third unanswered goal after killing a penalty. Jasper Weatherby cleared the puck up to Topping just as he exited the penalty box and sprung him on a breakaway. Topping made a backhand to forehand move to beat Jurusik to the far side for a highlight reel goal, his first goal of the season at the 18:21 mark.

Topping snapped a 24-game goal less draught and both of his career AHL goals have come in the H-E-B Center against the Stars.

Texas cut the lead to a one-goal game near the halfway mark of the third period when Anthony Louis sent a wrist shot off the crossbar and into the back of the net for his 14th goal of the season at the 9:27 mark.

San Jose scored an insurance goal with its second power play goal of the game. Blichfeld sent a shot the caromed from behind the net out to the left side where John Leonard quickly snapped home a wrist shot past Jurusik for his 11th goal of the season at the 13:34 mark.

The Stars closed the gap to a one-goal lead for the second time in the game when Curtis McKenzie cleaned up a rebound with a backhander past Melnichuk for his 13th goal of the season at the 17:28 as Texas pulled Jurusik for an extra attacker.

Ty Dellandrea sent the game into overtime when he scored his 10th goal of the game with 21 seconds left in the third period.

The overtime session featured six combined shots but no goals.

Blichfeld scored the only goal in the three-round shootout to clinch it for San Jose.

Melnichuk finished the evening stopping 33 of the 39 shots, including going a perfect three for three in the shootout, he faced to earn the victory. He snapped a six-game winless draught. Jurusik made nine saves on 11 shots in mop up duty.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Blichfeld 2) McKenzie 3) Shea

UP NEXT: San Jose and Texas conclude their two-game series on Sunday 2/20 at 3:00pm at H-E-B- Center at Cedar Park

Gulls second period blitz take down Barracuda 5-1

It wasn’t even close as the San Diego Gulls get a four goal game win over the San Jose Barracuda at the SAP Center in San Jose on Wed Feb 16, 2022 (photo from the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Never underestimate the fourth line.

All three forwards on the San Diego Gulls fourth line scored a goal en route to a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost a season worst seven games. San Diego has won three out of its last four games and snapped a four-game losing streak on the road.

San Diego (16-20-2-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Brayden Tracey sent a rink wide pass over to Brent Gates Jr and he blistered a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:17 mark.

Gates Jr. has three goals in his past two games versus San Jose.

San Jose (14-26-1-0) answered back on the power play late in the opening 20 minutes. Joachim Blichfeld received the puck just outside the right faceoff circle from Artemi Kniazev. Blichfeld fired a wrist shot past a screened Gulls goalie Lukas Dostal for his 15th goal of the season at the 14:37 mark.

Blichfeld snapped a six-game goal less draught.

San Diego regained the lead in the first five minutes of the second period. A turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone led to Vinni Letteri centered a pass to Lucas Elvenes all alone in front of the crease. Elvenes, who was shaken up earlier on the play, cashed in on his own rebound for his fifth goal of the season, and third in a Gulls uniform, at the 4:43 mark.

The Gulls went up 3-1 at the halfway mark of the middle frame. Hunter Drew gathered the puck from behind the net and his shot attempt went off the skate of ‘Cuda defenseman Cole Moberg into the back of the net for Drew’s eighth goal of the season at the 10:16 mark.

San Diego scored its third unanswered goal in the period moments after their power play opportunity ended. Nikolas Brouillard’s shot from the left point was tipped in by Greg Printz for his sixth goal of the season at the 13:29 mark.

San Jose had a five-on-three power play opportunity late in the period when Brendan Guhle went off for boarding at the 17:45 mark. However, San Diego was able to kill off both penalties and almost scored a short-handed goal if it weren’t for a timely save by Melnichuk on Letteri’s breakaway attempt after just exiting the sinbin.

The Gulls scored early in the third period to ice the game. Elvenes sent a shot from the point that deflected in past Melnichuk for his second goal of the game and sixth of the season at the 3:30 mark.

Dostal finished the game stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced to earn the victory. Melnichuk made 18 saves on 23 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. San Diego was 0-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Elvenes 2) Dostal 3) Blichfeld

San Jose finished 1-7 against San Diego in the season series.

San Diego is 7-11-1-0 on the road this season.

‘Cuda forward Evan Weinger had his career best five-game point streak snapped as he was suffered an upper body injury in the third period.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to the Lone Star state to begin a two-games series with the Texas Stars on Saturday 2/19 at 5:00pm at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Lots of shots at Gulls but Barracuda come up short; Can they capitalize Wed nite at SAP?

Jacob Halbgewachs seen here at one of the San Jose Barracuda morning skates has scored 12 goals and have four goals over his last four games ( file photo from the Athletic)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, tough game on Friday night, the San Jose Barracuda put 45 shots on net against the San Diego Gulls including 22 shots in the third period but couldn’t come up with the win losing by two goals 4-2 at Pachanga Arena in San Diego.

#2 San Jose’s Jayden Halbgewachs is finding his way around the net he scored his 12th goal of the season on Friday and his fourth in over four games.

#3 The Barracuda’s Evan Weinger scored his eighth goal of the season and has a five game point streak going.

#4 The Gulls Brent Gates Jr scored his third and fourth goals getting his first multi career goal.

#5 The action returns to the SAP Center in San Jose on Wed Feb 16th when the Gulls pay the Barracuda a visit will home ice help the Cuda in this match up?

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

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda face off against Gulls in San Diego on Friday night at Pechanga

The San Jose Barracuda’s Jacob McGrew skates against the Ontario Reign’s defenceman Markus Phillips (26). McGrew and the Barracuda will match up against the San Diego Gulls on Fri Feb 11, 2022 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 San Jose Barracuda (14-24-1-0) in Las Vegas on Thursday night grabbed a 2-0 lead against the Henderson Silver Knights (20-12-2-1) but the Silver Knights would answer right back with six straight goals for a 6-3 win.

#2 The loss on Thursday gives the Barracuda five straight loses a streak they hope to snap.

#3 The Barracuda Jayden Halbgewachs scored in the early part of the game and now has 11 goals for the season and three goals over the last three games.

#4 Marko, the Barracuda’s Adam Raska didn’t waste anytime throwing in his third goal of the season after playing in his second game with the Barracuda after coming from the Sharks.

#5 Barracuda Las Vegas native Gage Quinney picked up his second and third goals of the season and finished with four points.

#6 The Barracuda match up against the San Diego Gulls (14-20-2-0) on Fri Feb 11th a 7:00pm face off at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The Gulls always gives the Barracuda fits how do you see this match up?

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

Silver Knights comeback from two-goal deficit beat Barracuda 6-3

The San Jose Barracuda Jayden Halbgewachs (89) scored on a four on four in the Henderson Silver Knights zone scoring a short sided wrist shot for the Barracuda’s first goal of the game (file photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS — In Sin City, the house always wins.

For the Henderson Silver Knights (20-12-2), they stayed true to that motto as they came back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 6-3 on Thursday evening at Orleans Arena.

San Jose heads into the All-Star break on a season worst five-game losing streak. Henderson has won four of their past five games.

San Jose (14-24-1-0) drew first blood with a four-on-four goal. Jayden Halbgewachs circled around inside the Silver Knights zone down to the left slot as he rifled home a wrist shot to the short side past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson at the 4:54 mark.

Santeri Hatakka and Jasper Weatherby received assists on Halbgewachs’ goal.

The Barracuda doubled its lead toward the end of the opening frame. Evan Weinger sent a shot on net that caromed off the skate of Adam Raska into the net for his third goal of the season at the 15:34 mark.

Raska played in his second game for San Jose since being reassigned by the Sharks as the parent club is off for the NHL All-Star break.

‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko made life difficult for Henderson in the opening 20 minutes as he stopped all 12 shots he faced.

Henderson (20-12-2-1) cut the Barracuda lead in half early in the second period. Jonas Rondbjerg sent a seeing eye shot from the point that snuck past Sawchenko for his 10th goal of the season at the 2:33 mark.

The Silver Knights evened the game just past the halfway point of the middle frame. Paul Cotter was a one man show. He picked up the puck inside the ‘Cuda zone. He skated in from right to left before beating Sawchenko with a wrist shot for his ninth goal of the season at the 10:41 mark.

Cotter has four goals in the past two games against San Jose.

Henderson scored its third unanswered goal on the power play late in the middle frame. Gage Quinney sent in a shot from a sharp angle along the left boards that beat Sawchenko for his second goal of the season at the 16:10 mark.

The Silver Knights gave themselves some breathing room with their second power play goal at the near the halfway mark of the third period. Gage Quinney sent a shot on net from the left slot and Jake Leschyshyn tipped in the puck past Sawchenko for his 11th goal of the season at the 8:53 mark.

Quinney iced the game for Henderson when he scored his second goal of the game (and his fourth point of the night) when he finished off an odd man rush with a wrist shot that beat Sawchenko for his third goal of the season at the 14:57 mark.

Thomspon finished the night stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the victory. Sawchenko made 23 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort.

Ben Jones scored an empty net goal with 2:48 remaining in the third period for his 14th goal of the season. He snapped a six-game goal less draught.

Sasha Chmelevski scored a power play goal, his ninth of the season, with seven seconds left in the game to complete the scoring.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-6 on the power play. Henderson was 2-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Quinney 2) Rondbjerg 3) Alan Quine

Goalie Sam Harvey PTO contract has ended. He was reassigned to the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.

San Jose has never won in Las Vegas (0-8, 0-2 in the postseason) against Henderson.

UP NEXT: San Jose takes on San Diego on Friday 2/11 at 7:00pm at Pachenga Arena.

Silver Knights defeat Barracuda 5-3

San Jose Barracuda Jake McGrew (left) scored an unassisted goal in the first period against the Henderson Silver Knights at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Thu Feb 2, 2022 (file photo by San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

LAS VEGAS—The Henderson Silver Knights scored three goals in the third period to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 5-3 on Wednesday evening at Orleans Arena.

San Jose has lost four games in a row. Henderson has won four games in a row as both teams head in opposite directions.

San Jose would draw first blood in every period.

Jake McGrew scored an unassisted goal, his eight of the season, at the 4:10 mark of the first period.

Henderson answered back when Peter Liberatore scored his second of the season at the 17:10 mark.

Evan Weinger gave the Cuda a 2-1 lead early in the second period when he scored his seventh goal of the season at the 4:14 mark.

The Silver Knights responded when Paul Cotter scored his sixth of the season with one second left in the middle frame.

Once again San Jose scored an early goal to start the third period. John Leonard recorded his 10th goal of the season 54 seconds in.

Henderson took control of the game by scoring the final three goals of the period. Pavel Dorofeyev evened the game with his 15th goal of the season at the 5:20 mark.

Cotter scored the game winner, his second of the game at the 7:57 mark. He completed his hat trick with an empty net goal with eight seconds left to seal the deal.

Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson made 29 saves on 32 shots for the win. Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk has 27 saves on 31 shots as he suffered the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1 for 6 on the power play. Henderson was 0 for 3.

UP NEXT: Both teams conclude their two game series on Thursday 2/3 at 7:00pm at Orleans Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to end three game skid against Knights in Vegas Wednesday

San Jose Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer hopes to guide the Barracuda out of their current three game losing streak against the Vegas Silver Knights in AHL action at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Wed Feb 2, 2022 (photo file from oursportscentral.com)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Jaret Anderson Dolan scored a hat trick as the Ontario Reign (23-7-3-2) scored a season high eight goals to defeat the San Jose Barracuda (14-22-1-0) 8-5 on Monday evening at Toyota Arena.

#2 San Jose has lost three games in a row and six of their last seven.

#3 Ontario has won five of their past six games, including three in a row over the Barracuda. 

#4 The game was rescheduled from the original date of November 27th, 2021 that postponed due to an ice machine malfunction at the Toyota Arena.

#5 San Jose continues its four-game road trip as the start a two-game series with the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday 2/2 at 7:00pm at Orleans Arena.

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

Anderson-Dolan’s hat trick power Reign over Barracuda 8-5

The San Jose Barracuda bow to the Ontario Reign in a three goal loss at the Toyota Center in Ontario for the Barracuda third loss in a row on Mon Jan 31, 2022 (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

ONTARIO, Calif. —Jaret Anderson Dolan scored a hat trick as the Ontario Reign scored a season high eight goals to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 8-5 on Monday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose has lost three games in a row and six of their last seven. Ontario has won five of their past six games, including three in a row over the Barracuda. The game was rescheduled from the original date of November 27th, 2021 that postponed due to an ice machine malfunction at the Toyota Arena.

San Jose (14-22-1-0) drew first blood in the early in the first minute of the first period. Joachim Blichfeld led an odd man rush up the ice with John Leonard. Blichfeld passed it over to Leonard who buried a wrist shot past Reign goalie Lukas Parik for his ninth goal of the season 40 seconds into the contest.

Ontario (23-7-3-2) answered back in half the time. Helge Grans sent a pass through the crease where Jaret Anderson-Dolan wasn’t successful on his first attempt but cleaned up his own rebound by slipping the puck underneath ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for his 12th goal of the season at the 1:00 mark.

The Reign gained the lead over two minutes later. Brett Sutter centered a pass into the middle and Austin Wagner tipped home the puck past Harvey for his ninth goal of the season at the 2:41 mark.

Wagner has scored in all four games against the Barracuda this season.

Ontario scored its third unanswered goal late in the opening frame. Markus Phillips sent a shot in from the left point and Alex Turcotte redirected the puck past Harvey from the slot for his fifth goal of the season at the 16:52 mark.

The first period was very physical that featured two fights off two separate clean hits by San Jose. Kenoi Texeira and Samuel Fagemo tussled with each other at the 13:35 mark. Then Artemi Kniazev and Wagner dropped the gloves at the 17:43 mark.

San Jose cut the lead to a one a goal game early in the second period. Cole Moberg’s slapshot was initially saved by Pirak, Jayden Halbgewachs cashed in the rebound into an open net for his ninth goal of the season at the 5:40 mark.

Halbgewachs snapped a 10-game goal less draught.

Ontario regained their two-goal lead over two minutes later. Anderson-Dolan had a nice give and go with Martin Frk inside the ‘Cuda zone. Dolan tapped home a wrist shot for his second goal of the game at the 7:36 mark.

Anderson-Dolan completed the hat trick 50 seconds later with a power play goal. Jordan Spence slapshot was redirected by Anderson-Dolan who was camped out near the crease for his 14th goal of the season at the 8:26 mark.

Ontario scored its third unanswered goal late in the middle frame. Aidan Dudas sent in a wrist shot from the right wing. Sutter, who was camped out on the right side of the crease, tipped the puck past Harvey for his sixth goal of the season at the 15:46 mark.

San Jose scored a power play goal near the halfway mark of the third period to cut Ontario’s lead in half. Nick Merkley found Halbgewachs open in the neutral zone. Halbgewachs was able to get behind the Reign defense and sniped home a wrist shot top shelf past Pirak for his second goal of the game and 10th of the season at the 9:10 mark.

Samuel Fagemo finished off an odd man rush with Gabriel Vilardi with his 12th goal of the season at the 15:15 mark.

Patrick Holway scored a wraparound goal for San Jose as he was falling down for his third goal of the season at the 16:28 mark.

San Jose made the score look respectable when Jake McGrew tipped in a slapshot from the point by Montana Onyebuchi with 51 seconds left in the game.

Ontario closed out the scoring when Fagemo scored his second goal of the game and 13th of the season with 38 seconds remaining.

Parik finished the evening stopping 19 of the 24 shots he faced to earn the victory. Harvey (2-5) made 22 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort and has four straight games. He is 0-2 versus Ontario this season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-9 versus the Reign on the season. Ontario was 1-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Anderson-Dolan 2) Wagner 3) Sutter

Ontario is 4-0 this season against San Jose this season.

San Jose went 3-9 in the month of January.

‘Cuda forward Sasha Chmelevski had two assists in his first game back in the lineup after missing the past seven games with an injury.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its four-game road trip as the start a two-game series with the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday 2/2 at 7:00pm at Orleans Arena.