Barracuda route Reign in 5-1 victory

The San Jose Barracuda share congratulations after their win over Ontario Reign at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo on Sun Apr 11, 2021 (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

EL SEGUNDO, Calif—The San Jose Barracuda scored three goals in the first period as they dominated the Ontario Reign in a 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Toyota Sports Performance Center.

San Jose’s win gave them 24 points as they continue to occupy fourth place in the Pacific Division and the final playoff spot. Ontario have lost four of its past five games.

The Barracuda (9-8-4-2) opened the scoring early on in the first period. Alex True picked up the puck after a multi-player collision along the right boards and quickly found a wide open Sasha Chmelevski in front of the crease and he snapped home a wrist shot past Reign goalie Matt Villalta for his first goal of the game and his fourth goal at the 4:00 mark.

Chmelevski didn’t take long to double the ‘Cuda’s lead to 2-0. Once again it was True setting up his winger. True spun away from an Ontario defender and found Chemelevski in the right slot. The Orange County native then fired home a wrist shot top-shelf past Villalta for his two-goal afternoon and fifth of the season at the 6:36 mark.

Ontario (9-15-3-0) cut the lead in half just under two minutes later. A failed clearing attempt by San Jose was intercepted by Lias Andersson and he sent the puck back up to the point where Austin Strand fired a shot through a body of traffic past ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko for this first goal of the season at the 9:04 mark.

San Jose regained its two-goal lead when Nicolas Meloche led an odd-man rush down the left wing. Meloche centered a pass over to Brinson Pasichnuk who lasered home a wrist shot top-shelf past Villalta for his first career AHL goal at the 13:52 mark.

The Barracuda outshot the Reign 10-9 in the opening frame.

San Jose went up 3-1 more than halfway through in the second period as Scott Reedy also scored his first career AHL goal. Joel Kellman sent a cross ice pass from the right slot over to Reedy who beat Villalta with a well placed wrist shot at the 13:52 mark.

The Barracuda out shot the Reign 13-11 in a penalty free middle frame.

San Jose put the game way late in the third period when Jacob Middleton intercepted a pass inside the ‘Cuda zone. Middleton raced down the ice on a breakaway where his initial shot was saved by Villalta but the veteran defenseman cleaned up his own rebound with a backhander for his third goal of the season at the 14:25 mark.

Sawchenko finished the game stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced to earn the victory. Villalta made 27 saves on 32 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play. Ontario was 0-for-1.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Chmelevski 2) True 3) Pasichnuk

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Texas Stars on Tuesday 4/13 at 6:00pm at Solar4America Ice.

Condors rush pass Barracuda in 4-1 victory

Bakersfield Condors right winger Tyler Benson (left) is pinned on the boards by the San Jose defenceman Barracuda Brinson Pasichnuk (right) on Sat Apr 10, 2021 at Mechanics Bank in Bakersfield (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

BAKERSFIELD, Calif—The Bakersfield Condors scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-1 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday night at Mechanics Bank Arena.

The Condors have won two games in a row and have 29 points, good for third place in the Pacific Division. San Jose has lost two of its past three games and are in fourth place with 22 points.

San Jose (8-8-4-2) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Robbie Russo found Evan Weinger along the left boards. Weinger threaded a cross ice pass between two Condors defenders over to a wide open Maxim Letunov and he buried the puck into an empty net past Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:07 mark.

Letunov now has three goals in his two games fore the ‘Cuda.

San Jose controlled the pace of play in the opening 20 minutes as they outshot Bakersfield 9-6.

It was all Bakersfield (14-9-0-1) from the second period on as they scored two goals in the first six minutes of the middle frame.

Adam Cracknell beat Ryan Merkley to a rebound off the boards and quickly centered a backhand pass over to Seth Griffith who snapped home a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:30 mark.

Less than four minutes later the Condors gained its first lead of the game and never looked back. Luke Esposito gained the puck at the ‘Cuda blueline. He found Joe Gambardella with a backdoor feed and the veteran forward tipped home the puck between his legs past Harvey for his sixth goal of the season at the 6:13 mark.

The Condors had the ice tilted in its favor in the middle frame as they outshot the Barracuda 17-6.

Bakersfield scored an insurance goal insurance goal halfway through the third period. James Hamblin was able to skate around Branson Pasichnuk down the left wing and created a two-on-zero opportunity. Hamblin centered the puck back to Jakob Stukel who beat Harvey with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season at the 10:08 mark.

Cooper Marody put the game on ice for the Condors with an empty net goal with 1:52 left in the game. Tyler Benson received the only assist on Marody’s 16th goal of the season.

Skinner finished the evening stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced to earn the victory. Harvey made 27 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

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

‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar was called up to the San Jose Sharks earlier in the afternoon as the Sharks traded Devan Dubnyk to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Greg Pateryn and a 2021 fifth round draft pick. The NHL trading deadline is on Monday.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Gambardella 2) Griffith 3) Stukel

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Ontario Reign on Sunday 4/11 at 3:00pm at the Toyota Sports Performance Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: SJ are back in Bakersfield to face tough Condors tonight; Korenar recalled by Sharks to replace Dubnyk

San Jose Barracuda defenseman Nick DeSimone (57) congratulates goaltender Josef Korenar (32) on Wed Apr 7, 2021 after defeating the Henderson Silver Knights in San Jose (@sjbarracuda photo)

#1 It was another come back game for the San Jose Barracuda (8-7-4-2) last Wednesday night when the Barracuda hosted the Henderson Silver Knights (18-5-0-0) at Solar4America Ice down two goals to win it 4-2.

#2 The win against the Knights was a valuable one as it was San Jose’s first win in eight games against the Knights who are another battling team.

#3 Josef Korenar the Barracuda goaltender stopped 20 of 22 shots in the Wednesday win and now won five games against one. Korenar was recalled by the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon after the Sharks traded goalie Devan Dubnyk to the Colorado Avalanche.

#4 Maxim Letunov scored his fourth and fifth goals of 2021 against the Knights on Wednesday which were key goals in the first win of 2021 against the Knights.

#5 The Barracuda return to action tonight against the Bakersfield Condors (12-9-0-1) the last time the two teams met on Tue Mar 30th the Condors lost their first game to the Barracuda 4-3. Face off tonight at 6pm in Bakersfield.

Join Marko for Barracuda hockey podcasts each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda comeback to beat Silver Knights 4-2

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif—Fourth time’s a charm.

The San Jose Barracuda came back to from a two-goal deficit to score four unanswered goals, including two from Maxim Letunov, en route to its first win of the season over the Henderson Silver Knights in a 4-2 victory on Wednesday evening at Solar4America Ice.

San Jose split the two games series and were 0-2-1 against Henderson, who suffered its fifth loss of the season. The Barracuda improved to 22 points and sit in the fourth spot in the Pacific Division, with a .524 winning percentage.

Henderson (18-5-0-0) drew first blood in the first period. Reid Duke intercepted a pass at the Silver Knights blueline. Duke raced down the left wing and sent a rink wide pass over to Dylan Sikura who snapped home a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his team leading 11th goal of the season at the 6:55 mark.

There was no love lost between the two teams as Jacob Middleton and Jermaine Loewen exchanged fisticuffs at the 2:41 mark as the bad blood carried over from last night’s game.

San Jose (8-7-4-2) out shot Henderson 10-6 in the opening 20 minutes.

The Silver Knights doubled its lead on the power play late in the second period. Jack Duggan sent in a shot from the left slot and Ben Jones tipped the puck past Korenar for his for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:56 mark. Ryan Murphy was credited with the secondary assist.

The ‘Cuda finally figured out a way to put a puck past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson as they cut the lead in half with 33 second lefts in the middle frame.

Nicolas Meloche sent in a shot in from the point where Evan Weinger quickly found Letunov out in front of the crease. Letunov jammed home the puck past an unsuspecting Thompson for his first goal of the contest and fourth of the season.

San Jose scored the equalizer on a counter attack. Meloche skated into the Silver Knights zone, made a drop pass to Sasha Chmelevski who used Meloche as screen to beat Thompson with a wrist shot to the far side for his third goal of the season at the 11:40 mark. Meloche finished with two assists on the evening.

The Barracuda gained its first lead of the game on the power play just over three minute later. Chmelevski sent in a shot from the right slot that Thompson couldn’t corral. Letunov crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound off for his second goal of the game and fifth of the season at the 14:55 mark.

Letunov is starting to heat up for San Jose with three goals in as many games.

The ‘Cuda iced the game with an empty netter from Stefan Noesen at the 18:39 mark. Korenar received the only assist on Noesen’s second goal of the season.

Korenar finished the game with 20 saves on 22 shots to earn the victory. Thompson had an eventful night stopping 39 of the 42 shots the ‘Cuda peppered him throughout the game. Thompson’s four-game winning streak also came to an end.

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

Henderson lost for the first time this season after leading after the second period (13-1).

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Letunov 2) Chmelevski 3) Meloche

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Bakersfield to take on the Condors on Saturday 4/10 at 6:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

Silver Knights take down the Barracuda in 2-1 shootout victory

The Henderson Silver Knights and San Jose Barracuda dropped the puck earlier on Tue Apr 6, 2021 at Solar4America Ice in San Jose for the first of two games (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif—The Henderson Silver Knights made the home team pay for a trip to the sinbin late in the third period as they scored the equalizer and ended up winning in the shootout 2-1 over the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday evening at Solar4America Ice.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored the winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout for Henderson as they have won five of its past six games and sit comfortably in first place in the Pacific Division with 36 points.

San Jose have lost five of its past six games but picked up a point and remain in fourth place in the Pacific Division with 20 points. They are now 0-6 in overtime/shootout games.

The opening 20 minutes was scoreless despite Henderson (18-4-0-0) having two power play opportunities. San Jose’s penalty kill, led by goalie Alexei Melnichuk, kept the Silver Knights off the scoreboard in the first period. Shots were even at nine a piece.

San Jose (7-7-4-2) drew first blood with an even strength goal near the halfway point of the second period. Jake Middleton started a rush up the ice with a pass over to Brandon Coe who centered a pass over to an incoming Jake McGrew. The San Jose Sharks former sixth round draft pick in 2017 made one move to the right before chipping the puck top-shelf past Silver Knights goalie Logan Thompson for his second goal of the season at the 8:58 mark.

McGrew snapped a nine-game goal-less draught. Poe picked up his first AHL point of his career.

San Jose had the ice tilted in its favor as the outshot Henderson 10-5 in the middle frame with three power play opportunities.

Joel Kellman had a short-handed breakaway chance early in the third period to give the ‘Cuda an insurance goal but was stoned away by Thompson.

The Silver Knights scored the equalizer late in the third period as they took advantage of Robbie Russo’s penalty for delay of game. Ryan Murphy sent a bomb from the point that made its way past Melnichuk for his fifth goal of the season and second on the power play at the 17:55 mark.

An all line brawl broke out with 1:06 remaining in regulation that was sparked by a high hit delivered by Jake Leschyshyn on Alexander True earlier that flared tempers for the ‘Cuda.

The Silver Knights carried over a power play into overtime but weren’t able to capitalize on the opportunity. Gage Quinney had the best chance in the extra session to win the game with a breakaway chance only to have Melnichuk make the save of the game, sending the game to the shootout.

Thompson finished with 29 saves on 30 shots in earning the victory. Melnichuk made 25 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-6.

Reid Duke made his AHL debut for the Silver Knights after finishing his senior season at the University of Minnesota.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Dorofeyev 2) Thompson 3) Melnichuk

UP NEXT: The same two teams are back in action on Wednesday 4/7 at 6:00pm at Solar4America Ice.

Gulls beat down Barracuda 7-3

The San Jose Barracuda and San Diego Gulls battled it out on the ice at FivePoint Arena in Irvine and it wasn’t even close as the Barracuda lose it 7-3 on Sat Apr 3, 2021 (@ sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

IRVINE, Calif—The San Diego Gulls scored four goals in the third period to break open a tight game in a 7-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at FivePoint Arena.

The win was the first one in regulation for the Gulls over the Barracuda this season. They have won six games in a row and went undefeated on its four-game homestand. The ‘Cuda have lost four of its past five games.

San Jose (7-7-4-1) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Brinson Pasichnuk’s shot from the left point was initially saved by Gulls goaile Olle Eriksson-Ek but the puck leaked out to the right and Maxim Letunov cleaned up the rebound for his third goal of the season at the 9:26 mark.

It was Pasichnuk’s first assist in his last 11 games.

San Diego (15-10-0-0) tied it at 1-1 late in the opening 20 minutes. ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar made a stop on a point blank shot from Matt Lorito. The rebound found its way behind the net where Hunter Drew centered the puck back out front to Lorito, who made good on his second attempt with a wrist shot into an empty net for his third goal of the season at the 17:29 mark.

San Jose regained the lead in the second period while short-handed. Alex True created a two-on-one odd man rush when he stripped the puck off of Kodie Curran at the Gulls blue line. True gave it up to Lean Bergmann who skated in all alone on Eriksson before backhanding a cross ice pass back to True for an easy tap in into the back of the net. True’s seventh goal of the season came at the 7:49 mark.

Bergmann, who has yet to score a goal for San Jose this season, finished with a two-point game.

The Gulls scored the equalizer after a miscue by three ‘Cuda players in its own zone. The puck leaked out to a wide open Sam Carrick who quickly made a deke before sliding the puck underneath Korenar for his 12th goal of the season at the 12:15 mark.

San Diego gained its first lead of the game late in the middle frame on the power play. Vinni Lettieri sent a cross ice pass over to Chase De Leo who buried a one-timer from close range past Korenar for his ninth goal of the season at the 19:38 mark.

The Gulls scored an insurance goal early to start the third period. Benoit-Oliver Groulx sent a pass back up to the point where Keegan Lowe fired a slapshot off the glove of Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 1:39 mark.

San Diego put the game away with two power play goals in under four minutes as San Jose was called for three minor penalties in a six minute span.

Curran redeemed himself when he snapped home a wrist shot top-shelf past Korenar for his fouth goal of the season and second power play goal for San Diego at the 11:54 mark.

Then Jacob Perreault found Andrew Agozzino camped out all alone along the right post with a backdoor pass and Agozzino tapped it home for San Diego’s third power play goal of the game and his seventh of the season at the 15:38 mark.

Perreault finished off the scoring for the Gulls when his backhander from a tough angle hit off the post past Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 18:35 mark.

San Jose scored the game’s final goal with 24 seconds left when Sasha Chmelevski found Joel Kellman backdoor at the left post for an easy tap in goal, Kellman’s third goal of the season.

Eriksson-Ek finished the game with 31 saves on 34 shots to earn the vicotry. Korenar made 21 saves on 28 shots in suffering his first regulation loss of the season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play. San Diego was 3-for-6.

San Diego have scored seven goals in back-to-back games.

De Leo and Andrew Poturalski each had two assists on the night.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) De Leo 2) Perreault 3) Lowe

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Henderson Silver Knights for a two-games series on Tuesday 4/6 at 5:00pm at Solar4America Ice.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda take on Gulls tonight in San Diego

The San Jose Barracuda forward Zach Gallant (60) takes a shot against the Bakersfield Condors on Tue Mar 30, 2021 in Bakersfield (@sjbarracuda photo)

#1 Marko, how did the Barracuda (7-6-4-1) come from two goals down to defeat the Bakersfield Condors (11-9-0-1) with four unanswered goals for a 4-3 win?

#2 Barracuda goaltender Josef Korenar saved 30 shots and picked up his fourth win of the season

#3 It’s not often you see the Condors goaltender Stuart Skinner give up four goals for a loss after stopping 31 shots

#4 The Barracuda’s Joachim Blichfeld got two assists it was his first assists in ten games

#5 The Barracuda are in San Diego tonight at 7:00pm to face the Gulls. San Diego has always been a tough place for the Barracuda talk about how you see the match up tonight.

Marko does the Barracuda podcasts each Saturday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda come back from two goal deficit, defeat Condors 4-3

Congratulations all around as the San Jose Barracuda get a win against one their toughest opponents this season the Bakersfield Condors on Tue Mar 30, 2021 at Bakersfield (@sjbarracuda image)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif—The San Jose Barracuda scored three unanswered goals in the second period as they overcame a two-goal deficit en-route to a 4-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday evening at Solar4America Ice.

San Jose snapped its three-game losing streak while sending Bakersfield to their third straight loss.

Bakersfield (11-9-0-1) drew first blood midway through the first period. Seth Griffith intercepted a clearing attempt along the left boards. Griffith centered a pass out to Ostap Safin who fired a shot top-shelf past ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his fourth goal of the season at the 9:22 mark.

Three of Safin’s four goals have come against the Barracuda in the past six days.

San Jose outshot Bakersfield 13-6 in the opening 20 minutes but weren’t able to get on the scoreboard against Condors goalie Stuart Skinner.

The Condors doubled its lead early in the second period. Ryan McLeod found Markus Niemelainen wide open in the high slot and the Condors defenseman rifled home a wrist shot just under the pad of Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 3:49 mark.

The Barracuda (7-6-4-1) struck back exactly three minutes later to cut Bakersfield’s lead in half. Christian Jaros found Jacob Middleton at the redline and the veteran defenseman skated in down the left wing side and snapped home a wrist shot to the far side beating Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 6:49 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer past the midway point of the middle frame. Joachim Blichfeld skated around the Condors net and centered a pass out to Noah Gregor in the left slot. Gregor fired a wrist shot past Stuart for his third goal of the season at the 10:38 mark.

The ‘Cuda gained its first lead while on the power play. Blichfeld started the tic-tac-toe play with a pass to Stefan Noesen down low on the left wing. Noesen quickly found Alexander True camped out in front of the net and True one-timed the puck past Skinner for his sixth goal of the season.

The ‘Cuda had come into the game 1-for-13 with the man advantage against Bakersfield.

San Jose scored an insurance goal early in the third period. Joel Kellman threaded a pass between two Condors defenders over to Fredrik Handemark and he beat Stuart top-shelf with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season at the 6:20 mark.

Bakersfield answered back when Joe Gambardella intercepted a pass behind the net and centered a pass out in front where Jakob Stukel raced in from the blueline and snapped a wrist shot past Korenar for his third goal of the season at the 14:46 mark.

The Condors had a power play opportunity for the final 1:48 and made it a six-on-four as they pulled Skinner for an extra attacker. However Korenar stood his ground making three big saves in the final minute.

Korenar finished with 30 saves on 33 shots to earn the victory. Stuart made 27 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 1-for-2 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0-for-3.

San Jose is 5-0-1 in their last six home games, including 4-0 at Solar4America Ice.

The ‘Cuda are 2-2-2-1 versus the Condors this season.

Both Blichfeld and Noesen finished with two assists a piece.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Handemark 2) Blichfeld 3) Noesen

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Irvine to take on the San Diego Gulls on Saturday 4/2 at 7:00pm at FivePoint Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda struggling with Condors face them again on Tuesday night

The San Jose Barracuda forward Jeffrey Viel has been recalled to the San Jose Sharks, Viel played 17 games with the Barracuda. (@ sjbarracuda photo)

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (6-6-4-1) had the opening volley against the Bakersfield Condors (11-6-0-1) in the first period to take a 1-0 lead but the Condors were able to overtake the Barracuda for a 4-3 win in a shootout last Wed Mar 24th at Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield.

#2 Condors goalie Stuart Skinner owns the Barracuda with a career 10-2 record and 5-0 for the season the Barracuda are having a hard time figuring Skinner and the Condors out.

#3 The Barracuda goalie Sam Harvey while allowing four goals did save 37 shots on Wednesday do you see Harvey getting some starts from head coach Roy Sommer?

#4 Stefan Noesen long time in waiting scored his first AHL goal since Nov 2019 when he did it with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins it was Noesen’s first goal in seven games for the Barracuda.

#5 The Barracuda had a six day rest and get back to work against the Condors again at Mechanic Bank Arena in Bakersfield on Tue Mar 30th. Seeing how the Cuda have struggled against the Condors all season how do you see this match up on Tuesday night at 6:00pm.

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

 

Condors edge Barracuda in 4-3 shootout victory

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

Seth Griffith scored the game-winning goal in the shootout to give the Bakersfield Condors a 4-3 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

The Condors extended their point streak at home to 10 games and have dominated the series with the Barracuda winning five of the six games. San Jose is now 0-5 in games in overtime games as this was its first shootout of the season.

San Jose (6-6-4-1) drew first blood in the first half of the first period. Joel Kellman found Nick DeSimone all alone just to the left of the net. Condors goalie Stuart Skinner made a diving paddle save on DeSimone’s shot, but the puck leaked out to the slot, where Stefan Noesen cleaned up the rebound for his first goal of the season at the 7:26 mark.

It was the first time the ‘Cuda scored a first period goal against its Pacific Division rival this season.

Bakersfield (11-6-0-1) scored the equalizer early in the second period as they capitalized on San Jose’s failue to clear the puck out of its own zone. Adam Cracknell sent a cross-ice, no-look pass over to Ostap Safin, who buried a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for his first of two goals on the evening at the 2:41 mark.

For Safin, it was his first AHL goal in the past three years.

Noah Gregor regained the lead for the ‘Cuda when he slipped past Cooper Marody along the right boards after Nicholas Meloche cleared the puck out of the defensive zone. Gregor raced in on a breakaway and snapped home a wrist shot past Stuart for his second goal of the season at the 12:22 mark.

The Condors deadlocked the game at 2-2 just over two minutes later. Once again Bakersfield made San Jose pay for not being able to clear the puck out of their own zone. Marody skated around the net and centered a pass to a wide-open Tyler Benson, who finished off the play with a tap-in for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:44 mark.

Bakersfield outshot San Jose 17-14 in the middle frame.

The Condors gained its first lead of the game early in the third period. Cracknell won a faceoff inside the ‘Cuda zone and acted a screen for Safin, who went behind Cracknell and fired a wrist shot to the short side of Harvey for his second goal of the game and the season at the 2:54 mark.

Cracknell had an assist on every Condors goal and finished with a three-point night.

San Jose finally gave Bakersfield a taste of their own medicine scoring the equalizer late in the third period. Joachim Blichfeld led an odd-man rush after a turnover by Bakersfield in the neutral zone. Blichfeld executed a give-and-go with Gregor before Blichfeld’s attempted pass was blocked back to him and he fired a wrist shot past a screened Skinner for his team-leading 10th goal of the season at the 17:27 mark.

The ‘Cuda had a chance to end it in overtime with a power play at the 1:08 mark with a tripping penalty on Marody, but weren’t able to take advantage of the 4-on-3 opportunity.

Skinner finished with 38 saves on 41 shots to earn the victory. Harvey, who made his first start since early February, made 31 saves on 34 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-2 on the power play. Bakersfield went 0-for-1.

Marody currently has a 14-game point streak.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Safin 2) Cracknell 3) Griffith

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home on Tuesday 3/30 as they host the Bakersfield Condors at 6:00 pm PST at Solar4America Ice at San Jose.