Category: San Jose Barracuda

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda need to find a way to stop unanswered goals, face Bakersfield tonight at SAP Center

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (8-11-0-2) couldn’t hold the lead in their last game against the Ontario Reign (11-11-2-0), scoring four unanswered goals

#2 This is not the typical way that Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer wants to lose a game. The loss marks the fourth time in seven games the Cuda have lost.

#3 Cuda goaltender Josef Korenar stopped 42 shots, but lost the game. It was his highest total of saves this season.

#4 The Barracuda’s Jonny Brodzenski has been a bright spot. He has a five-game point streak going along with two goals and five assists.

#5 The Cuda host the Bakersfield Condors (9-10-2-1) tonight at SAP Center. It’s going to be a barnburner. The Condors have won three straight and the Cuda have won one game in their last three games.

Marko is a Barracuda beat writer and joins Sports Talk every Wednesday for the Cuda podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Reign storm back to upend Barracuda in 5-4 shootout win

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda took the foot of the gas pedal after the first period and it came back to bite them as the Ontario Reign scored four unanswered goals en route to a 5-4 shootout victory Saturday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose ended up taking three out of the four points in the weekend series against their SoCal rival. However after posting a three-goal first period, the ‘Cuda will look back on a game that were in control of and let slip away.

The Barracuda (8-11-0-2) drew first blood on the power play early in the first period.  Joel Kellman won a face off over to Jonny Brodzinski, who sent the puck back up to the point where Thomas Gregoire collected it. The ‘Cuda defenseman skated back toward the middle, where his wrist shot went through a sea of traffic in front of Reign goalie Cal Petersen into the back of the net for Gregoire’s third goal of the season at the 6:20 mark.

San Jose doubled its lead six minutes later when Brodzinski led a rush into the Reign zone, where he sent a cross-ice pass over to a streaking Kellman and he buried a one-timer past Petersen for his third goal of the season at the 12:10 mark.

Just under two minutes later Gregoire fed a pass over to Alex True in the right slot and he in turn sent a cross ice pass over to Jayden Halbgewachs, who fired a one-timer past Petersen, in a similar goal to Kellman’s, for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:13 mark. Halbgewachs has scored in back-to-back games for the ‘Cuda.

Ontario (11-11-2-0) scored the last goal of the period on the power play when Gabe Vilardi had a nice give-and go with Kale Clague inside the ‘Cuda zone. From the point, Clague snapped a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his fifth goal of the season at the 16:35 mark.

San Jose dominated the opening 20 minutes outshooting Ontario 12-8 and had the ice tilted in their favor for most of the period.

The second period didn’t see a goal being scored, but it saw a foreshadow of what would become a third period collapse for San Jose with them going continually going into the sin bin.

Ryan Stanton scored his second goal in as many games after taking a pass from Austin Strand and beat Korenar with a wrist shot at the 6:56 mark.

Ontario scored the equalizer with the man advantage when Clague collected the puck at the left point fed a cross-ice pass over to Martin Frk right above the right faceoff circle and Frk blasted a slap shot past Korenar for his 12th goal of the season at the 8:59 mark. Lance Bouma received the secondary assist.

Then with under four minutes left in the third period, Ontario struck again on the power play for their first lead of the game. Once again, Clauge was the set-up man, this time he sent a cross-ice pass over to Vilardi fired a shot from just above the right slot past Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 15:23 mark.

San Jose didn’t go quietly as Joachim Blichfeld fed a pass over to True, who buried a wrist shot past Petersen for his seventh goal of the season with 1:35 left in the third period to send the game into overtime and eventually the shootout.

In the shootout, both Frk and Vilardi scored for the Reign, while Petersen blanked all three of the Barracuda chances for the win.

Petersen finished the night making 30 saves on 34 shots for his 11th win, and third over San Jose, on the season. For Korenar, he made a career-high 41 saves out of the 45 saves he faced in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/3 on the power play. Ontario was 3/7.

Brodzinski extended his point streak to five games (two goals, five assists) as he collected a goal and an assist.

Blichfeld recorded a pair of assists for his fifth multi-point game of the year and second in as many games and now co-leads the Barracuda in scoring (17).

Gregoire scored and added two assist as he recorded his second three-point night of his career and now co-leads the Barracuda in points (17).

The three power-play goals against matched a season-high for San Jose.

San Jose is now 0-2 in shootouts this year.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Bakersfield Condors on Wednesday, December 11 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda match franchise record in 9-2 onslaught over Reign

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda missed their captain. John McCarthy, who had missed the past three games due to injury, made the most of his return scoring two goals part of seven unanswered goals en route to a 9-2 victory over the Ontario Reign on Friday evening at Toyota Arena. He was one of three ‘Cuda forwards to score two goals in the game.

San Jose matched a franchise-high with the nine-goal outburst, and with their third road win, have 17 points and have tied San Diego for sixth place in the Pacific Division. Ontario is 2-8 in their last 10 games.

San Jose (8-11-0-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Maxim Letunov fed a pass over to Jayden Halbgewachs and he snapped a wrist shot past Reign goalie Cal Petersen for his fifth goal of the season at the 5:40 mark. Thomas Gregoire received the secondary assist.

McCarthy scored the first of his two goals after San Jose gained momentum killing a penalty. Seconds after Keaton Middleton’s trip to the sin bin expired, Jeffery Viel led a rush into the Reign zone where centered a pass over the ‘Cuda captain where he buried a wrist shot top-shelf past Petersen for his third goal of the season at the 15:32 mark.

The ‘Cuda scored their third goal of the period with just 36 seconds left. Sasha Chmelevski sent a shot behind the Reign net, where Letunov collected the puck and quickly wrapped around a shot into the far corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

San Jose shifted into fifth gear in the middle frame. Just 59 seconds into the second period, McCarthy scored a goal when he was able to out-wait Petersen with a sweet backhand shot for his fourth goal of the season. Evan Weinger and Viel received assists on the play.

After a scrap between Trevor Carrick and Lance Bouma, San Jose scored three goals in a 1:16 span. First, Joachim Blichfeld cleaned up his own rebound after an initial save by Petersen for his team-leading eighth goal of the season at 7:43.

That goal would chase Petersen, who had dominated the Barracuda in the first two games between the team earlier this season, as he gave up five goals on just 18 shots in 27:43 of playing time.

Backup goalie Matthew Villalta didn’t even get a chance to finish stretching when Jonny Brodzinski fired a slap shot into the twine for his fourth goal of the season at the 8:04 mark. Brodzinski has scored two goals against his former team in three games.

Alex True joined the scoring party when snapped a wrist shot past Villalta, for his fifth goal of the season at the 8:59 mark. Chmelevski recorded the primary assist for a multi-point game.

Ontario (10-11-2-0) finally erased the zero off the scoreboard when Martin Frk shot the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge from close range just underneath the crossbar for his 11th goal of the season at the 10:46 mark.

San Jose outshot Ontario 13-5 and completely tilted the ice in their favor after 40 minutes in a dominating period.

Ontario scored their second goal in the third period. Mikey Eyssimont centered a pass over to Ryan Stanton and snapped home the puck into the back of the net for his first goal with the Reign and his first goal in his last 30 games at the 7:08 mark.

San Jose regained their six-goal lead when Brodzinski led a 2-on-1 odd man rush with Blichfeld after a turnover. Blichfeld cut back into the slot before burying the puck Villalta for second goal of the night and ninth goal of the season at the 14:35 mark.

True scored his second goal of the contest 61 seconds later at the 15:36 mark. Danil Yurataykin and Jeremy Roy registered assists on True’s sixth goal of the season.

Shortridge, finally getting a smorgasbord of goal support, finished the game with 22 saves on 24 shots to earn his second win of the season. Villalta made 13 saves on 17 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/1 on the power play. Ontario was also 0/1.

Letunov with his two-point game, extended his point streak to seven games.

San Jose had ten players with multi-point games. The 26 combined points on the nine goals set a franchise record. The nine goals also set a franchise record

UP NEXT: The Barracuda and Reign go at it again on Saturday, December 7 at 6:00 pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to bounce back from loss with game on Friday in Ontario

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Cuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda held the lead in last Friday’s game for much of the way until the Bakersfield Condors came back with two goals in the third period.

#2 In the 4-3 loss, the Barracuda snapped their two-game win streak.

#3 Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease.

#4 Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said the game went south when the Condors were able to score twice after the Cuda had a 2-0 lead they saw evaporate.

#5 The Barracuda try to get back in the win column on Friday, Dec. 6th in Ontario.

Marko is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors’ two-goal third period sinks Barracuda 4-3

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda are becoming a broken record. Get off to a fast start, but allow the opposition to come back. This bad habit once again reared its ugly head as the Bakersfield Condors scored the final two goals of the game en route to a 4-3 victory on Friday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose had their two-game winning streak snapped. With the victory, Bakersfield also snapped their four-game losing streak.

Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease. After a battle with ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar, Marody took possession of the puck and slammed it home for his fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (7-10-0-1) drew first blood at the end of the first period. Lean Bergmann fed a pass over to Sasha Chmelevski then showed off his skating skills coming down the right wing and into the crease where his backhander sneaked past a confused Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 17:11 mark. Thomas Gregoire received the secondary assist.

“I feel like I’m a different player since my injury,” said Chmelevski. “I feel like I’ve been playing with confidence, been playing hard and just want to contribute to the team anyway I can.”

Bakersfield (7-9-2-1) had a golden opportunity to break through earlier when they have a 5-on-3 power play for 1:41 of ice time when Nick DeSimone went off for a delay of game penalty. Maxim Letunov was already in the sinbin for interference 19 seconds earlier.

However, thanks to some key saves by Korenar and some luck from his best friend in the goal post, San Jose killed off both power plays gaining momentum off the kill.

San Jose dominated play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Bakersfield 13-6.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead on the power play less than five minutes into the second period. Jonny Brodzinski fired a shot behind the net where Joel Kellman received the puck. After a bit of a delay, he banked the puck off Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 4:27 mark. The goal snapped a 15 game goalless drought for the Swedish forward.

It didn’t take the Condors to cut the lead in half. Kirill Maksimov fed a pass over to the Dmitri Samorukov at the right point. The Russian defenseman skated into the slot and wired a quick wrist shot beating Korenar to the short side in the lower right corner for his first professional goal of his career just 27 seconds later at the 4:54 mark.

“It went south was right when we make it 2-0 and they scored on their next shift to make it 2-1,” said Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer. “Then with 50 seconds left in the second period, they win the draw and the puck bounces over our head and goes in the net, 2-2.

Just when it looked like the San Jose was going to head into the second intermission with a lead, an innocent looking wrist shot from the point by Evan Bouchard hit off the arm of Korenar and floated up in the air behind him where Ryan McLeod cashed in the rebound for his third goal of the season with 50 seconds left in the middle frame.

“You work for your breaks and I thought the compete was there but I don’t know how many pucks we turned over through the neutral zone…at least 15 where we could have had it in behind him and maybe created something and that’s something we’ve got to look at,” said Sommer.

The ‘Cuda regained the lead in the opening minutes of the third period when Letunov had control of the puck near the right board. He made some nifty puck-handling moves around two Condors defenders before firing a shot on net that was initially saved by Skinner. The puck jumped out to Evan Weinger just to the left of the crease and he tapped home his sixth goal of the season at the 1:57 mark.

However, as we have seen of late, San Jose once again weren’t able to hold on to their lead and close out the game. Just under two minutes later Brad Malone centered a pass out in to the left faceoff circle where Lagesson’s shot was stopped by Korenar, but couldn’t control the rebound. Lagesson was able to get the puck back on his stick and fired it past Korenar, who was out of position, for the equalizer, his second goal of the season, at the 3:28 mark.

“We had a great first period, we got the lead,” said Kellman. “We’re up 2-0 and then something happened when they scored the first goal, I don’t know what, it was 2-2.  Our second period was not that good but I don’t think we got the momentum back in the third. We got up 3-2 and then I don’t know what happened.”

Skinner finished the evening 34 saves on 37 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Korenar allowed four goals on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/3.

FISTICUFFS! Jeffery Viel and Joe Gambardella squared off in a spirited fight 63 seconds into the third period. Each player successfully landed haymakers on one another.

Letunov extended his points streak to six games with the assist on Weinger’s goal.

San Jose is now 6-6-0-0 on home ice. They lead the all-time series against Bakersfield 25-17-2-4.

Three stars of the game:
1. Marody
2. Lagesson
3. Weinger

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Ontario for a weekend series with the Reign starting on Friday, December 7 at 7:00 pm at Toyota Arena.

Halbgewachs the OT hero as Barracuda shoot down Gulls 3-2

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda did something that hasn’t happened very often in their five-year history. The ability to come from behind in a hostile environment. They exorcised those demons with a 3-2 overtime victory over the San Diego Gulls on Thanksgiving Eve at Pachenga Arena in San Diego.

San Jose has won two games in a row and are currently tied with San Diego, who have lost two in a row but earned a point going for going into overtime, for last place in the Pacific Division as both teams currently have 15 points on the season.

It didn’t look good for San Jose late in the third period until Evan Weinger rescued his team with his fifth goal of the season with under four minutes left in regulation. Nick DeSimone and Joel Kellman set up Weinger’s equalizer that came at 16:33 mark.

Then, it only took just over two minutes into the extra session when Maxim Letunov set up Jayden Halbewachs for the game winner. Halbgewachs fired a shot past Gulls goaltender Anthony Stolarz for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:08 mark.

San Diego (7-8-1-0) drew first blood late in the first period when Chris Wideman scored his seventh goal of the season at the 17:31 mark. Isac Lunderstrom and Scott Moldenhauer assisted on Wideman’s tally.

Despite outshooting the Gulls by a 2-to-1 margin 12-6, the ‘Cuda found themselves down 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes.

San Jose (7-10-0-1) tied it up with their hot power play of late. Alexander True sent a pass over to Jonny Brodzinski and the Minnesota native’s shot went into the back of the net for his third goal of the season at the 3:14 mark. Joachim Blichfeld received the secondary assist.

The Gulls regained the lead just over five minutes later when Alex Dostie scored his fifth goal of the season at the 8:28 mark. Dostie has now scored in two consecutive games against the Barracuda. Daniel Sprong and Moldenhauer were credited with the assists, giving Moldenhauer a multi-point game.

‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar finished a light evening, stopping 14 of the 16 shots he faced to earn his sixth victory of the season. Stolarz, in contrast to Korenar had a very busy night, making 38 saves on 41 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/3 on the power play. San Diego was 0/2. The ‘Cuda have scored four goals with the man advantage in their last two games.

The announced attendance was 5,444.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Bakersfield Condors on Friday, November 29 at 6:00 pm at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda look for second straight win tonight in San Diego, a chance to move out of the cellar

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (6-10-0-1) got the bitter taste of defeat from Friday’s game out of their mouth and got the sweet taste of victory on Saturday with a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Eagles.

#2 The Barracuda scored six unanswered goals. Anytime you can light the lamp like that, you’re going to have a good chance to win it.

#3 After losing on Friday, it looks like a sure regroup thing. Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer had a game plan.

#4 The Cuda are trying to work their way out of the bottom of the Pacific Division occupying the cellar, but looking to have more games like they did on Saturday.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Gulls tonight in San Diego. The Cuda have had trouble with San Diego. Marko sets this game up for us.

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

Barracuda power their way over Eagles 6-2

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from sjbarracuda.com

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda didn’t have to wait long to get revenge on the Colorado Eagles. They scored six unanswered goals, including three on the power play, to take down their Pacific Division rival 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

Only 16 hours after a tough 4-1 loss to the same Eagles team, San Jose snapped out of their funk and split the two-game series with Colorado. The ‘Cuda now have 13 points on the season and went 2-2 on their four-game home stand.

San Jose (6-10-0-1) jumped out to another fast start when Alex True sent a pass back up to Thomas Gregoire at the right point. Gregoire threw a wrist shot at the net, where Lean Bergmann deflected the puck past Eagles goalie Antoine Bibeau for his fifth goal of the season at the 2:42 mark of the first period.

Just under four minutes later, San Jose doubled its lead when Joachim Blichfeld intercepted a clearing attempt by Kevin Connauton. Danil Yurtaykin quickly passed it to Joel Kellman and the Swedish forward backhanded a centering pass back to Blichfeld, who fired a one-timer past Bibeau for a tic-tac-toe goal, his team-leading seventh of the season at the 6:36 mark.

The ‘Cuda completed their first period three-goal output on the power play just a little over half way through the opening frame. A give and go passing display between Jonny Brodzinski and Gregoire led to the Quebec native teeing up a slap slot just above the slot that rocketed past Bibeau for Gregoire’s second goal of the season at the 11:10 mark.

Bibeau was sent to the showers during the first intermission as he was replaced by Adam Werner in the second period after giving three goals on 10 shots.

San Jose continued their dominance in the second period scoring two more goals. Just like the first period, both goal came in the first 10 minutes of the period.

Sasha Chmelevski, playing in his first game back since October 30th when he was out with a lower body injury, did some nifty skating into the Eagles zone as he went past two Eagles defenders before putting a backhand shot on goal that Werner stopped but couldn’t handle the rebound. Maxim Letunov’s attempt deflected over to Jeffery Viel who cleaned up the rebound into the back of the net for his fourth goal and San Jose’s second power play goal at the 2:09 mark.

“Yeah it felt great,” said Chmelevski about how healthy he feels. “I didn’t even know if I was going (to play) today with everything that’s been going on (with my injury). I just wanted to help out the team anyway I could and I’m just happy we won.”

Just under three minutes later, Letunov sent a pass behind the net that Evan Weinger collected and fed back to Jayden Halbgewachs, who quickly turned toward the net with a backhander that slid past Werner’s five-hole for Halbgewachs third goal of the season at the 4:53 mark.

Colorado (9-8-0-0) had a chance to score before heading into the second intermission when Jacob Middleton went into the sin-bin for hooking with two minutes left in the middle frame, but San Jose’s penalty kill kept the Eagles from cashing in on their opportunity.

The ‘Cuda made it 6-0 in the third period with their sixth different goal scorer when Chmelevski won a face off over to Halbgewachs. The Saskatchewan native then skated over to the right slot when he snapped a wrist shot that Chmelevski tipped past Werner for his third goal of the season and San Jose’s third power play goal of the game at the 4:27 mark.

“I feel like when we play with passion and like that will, there’s not a lot of teams that can stop us. Today I thought I provided a little bit of a spark for the team. And I thought that’s what we needed to win today,” said Chmelevski.

Colorado broke ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar’s shutout bid with a little help from the referee. A clearing attempt by Keaton Middleton hit off the ref’s skate that allowed the Eagles to sustain pressure inside the zone. After a two point-blank chances by Colin Campbell were stopped by Korenar, the rebound trickled out to a wide-open Erik Condra who tapped it into an empty net for his third goal of the season at the 10:12 mark.

Sheldon Dries completed the scoring when he came crashing in to put home a rebound off a Jayson Megna shot was kicked out to the left of the crease for a power play goal. Dries’ eighth goal of the season came at the 15:50 mark.

Korenar finished the afternoon stopping 39 of the 41 shots he faced for his fifth victory of the season. Werner nine saves on 12 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 3/7 on the power play. Colorado was 1/3. The three power play goals for the ‘Cuda were a season-high.

The three stars of the game were…
1) Chmelevski
2) Korenar
3) Gregoire

The announced attendance was 3,385.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to San Diego to take on the Gulls on Wendesday 11/27 at 7:00 pm at Pechanga Arena.

Eagles take down the Barracuda 4-1

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda are trying to stay afloat through stormy waters. They put forth a better effort from the other night against Tucson but still ended up on short end of the stick of a 4-1 victory by the Colorado Eagles on Friday evening at the SAP Center.

With the win, Colorado has now won two of their last three games after splitting a two-game series with the Bakersfield Condors last weekend. For San Jose, their woes continue with back-to-back losses and eight out of their last nine games.

Colorado (9-7-0-0) drew first blood in the first period. The Eagles sustained pressure in the ‘Cuda zone as Mark Alt kept the puck in and fed a pass over to Erik Condra. Condra skated near the right slot when he threw a shot on net that was tipped in by Sheldon Dries for his seventh goal of the season at the 6:29 mark.

Despite outshooting the Eagles 11-9 and having some good scoring chances late, the ‘Cuda went into the first intermission down by a goal in a penalty-free opening 20 minutes.

“It’s just tough right now,” said ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We make a mistake and it’s in (the back of) our net. That’s kind how things are going for us right now.”

Colorado doubled its lead just 32 seconds to start the third period. Nick Henry centered a pass from the left faceoff circle over to Julien Nantel, who was all alone camped out just to the right of the crease. After his inital shot was saved by ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge, a Quebec native, put away the rebound chance for fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (5-10-0-1) cut the deficit in half on the power play. From the point, Jeremy Roy fed a pass over to Noah Gregor, who skated in and from the left slot wired a wrist shot that beat Eagles goalie Adam Werner, who was screened on the play by Alex True, for his second goal of the season at the 13:32 mark. Maxim Letunov was credited with the secondary assist.

Gregor’s goal sent the Tank into a frenzy of stuffed animals being thrown onto the ice in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night the ‘Cuda have put on since moving to Silicon Valley from Worcester, Massachusetts five years ago.

“Yeah, it was cool,” said Gregor when asked how it felt to play Santa Claus for one night. “Teddy bear toss games are fun, fun for the fans. It was nice to get the one goal for myself and see the teddies fly (on to the ice).”

Shots were even at 10-10 in the middle frame. One of them Shortridge could have been charged with grand theft when he made a point blank save on Nantel with just over 11 minutes remaining that helped shift the momentum in San Jose’s favor.

San Jose had a golden opportunity to even the game midway through the third period when both Ty Lewis and Kevin Connauton went to the penalty box 63 seconds apart. However, the ‘Cuda sqaundered the 5-on-3 power play as Colorado killed it off and seized back control of the game.

“The bottom line is the five-on-three we don’t score on,” said Sommer. “That was the game right there. That’s kind of (opportunity) what you wait for and (we) didn’t get it done.”

Colorado iced the game with two empty-net goals with under a minute remaining in the game. First, Jacob McDonald fired a long shot from inside his own defensive zone after winning a battle along the boards for his fifth goal at the 19:16 mark. Then, Michael Joly won a race to a loose puck and put the biscuit in the basket for his fifth goal at the 19:31 mark.

Werner stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced to earn his sixth win of the season. Shortridge made 23 saves on 25 shots in their losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/5 on the power play. Colorado was 0/2.

Eagles forward Josh Dickinson left the game with a lower body injury early in the first period.

Fisticuffs! San Jose’s Jacob Middleton and Colorado’s Dan Renouf dropped the gloves in a fight that had two hits, one by Middleton and Renouf hitting the ice after just one punch.

San Jose Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow scored the first ever Teddy Bear Toss goal when he was a member of the ‘Cuda back on November 7th, 2015.

The announced crowd was 3,923.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their four-game homestand on Saturday, November 23 vs. the Eagles at 1:15 pm at SAP Center.

Roadrunners make Barracuda look like Wild E. Coyote in 8-2 thrashing

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @RoadrunnersAHL

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Tucson Roadrunners may have had revenge on their mind as their special teams came out in full force for the Pacific Division leaders as they reversed their fortunes with seven unanswered goals in a 8-2 route of the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

After being humiliated last Saturday night 7-1, Tucson has now won six out of their last seven games. However, San Jose has done the opposite, losing seven out of their last eight games.

San Jose (5-9-0-1) drew first blood 69 seconds to start the game. Alex True led a rush out to Noah Gregor, who skated down the right slot. Gregor then fed a cross-ice pass over to a wide-open Evan Weinger, who snapped home a one-timer past Roadrunners goalie Eric Comrie for his fourth goal of the season.

Tucson (12-4-0-0) scored the equalizer while San Jose was on the power play. Hudson Fasching connected with Beau Bennett and he beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar with a shot for a short-handed goal. Bennett’s second goal of the season came at the 8:03 mark.

The Roadrunners gained their first lead of the night right at the end of the opening frame. Bennett returned the favor this time feeding Nick Merkley, who beat Korenar for his second goal of the season with just nine seconds left before the intermission.

It was a back-breaking goal the ‘Cuda would not recover from as the Roadrunners took over the game in the second period.

“We just didn’t show up in any facet of the game,” said ‘Cuda captain John McCarthy. “PK was bad, PP was bad, 5-on-5 was bad. It’s disappointing cause the game before we show up and have four lines going. It’s a huge letdown to come out with an effort like that.”

Tucson’s power play gave them a two-goal lead early in the middle frame. Kyle Capobianco fed a pass from the point to the left over to Brayden Burke who delayed before lasering a wrist shot top-shelf past Korenar for his for his sixth goal of the season at the 4:50 mark. Bennett received the secondary assist to give him a three-point night.

The ‘Cuda were burnt a second consecutive time for going into the sin-bin. Lane Pedersen’s shot attempt from the point deflected off a ‘Cuda defender’s skate that caromed right over to Michael Bunting as he caught Korenar out of position for an easy tap in. Bunting’s third goal of the season came at the 15:48 mark.

Then before Bunting’s goal could be announced, Tucson struck again 17 seconds later. Fasching centered a pass over to Tyler Steenbergen, who also ended the night with a three-point night (three assists), whose shot was initially saved by Korenar. However, the rebound trickled out in front of the crease where Nate Schnarr was there to clean up the rebound for his first professional career goal at the 17:05 mark.

That goal chased Korenar out of the game as he was replaced by backup goaltender Andrew Shortridge to start the third period by ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer.

“If you were to grade these guys from one to five, they were all fours the other night. Tonight, I don’t think there was anybody that was just average,” said Sommer.

Tucson didn’t let up in the third period as they kept pouring it on. Fasching scored his second goal of the night when Steenbergen centered a pass from just below the faceoff circle. Fasching snapped a wrist shot top-shelf into the upper right corner for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:11 mark.

Jon Martin scored his second goal against his former team and fifth of the season after receiving a wrap-around pass from behind the net from Jeremy Gregoire and Martin punched home the puck at the 10:03 mark.

San Jose ended the seven unanswered goals draught late in the third period when Nick Meloche led a 3-on-1 odd man rush into the Tucson zone. He fed a pass over to the Maxim Letunov at the left slot and the Russian forward fired a wrist shot top-shelf for his fifth goal of the season at the 14:48 mark.

Jordan Gross completed the scoring for Tucscon when Steenbergen fed him a pass at the right slot from behind the net and he rifled a wrist shot past Shortridge for third goal of the season at the 17:55 mark.

“You know against a team that leads the division you should be scared to play against them,” said Sommer. “And we weren’t. They were desperate and we were just watching (them on the ice).”

Comrie had a light night making 18 saves on 20 shots in earning his third victory of the season and remains undefeated at 3-0-0. Korenar was on the losing end of the blowout making 16 saves on 21 shots. Shortridge made seven saves on 10 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Tucscon was 2/4.

‘Cuda defenseman received a game misconduct penalty with under six minute remaining in the game after the teams skirmished near the Tucson bench.

The San Jose Sharks recalled forward Antti Suomela on Tuesday for the first time since last December. He had a three-game point streak going before being recalled.

Joachim Blichfeld, who went scoreless in the game, leads the ‘Cuda in goals (6), points (10) and power play goals (3).

The announced attendance was 2,713.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their four-game homestand as they host the Colorado Eagle on Friday, November 22 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal with them to the game to participate in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night.