Category: San Jose Barracuda

Condors dominate in 8-4 win over Barracuda

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by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Bakersfield Condors are a reckoning force that can not be stopped. They dominated from start to finish as they scored four unanswered goals in the first period on their way to a commanding 8-4 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

For Bakersfield they have won 19 of their last 20 games and have a firm grip on the Pacific Division standings with 73 points and a seven point lead on both San Jose and San Diego. The Cuda have lost three in a row for the second time this season.

Bakersfield (35-16-2-1) drew first blood in the first period. Cooper Marody led a two-on-one odd man rush with Tyler Benson after a turnover in the neutral zone. A nice give and go between Benson and Marody resulted in Benson beating Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (11-10-5) to the left side of the net for his 10th goal of the season at 7:49 mark. Kailer Yamamoto received the secondary assist.

The Condors doubled their lead when Marody worked a pretty give and go with Yamamoto. Marody skated in from the right slot and fed a pass over to the Yamamoto at the left faceoff circle and he buried a one-timer past Bibeau for his 10th goal of the season at the 13:12 mark. Logan Day received the secondary assist.

Bakersfield extended their lead over two minutes later. Mitch Callahan chased down a puck near the blue line and sent a wrist shot at the net, where Bibeau initially saved but David Gust, who had crashed the net, was able to gather the rebound and shoot it around Bibeau for his 15th goal of the season at the 15:36 mark. That would be the end of Bibeau’s night as he was replaced by Josef Korenar.

San Jose (30-17-2-4) had a chance to break the seal late in the first period when they had a five-on-three power play, but weren’t able to take advantage of the opportunity once Dylan Gambrell went into the sin bin for interference with just under 30 seconds left on the power play.

“We gotta play better defensively,” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “You can talk about offense all you want but we can’t give up this many pucks. We’re not stopping shots. We were doing that before. We were getting big saves and we’re not getting that right now.”

The Condors did take advantage with their brief power play opportunity right before the period ended. Caleb Jones sent in a shot from the point where Patrick Russell deflected the puck off Korenar and a crashing Callahan was able to tap in the puck into a wide-open net for his 11th goal of the season at 19:34 mark to end a dominating opening 20 minutes by Bakersfield in which they out shot San Jose 16-7.

Bakersfield kept pouring it on to start the second period. Gust led a two-on-one into the Cuda zone. He lost control of the puck that pinballed in front of the crease off the skate of Evan Polei past Korenar on the short side for his sixth goal of the season at the 2:27 mark.

“It’s really frustrating,” said captain John McCarthy. “We’re going through some adversity which the first half of the year we didn’t have. It’s on us as a group to figure it out. We still got 15 games left (in the season) to turn things around and got ourselves in the playoffs.”

San Jose finally broke through in the second period. TJ Hensick fed a cross ice pass from his own blue line over to a wide open Anti Suomela who skated in alone on a breakaway and beat Condors goalie Shane Starrett (22-4-3) with a wrist shot through the five-hole  for his fifth goal of the season at the 7:25 mark. Cavan Fitzgerald picked up the secondary assist.

Bakersfield regained their five-goal lead right at the end of the middle frame. Gust skated in between the face off circles and sent a pass over to William Lagesson at the left circle and he blasted a slap shot top-self into the far corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 18:42 mark.

San Jose made it interesting in the third period. Jacob Middleton brought the deficit to 6-2 when he won a battle along the left boards. He skated the puck back out to the point where he wristed a shot past Starrett for his fourth goal of the season at 3:16 mark. Jeffery Viel and Jon Martin were credited with assists.

“Scoring goals is always fun,” said Middleton. “But if you can come out on top with a win, it would be a lot more fun. You play to win the game.”

Middleton wasn’t done as just over a minute later he scored his second goal of the evening. He skated into the Condor zone, fed a pass over to Hensick who fed it right back to a Middleton and he snapped a wrist shot past Starrett to the left side of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 4:21 mark.

“I don’t think we’ve been playing what I like to call Cuda hockey as of late,” said Middleton. “I think we’ve been letting other teams slow us down and box us out. If we get back to doing what made us successful (earlier in the season), it will be good and that is a necessity at this point of the season.”

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal of the period when Francis Perron sent in a shot from the left point that caromed off the back boards onto the stick of Alex True who fed a sweet backhand pass over to Dylan Gambrell all alone on the left side of the net. Gambrell buried the puck past Starrett for his 16th goal of the season at the 10:21 mark.

Bakersfield regained a three-goal lead when Gust sent in a shot from the point that ricochet off Korenar and Ethan Bear onto the stick of Polei. After three whacks at the pick, Polei scored his second goal of the evening and seventh goal of the season at the 13:22 mark.

“Yeah, big time!” said a frustrated Sommer when asked if his team’s losing streak is a result of not paying attention to details. “We got a lot of guys that aren’t committed to playing the way we were playing before that’s for sure.”

Joe Gambradella completed the scoring with an empty netter for his team leading 27th goal of the season at the 17:45 mark.

Starrett finished the game making 33 saves on 37 shots to earn the victory. Bibeau gave up three goals on just 12 shots. Korenar (19-7-1) suffered the loss as he made 13 saves on 17 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/4 on the power play. Bakersfield was 1/2.

San Jose has lost the last four games to Bakersfield and are 3-3-1-1 on the season against their Pacific Division rival.

The announced attendance was 2,360.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Condors on Saturday 3/9 in the second game of a five game homestand at 6:00 pm at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda looking to make amends Wednesday night after rough weekend

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On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (30-16-2-4) had a breakdown in their defense on Friday and Saturday, losing by scores of 8-4 and 5-2 to the Ontario Reign on Friday and Bakersfield Condors (34-16-2-1) on Saturday.

#2 On Saturday, things didn’t get better as Bakersfield scored two goals in the first period to open up the game.

#3 The Barracuda used goaltender Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (19-6-1), but Bakersfield was crashing the nets all game long. Was Korenar just having an off night or did the Condors prepare for this one against the Barracuda?

#4  Condor goalie Shane Starrett (21-4-3) saved 32 of 34 San Jose shots in the three goal win.

#5 The Bakersfield Condors are back this time at SAP Center in San Jose. Can the Barracuda turn it around?

Marko Ukalovic covers the SJ Barracuda and does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors power past Barracuda in 5-2 win

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by Marko Ukalovic

It was a rough weekend for the San Jose Barracuda on the road. After giving up eight goals the night before, they went to the sin bin early on and were burned by the Bakersfield Condors in a 5-2 loss on Friday evening at Rabobank Arena. San Jose had lost their last three games to Bakersfield.

Bakersfield (34-16-2-1) took advantage of their first two power play opportunities early in the first period. Cooper Marody received a pass from Tyler Bensen and buried the puck past Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (19-6-1) for his 13th goal of the season at the 1:51 mark.

Then Kailer Yamamoto scored his ninth goal of the season at the 5:09 mark. Benson and Marody received assists on the goal.

The Condors put the game away with two goals in the second period. Cameron Hebig received a pass from William Lagesson and shot the puck past Korenar for his 11th goal of the season at the 5:48 mark. Mitch Callahan picked up the secondary assist.

Luke Esposito extended the lead to 4-0 when he scored his third goal of the season at the 12:36 mark. Ethan Bear and Patrick Russell received assists on the goal.

San Jose’s (30-16-2-4) power play was their Achilles’ heel during the game. They had a five-on-three opportunity early on in the third period, but were not able to capitalize and remained frustrated with the man advantage.

Joe Gambardella completed the scoring for Bakersfield in the third period. Bear set up Gambardella for his team leading 26th goal of the season at the 8:33 mark. Esposito was credited with the secondary assist.

Jeremy Roy finally got the Cuda on the board late in the final frame when his shot from the right point beat Condor goalie Shane Starrett (21-4-3) for his sixth goal of the season at the 18:25 mark. Dylan Gambrell and Jonathan Dahlen picked up assists. For Dahlen, that was his third point in two games for San Jose.

Cuda captain John McCarthy tapped in a loose puck in the crease past Starrett for his ninth goal of the season at the 19:12 mark, but was too little too late for San Jose. Kyle Wood and Jon Martin were credited with assists.

Starrett stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced to pick up his 21st win on the season. Korenar made 21 saves on 26 shots in suffering the tough loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/5 on the power play. Bakersfield was 2/4.

The announced attendance was 6,004.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Condors on Wednesday 3/6 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Reign take down Barracuda 8-4

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by Marko Ukalovic

The Ontario Reign scored three unanswered goals twice to dominate the San Jose Barracuda 8-4 in a Pacific Division matchup on Friday evening at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

San Jose (30-15-2-4) drew first blood on the power play in the first period. TJ Hensick scored his second goal of the season at the 5:47 mark. Nick DeSimone and Jeremy Roy received assists.

Ontario (18-25-5-2) scored the equalizer over three minutes later. Matt Moulson beat Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (11-10-5) for his team-leading 23rd goal at the 8:54 mark. Mike Amadio and Austin Strand received assists.

Alex True scored the first of his two goals a little more than half way through the period at the 11:35 mark. His team-leading 19th goal of the season were assisted by Jon Martin and Jonathan Dahlen, his first point as a member of the Barracuda.

The Reign evened up the score on the power play late in the opening frame. Defenseman Kale Clague scored his sixth goal of the season at the 17:33 mark. Amadio and Moulson received the assists.

Anti Soumela gave San Jose their last lead of the game on the power play early in the second period. He beat Reign goalie Cal Petersen (8-13-3) for his fourth goal of the season at the 4:30 mark.

Ontario scored three unanswered goals in a five-minute span to take control of the game. Sheldon Rempal scored his 12th goal of the season at the 6:56 mark. Then less than two minutes later Nikita Scherbak scored his fourth goal of the season at the 8:50 mark. Brett Sutter finished off the scoring for the Reign in the second period with his 13th goal of the season at the 11:49 mark.

In the third period, True brought the Cuda back to within one goal with his second goal of the night and 20th of the season at 7:06 mark. Jayden Halbgewachs and Dahlen assisted on the goal. Dahlen earned a two-point night.

Ontario put the game away scoring the final three goals of the game. Amadio scored his third goal of the season at the 12:50 mark. Rempal scored his second goal of the night and 13th of the season just 16 seconds later at the 13:06 mark. Moulson finished off the scoring with an empty-netter for his second goal and team leading 24th goal of the season at the 16:05 mark.

Petersen had an impressive busy evening making 52 saves on 56 shots to earn his eighth victory of the season. Bibeau made 37 saves on 44 shots in suffering the defeat.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/5 on the power play. Ontario was 1/3.

The announced attendance was 8,711.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday 3/2 at 7:00 pm at Rabobank Arena.

Barracuda comes up large in third period to down Wild 5-3

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by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda took on the Iowa Wild on Tuesday evening at SAP Center.

Iowa drew first blood in the first period on a counter attack after San Jose failed to cash in on an odd-man rush. Dmitry Solokov fed a pass over to Matt Read whose shot was initially saved by Cuda goalie Joeef Korenar but the rebound was cleaned up by Mitch McClain for his eighth goal of the season at the 16:08 mark.

San Jose received the equalizer while killing a Wild power play early in the second period. A clean faceoff win by Dylan Gambrell inside the Wild zone went perfectly back to the right point where Nick DeSimone rifled a shot past Wild goalie Kaapo Khakonen just inside the right post for short-handed goal and 10th goal of the season at the 3:02 mark.

Iowa regained the lead as Cal O’Reilly was rewarded when he was the trailer on a three-on-one odd man rush. Gerald Mayhew led the rush and fed a back pass over O’Reilly, who buried the puck past Korenar top-shelf in the left corner of the goal for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:32 mark.

Iowa thought they had a two-goal lead 62 second later when Mason Shaw put the puck into the back of the net on a two-on-zero break but the whistle blew just before the puck went in as coincidental roughing minor penalties were called on Jacob Middleton and Kyle Rau as they tussled at the Cuda blue line.

Calvan Fitzgerald scored the equalizer early in the third period for San Jose. Francis Perron found a wide-open Fitzgerald, who skated into the shot and fired a shot past Khakonen for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:27 mark.

Gambrell then gave then gave the Cuda their first lead when he received a pass from TJ Hensick and buried a wrist shot past Khakonen for his 15th goal of the season at the 3:37 mark. Kyle Wood received the secondary assist.

San Jose extended their lead when Gambrell then fed a pass over to Jeremy Roy at the point and he wristed a shot past Khakonen for firth goal of the season at the 6:11 mark. Gambrell earned his third point of the night.

The Cuda put the game away when Nick DeSimone sent a pass from behind the right boards over a wide-open Jon Martin. Martin’s shot squeezed past Khakonen for his 10th goal of the season at the 11:17 mark. Perron received the secondary assist.

Korenar stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his 19th win of the season. Khakonen made 23 saves on 28 shots in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Iowa was 0/3.

Jonathan Dahlen made his debut for the Barracuda. He skated on a line with Alex True and Jon Martin. Dahlen, son of former San Jose Sharks foward Ulf Dahlen, was traded over to San Jose from Vancouver yesterday in a deal at the trade deadline for center Linus Karlsson. Dahlen has 14 goals, including eight on the power play, and 29 points he scored while with the Utica Comets of the AHL.

Gambrell changed his jersey number to seven with newly acquired Sharks foward Gustav Nyquist taking the number 14. Gambrell wore the number seven when he played collegiately at the University of Denver.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Ontario to take on the Reign on Friday 3/1 at 7:00 pm at Citizens Business Bank Arena.

Heat snap losing streak against Barracuda in 4-1 win

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by Marko Ukalovic

The Stockton Heat made the most of the last 20 minutes of the game. They scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-1 on Sunday evening at Stockton Arena. The win snapped a pair of seven-game losing streaks. One against San Jose and the other on home ice.

San Jose (29-14-2-4) drew first blood in the first period. With Stockton on a power play, Alex True picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in on a breakaway down the right win and fired a shot past Heat goalie Jon Gillies (10-14-4) for a short-handed goal and his team-leading 18th goal of the season at the 7:45 mark. It was the third short-handed goal of the season for the Cuda and the 15th given up by Stockton, the most in the AHL.

Looking to regain the momentum for Stockton (22-25-4-1), forward Scott Sabourin dropped the gloves with Jeffery Viel seven seconds on the next shift after True’s goal.

Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (11-9-5) stopped all 10 shots he faced in the opening frame. The Cuda were also able to kill off two Stockton power plays.

In the second period, San Jose controlled play throughout the 20 minutes of the middle frame. They outshot Stockton 16-11 as Bibeau looked sharp between the pipes, not letting in any of the 11 Heat shots past him. However, they weren’t able to cash in on a four-minute power play to extend their lead.

Stockton received the equalizer on a short-handed goal in the third period. Rinat Valiev fed a pass over to Ryan Lomberg, who buried the puck past Bibeau for his seventh goal of the season at the 8:53 mark. It was Lomberg’s third short-handed goal on the season and Stockton’s 11th overall. Glenn Gawdin received the secondary assist.

Juuso Valimaki fired a shot off from the point that Kirby Rychel redirected past Bibeau on the power play for his team-leading 21st goal of the season at the 13:57 mark. Dillion Dube received the secondary assist.

Lomberg scored his second goal of the night on breakaway empty-net goal at the 18:16 mark. Then, the scoring was concluded on another empty-net goal by Stockton’s Spencer Foo as he scored his 14th goal of the season at the 19:28 mark.

Gillies had an excellent third period in keeping the Cuda off the board. He finished with 36 saves on 37 shots to earn his 10th victory. Bibeau made 30 saves on 32 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/5 on the power play. Stockton was 1/4.

The announced attendance was 3,217.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return back home to host the Iowa Wild on Tuesday 2/26 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Earthquakes and Sounders settle for 2-2 draw

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By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski looked ready for the regular season as he singlehandedly led a comeback for his team with two penalty shot goals in a 2-2 draw with the Seattle Sounders in a pre-season match on Saturday afternoon at Avaya Stadium.

This was the fourth and final pre-season game for San Jose that came into the game off of a 3-0 victory over LAFC last week and finished 1-1-1 on the pre-season. Seattle finished 2-2-1.

The Quakes had the field tilted in their favor in the first 30 minutes of the game. Nick Lima’s centered a pass to Magnus Eriksson and his corner shot was stopped by a diving Stefan Frei. Lima then sent in a shot from 25 yards out in the 24th minute but once again Frei made a diving save to keep the ball out of the net. Christian Espinoza had a chance in the 29th minute but his shot went wide right from 20 yards out.

Seattle drew first blood when Jordan Morris took received the ball at midfield, raced down the right sideline and went around newly acquired Quakes midfielder Judson and crossed the ball into the middle to a wide-open Victor Rodriguez in the slot, who kicked the ball past Quakes goalie Daniel Vega into the back of the net at the 31st minute.

Marcos Lopez had a chance for an equalizer toward the end of the first half after taking a nice pass from Eriksson. However, his shot sailed high over the net at the 39th minute.

The Sounders doubled their lead in the 52nd minute when Rodriguez won a battle for the ball along the left corner end line. He made a nice move around a Quakes defender then centered a pass over to Morris, whose shot was blocked and deflected back to Rodriguez at the side of the net chipped it off Vega into back of the net. San Jose was standing around looking for a handball that was never called.

“There’s always things we can improve on,” said head coach Matias Almeyda after the game. “We look for a style to be aggressive, we try to be offensive. Even when we were down 2-0, I valued the (team’s) attitude. It was an important change.”

It became Wondo’s World in a four-minute span midway through the second half. Wondolowski was tripped up trying to split two defenders just inside the box. His kick beat Frei into the lower right corner of the goal at the 57th minute.

Then, in the 61st minute, Ericsson threaded a pass into the middle of the box and Wondo was pushed down by Kelvin Leerdam earning a red card and an immediate ejection for the Sounders defender and another penalty shot for Wondo. He cashed in his second opportunity for his second goal of the match into the exact same location as his first goal. Leerdam received red card and was ejected from the match.

“We’re starting to understand the system,” said Wondolowski. “Understand the way he (Almeyda) wants us to play. It’s demanding, but at the same time it’s fun, entertaining and a joy to play.”

Shea Salinas, who came in as a late substitution, had a scoring chance seconds into stoppage time, but his shot went way over the net that resulted in a free kick to Seattle.

“It showed our willingness to come back after we were down 2-0”, said Lima. “We were able to come together as a team I think the way Matias (Almeyda) wanted. Fight, get a couple of bounced to go our way and evened up the score.”

GAME NOTES: Wondo ended up leading the Quakes with three goals in four games during the preseason.

UP NEXT: The Quakes open up their 2019 regular season on Saturday March 2nd as they host the Montreal Impact at 6:45 pm at Avaya Stadium.

Barracuda take down Wild 3-2 in shootout

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By Marko Ukalovic

Dylan Gambrell has been enjoying his time while he’s been with the San Jose Barracuda. He was responsible for all the offense, including the game-winning goal in the shootout, in a 3-2 shootout win over the Iowa Wild on Friday evening at Wells Fargo Center. The Cuda split the two-game series with the Minnesota Wild’s AHL affiliate.

It was a mini-miracle the game reached the shootout as San Jose was short-handed for the majority of overtime. Alex True was called for a double-minor for high-sticking with 14 seconds left in the third period. Then at the 1:21 mark of the extra period, the Cuda were called for too many men, which gave Iowa two minutes of five-on-three play, but the penalty kill led by Cuda goalie Josef Korenar hindered Iowa’s attack.

San Jose (29-13-2-4) drew first blood in the first 29 seconds to start the game. Dylan Gambrell scored in his second straight game. beat Wild goalie Kaapo Khakonen (16-9-7) for his 13th goal of the season. Kyle Wood and Jeffery Viel were credited with assists.

Iowa (28-16-6-5) evened up the game on the power play. Kyle Rau scored his 16th goal of the season (and team-leading 11th power play goal) at the 13:44 mark just 12 seconds after Cavan Fitzgerald went to the sin-bin for interference. Gerald Mayhew and Cal O’Reilly received assists.

The Wild outshot the Cuda 10-6 in the opening frame.

Iowa didn’t waste time to take a 2-1 lead to start the second period. Brennan Menell set up Matt Read and his shot beat Korenar (18-5-1) for his 15th goal of the season at the :55 mark. Read has scored in back to back games.

The Cuda didn’t get their first shot on goal in the middle frame until almost five minutes in. TJ Hensick had the puck roll of his stick on a breakway. His centering pass to Francis Perron for a point-blank chance was stopped by Khakonen.

Gambrell scored the equalizer for San Jose with his second goal of the night. Gambrell was able to whack a loose puck in mid-air, as he turned his body in one motion, over the left pad of Khakoen for his 14th goal of the season at the 14:04 mark. Captain John McCarthy and Jacob Middleton were credited with assists.

Read had a chance to give the Wild the lead early in the third period when he went in on a short-handed breakaway–only to have Korenar kick swat his shot.

Rourke Chartier had a chance to give the Cuda a lead with over four minutes left in the third period as he rifled a shot off of the post.

Korenar, who stopped all three attempts in the shootout (Sam Anas, Read and O’Reilly), made 24 saves on 26 shots to earn his 17th victory. Khakonen stopped 22 of the 24 saves he faced in suffering the defeat.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Iowa was 1/4.

It was the third multi-goal game for Gambrell this season. The rookie forward has nine points in his last five games (5G, 4A).

Jayden Halbgewachs returned to the lineup for San Jose.

Before the game, San Jose traded forward Vincent Praplan to the Florida Panthers for future considerations. Praplan is expected to report to Florida’s AHL affiliate the Springfield Thunderbirds.

San Jose is now 2-4 in shootouts this season.

The announced attendance was 12,936.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda conclude their three-game road trip as they take on their NorCal rival Stockton Heat on Sunday at 5:00 pm at Stockton Arena.

Wild edge out Barracuda 4-3

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By Marko Ukalovic

The Iowa Wild scored a power play goal late in the third period and were able to hold on at the end to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 on Thursday evening at Wells Fargo Arena.

Matt Read received a pass from Dmitry Sokolov and fired a shot pass Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (11-8-5) for his 14th goal of the season with 4:53 left in the game. Michael Kapa received the secondary assist on the power play goal.

Iowa (28-16-6-4) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Mitch McClain took a pass from Kyle Rau and skated in all alone up the center of the ice and beat Bibeau with a wrist shot for his seventh goal of the season at the 11:12 mark. It was McClain’s first goal in his last 20 games. Sokolov received the secondary assist.

San Jose (28-13-2-4) then scored the equalizer just 16 seconds later. TJ Hensick scored his first goal as a member of the Barracuda in his third game, bouncing the puck past Wild goalie Kaapo Khakonen (16-9-6) at the 11:28 mark.

Evan Weinger had a short-handed opportunity early on in the second period when he skated in alone on a breakaway. His shot was stoned by Khakonen.

The Wild regained the lead at the half way mark of the contest in what was a wild second period. Jared Mayhew sent a pass over to Michael Kapla and he fired one in from the left point past Bibeau for his second goal of the season at the 9:42 mark. It was his first goal as a member of the Wild since being acquired in a trade from New Jersey for Ryan Murphy on January 30th.

Once again, it would take less than a minute for the Cuda to tie it back up. Hensick back-handed a shot on net saved by Khakonen but Dylan Gambrell was able to get a hold of the rebound and buried it into the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season at the 10:30 mark.

Iowa went up 3-2 on with a short-handed tally, while San Jose was on the power play. Rau led a two-on-one odd man rush and threaded a pass over to Cal O’Reilly, who beat Bibeau inside the left post for his ninth goal of the season at the 11:33 mark.

San Jose atoned for their mishap with a power play goal 61 seconds later. Nick DeSimone wired a shot from the point and Cuda captain John McCarthy redirected the puck with his stick to beat Khakonen for his eighth goal of the season at the 12:34 mark. It was the first goal for McCarthy since Decemeber 30th, a period that lasted 18 games.

The Cuda outshot the Wild 12-7 in the second period as both teams entered the second intermission deadlocked at 3-3.

Khakonen made 31 shots on 34 saves to earn his 16th win of the season. Bibeau made 27 saves, including three short-handed, odd man rushes in the first period, on 31 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: Both teams went 1/3 on the power play.

Colby McAuley was back in the lineup for San Jose after missing the last game as a healthy scratch. It was only his second game of the season since being called back up from the Orlando of the ECHL.

The announced attendance was 3,906.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Wild on Friday 2/22 to conclude their two game series with Iowa at 5:00 pm at Wells Fargo Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda save the best for first–score early, win by four last Monday

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On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 After the San Diego Gulls (27-15-3-3) had beaten the San Jose Barracuda (27-12-2-4), a turn around was fair play when the Cuda defeated the Gulls in a wide margin game 5-2.

#2 The first period wasn’t an indication of the direction of where this game was going as it was back and forth between the two clubs last Monday afternoon.

#3 Cuda head coach Roy Sommer said it was a big turn around from Friday night’s game and that the details were better and not as reckless.

#4 The Barracuda scoring came mostly in the first period with four goals, including two goals from Alex True.

#5 The Barracuda start a three-game road trip, starting on Thursday and Friday night in Iowa for two games and conclude the road trip in Stockton on Sunday night.

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