Category: San Jose Barracuda

Eagles beat Barracuda 4-2 to split preseason series

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo by sjbarracuda.com The San Jose Barracuda Zach Frye (87) anticipates the puck in the Barracuda’s game in Colorado against the Eagles to complete the two game preseason

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda weren’t able to sweep their only series of the preseason as the Colorado Eagles beat San Jose 4-2 at Budweiser Events Center on Saturday evening.

Sergei Boikov drew first blood for the Eagles in the first period. He went to coast to coast as he skated up the right wing and fired a shot into the far corner of the goal past Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his first goal of the pre-season at the 12:30 mark.

San Jose would take advantage of a short-handed opportunity two minutes before the 1st intermission. Jon Martin led a 2-on-1 short handed break when he sent a crossing pass over to Manny Wiederer, who finished off short-handed chance with a tap in into an empty net for his first goal of the pre-season at the 17:51 mark.

Boikov would help give Colorado back the lead early in the second period when he whipped over a pass to Ty Lewis, who snapped a shot over the far left pad of Korenar for his first goal of the pre-season at the 3:36 mark

Halfway through the second period, Austin Lotz replaced Korenar in between the pipes. Both teams weren’t able to capitalize on their power play opportunity as the Eagles went into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.

In the third period, Colorado would put the game away with two goals. Andrew Aggozino scored on a rebound chance that beat Lotz to the right side at the 2:57 mark. The power play goal was the first of the pre-season for Aggozino. Michael Joly scored on a pretty one -timer that was a result of an 2-on-1 break at the 12:31 mark.

The Cuda would get a late goal when newly acquired Francis Perron scored to cut the lead in half at the 18:51 mark.

Pavel Francouz (1-0) earned the win by making 27 saves while Lotz took the loss in relief (0-1), allowing two goals on nine shots.

UP NEXT: San Jose opens up the 2018-19 regular season on Friday, October 5 as they host their SoCal rival, the Ontario Reign, at the SAP Center at 7:00 pm PT.

Barracuda edge Eagles 5-3 in first of two preseason games in Colorado

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Barracuda edged the Colorado Eagles 5-3 at the Budweiser Events Center on Friday night. This was the first of two exhibition games in Colorado.

After Michael Joly broke a scoreless deadlock in the first period with a backhand wrap-around at 6:37, Jeremy Roy evened the score at 5:28 as he snapped a shot far-side past Spencer Martin as he streaked down the right wing.

In the second period, Tim Clifton crossed an Eagles failed clearing attempt to Jon Martin, who cashed in with a forehand to backhand move at 2:44. Francis Perron made it 3-1 in the second when he poked a loose puck over the goal line after Martin failed to secure the initial shot at 19:22.

In the third period, Grayson Downing inched his club back within one at 6:04, but Clifton snuck a sharp-angle wrist shot inside the right post to push the Barracuda’s lead back up to two at 17:59. Downing scored again on the power play at 19:41, but Evan Weinger had already put the game away with an empty-netter at 18:56.

Josef Korenar (1-0) earned the win by making 24 saves on 27 shots, while Spencer Martin (0-1) took the loss after giving up four goals on 40 shots.

The Barracuda conclude exhibition play on Saturday, September 29 at 6:05 pm PT against the Eagles before kicking off the 2018-19 regular season at SAP Center on Oct. 5 at 7:00 pm PT against the rival Ontario Reign. Opening night will feature $2 beers, $1 hot dogs, $10 parking, and free parking for cars with four or more passengers. Plus the first 2000 fans will receive an 11×17 schedule poster featuring Barracuda players Jeremy Roy, Alex True, John McCarthy, and Jake Middleton. In addition, there will be player signings on the concourse during the second intermission presented by Williams Party Rentals.

San Francisco Giants Feature With Tony the Tiger Hayes: Forgotten Giants Player Dick Groat in 1967; He Was a Giant?

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: 1960sbaseballblog.blogspot.com

By: Tony “Le Tigre” Hayes

Forgotten Giants Player
Dick Groat – SS – 1967 – # 20

He Was a Giant?
The understated Dick Groat wasn’t blessed with the panache of Deion Sanders, the Madison Avenue push of Bo Jackson or the Gold Medal winning cache of Jim Thorpe.

But Groat–briefly a Giant in 1967–was on par with any other multi-sport star American has produced.

He earned MVP honors in MLB (Pirates) and Player of the Year and All-American honors in College Basketball (Duke), yet he rarely gets included among the top players who flittered between sports depending on the seasonal calendar.

Why Was He a Giant?
As a Phillie, Groat collected his career hit 2,000 in 1966, but by 1996, he was literally on his last legs.

The years of constant running and jumping finally caught up to Groat and he would spend two weeks that spring hospitalized after his ankles swelled to three times their normal size.

But even this severe case of cellulitis could not spoil Groat’s competitive spirit and he was game when acquired by San Francisco in mid-1967 to back up the infield and pinch hit.

Before & After
One of the best athletes ever out of the Pittsburgh area, Groat accepted a dual baseball/basketball scholarship to Duke University. Under the guidance of Coach Red Auerbach, Groat was an immediate success in the hardwood.

Twice, he was selected as an All-American and was named National Player of the Year in 1952 when he averaged 25.2 points per game for the Blue Devils. Twice, he also garnered All-American honors for Duke’s baseball team.

Initially, Groat pursued pro careers in both sports and played the 1952-53 season as a sharpshooting guard with the NBA’s Ft. Wayne Pistons, averaging 12 points per game.

Groat opted to focus on baseball for his hometown Pirates and batted .284 as a rookie in 1952 without spending a day in the minors.

In 1960, Groat–a shortstop by trade–was named NL MVP, after winning the batting crown and leading the Bucs to their first World Series title in 35 years.

Later, Groat was dealt to the Cardinals and was a key contributor to their 1964 World Championship club.

He Wasn’t Hal Lanier. But…
The crew-cutted Groat arrived in San Francisco in the midst of the Summer of Love.

Playing time was scant for the 36 -year -old but, he had his moments in the Fog.

In back-to-back wins vs. the visiting Phillies (7/28/67-7/29/67), Groat poked a pair of hits as starting shortstop in each contest.

In 34 games with SF, Groat would bat .171 with four RBIs.

He retired following the 1967 campaign.

Giant Footprint
As a member of the Pirates in 1957, Groat combined to record the last putout of the New York Giants’ final home game–and last game ever–before the club’s move to San Francisco (9/29/57).

After Don Mueller flew out and Willie Mays grounded out for the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth, Dusty Rhodes punched a ground ball to Groat, who in turn fired to first baseman Frank Thomas to conclude the 9-1 Pittsburgh win and 74 seasons of New York Giants baseball.

Roadrunners end Barracuda’s season with 3-0 shutout victory in Game 4

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda (1-3) were veterans of playing with their backs against the wall this season. Winning six straight games just to make the playoffs, their luck ran out on their season as the Pacific Division champion Tuscon Roadrunners (3-1) finished off the best of five series 3-1 with a 3-0 shutout victory in Game 4 on Friday evening at Tuscon Convention Center Arena. Tuscon will take on the Texas Stars in the second round of the playoffs.

The Cuda gave a much better performance from the other night, but it wasn’t enough to force a decisive Game 5 as they were shutout in back-to-back games, thanks to another solid performance by goaltender Adin Hill (3-1). Hill stopped all 25 shots in doing his part to help the Roadrunners advanced to the next round. Tuscon outscored San Jose 9-0 in the final two games of the series.

San Jose had an early scoring chance in the first period when captain John McCarthy, with 40 seconds left on the penalty kill, had his short-handed wraparound attempt stopped by a sprawling Hill to keep the puck out of the net.

However, the ice would be tilted in favor of Tuscon in the first 20 minutes. Antoine Bibeau (1-3) was Superman making big saves on a breakaway chance by Michael Bunting eight minutes into the game, robbed Lawson Crouse of a goal two minutes later and a point-blank chance on Mario Kempe after he skated in all alone right out of the penalty box seconds after the Roadrunners killed off his slashing penalty. Tuscon outshot San Jose 10-4.

Joachim Blichfeld’s empty-net chance was taken away when two Roadrunner defensemen collapsed on him to knock the puck away from Blickfeld’s stick two minutes into the second period.

Tuscon would break the seal in the second period after a failed clearing attempt by the Cuda. Carter Camper was able to feed the puck over to Kempe, who snapped home a shot from the hash marks that trickled past Bibeau’s arm into the back of the net for his third goal of the playoffs at the 4:24 mark. Andrew Campbell received the secondary assist.

Conor Garland would give the Roadrunners an insurance goal with his first goal of the series. A Campbell shot from the point rattled off Adam Helweka’s body and hit off Garland into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead at the 4:53 mark in the third period. Dylan Strome received the secondary assist. It was his eight straight game with a point.

Kempe completed the scoring with his fourth goal of the series with an empty-net goal with 59 seconds left to seal the fate for the Cuda.

Bibeau had another MVP performance in net, making 31 saves on 33 shots in the tough luck loss. Hill, over the past two games, stopped 46 Cuda shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0/2 on the power play. Tuscon went 0/4.

Rourke Chartier and Brandon Mashinter were out of the lineup due to suffering injuries in Game 3. Jon Martin was in the lineup for the Cuda.

The Barracuda resigned defenseman Radim Simek to a two-year contract extension. They also resigned McCarthy to a one-year deal earlier this week.

 

Roadrunners make road kill out of Barracuda with 6-0 shutout in Game 3 of AHL first round series

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The Tuscon Roadrunners (2-1) flexed their muscles early and often against the San Jose Barracuda (1-2) as six different goal scorers combined for a dominating 6-0 shutout victory in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series on Wednesday night at Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

The Pacific Division Champion would dominate from the drop of the puck and drew first blood early in the first period. Dylan Strome created a turnover inside the Cuda zone. He passed it over to Michael Bunting, the team co-leader in goals during the regular season with 23, in the low slot and he fired the puck past Antoine Bibeau (1-2) at the 2:27 mark.

San Jose dodged a bullet at the midway mark of the first period when a goal by defenseman Kyle Capobianco was disallowed after Bunting was called for goaltender interference. Bunting collided with Bibeau before he was able to center a pass to Capobianco who wristed a shot into the back of the net.

The Roadrunners would increase their lead 2-0 with Alex True in the sin bin for hooking. Lawson Crouse scored on a tic-tac-toe scoring play when Strome and Carter Camper made pretty one-time passes to get the puck to Krouse, who buried it home past Bibeau at the 12:47 mark. Crouse’s first goal of the series was also the first power play goal of the series for the Roadrunners.

Lane Perderson, who scored the game-winning goal in Game 1, skated down the left wing side and sent a rising wrist shot top-shelf past Bibeau’s left shoulder at the 16:16 mark. Andrew Campbell and Trevor Creek received assists on Pederson’s second goal of the series.

The closest chance the Cuda came toward a scoring chance was when Jacob Middleton’s shot hit the post during a mad scramble that Tuscon was able to clear the puck out that led to Pederson’s goal. They didn’t get their first shot on goal on Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill (2-1) until the 17:41 mark of the first period. They were outshot 10-3.

The Cuda responded with a better effort in the first five minutes of the second period as they outshot Tuscon 6-3 during that time frame. However, they weren’t able to get a puck past Hill.

Mike Sislo made it 4-0 with his first goal of the series when he tipped in a shot from the point by Dakota Mermis at the 6:53 mark of the second period. Strome received his third assist on the night. He now has six points in three games for the Roadrunners (3G, 3A).

Campbell fired a shot from the left point off the post into the back of the net for his first goal of the series. Campbell’s first goal of the playoffs ended a 32-game goalless drought at the at the 14:19 mark of the second period. Ryan MacInnnis–son of Hall of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis–and Conor Garland received the assists.

Bibeau’s night was done after that as he let in five goals on only 15 shots to suffer the loss. Stephon Williams relieved Bibeau to finish out the game with seven saves on eight shots. Hill earned the shutout victory stopping all 21 Cuda shots.

Mario Kempe made it 6-0 when he scored his second goal of the series just 53 seconds into the third period. Crouse and Mermis received assists on the goal.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Tuscon was 1/1 on their only attempt. They are now 1/5 overall in the first three games.

Tuscon had a .574 home ice winning percentage (18-13-0) at home during the regular season.

Forward Joachim Blichfeld and defenseman Thomas Gregoire made their debuts for the Barracuda.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! A big scrum that was led by Emerson Clark included 11 of the 12 skaters on the ice getting into it with Hill taking jabs at Clark with under eight minutes left in the lopsided game. Crouse also went after Julius Bergman with under five minutes left in the 3rd period. Crouse received a roughing penalty for his antics.

The 6-0 drubbing was the worst defeat for the Cuda since March 24th when they lost 7-3 to the Ontario Reign. It was also the first time they have been shutout in the post season.

The announced attendance was 4,799.

UP NEXT: Both teams return to action for Game 4 on Friday evening April 27 at 7:05 pm PT at Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda need to pick up win in Game 3; Balcers what the doctor ordered

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The series restarts tonight in Tucson as both the Tucson Roadrunners and San Jose Barracuda are tied at one apiece. Is tied series an indication of who these two teams are?

#2 In Game 2 played at SAP Center on Friday, April 21, the Barracuda evened the series with a 6-3 win. Rudolfs Balcers scored two goals. Also, Balcers got four points in the game.

#3 The Cuda lost the first game last Wednesday night 4-2, but in Game 2, it was a quick turnaround. The Cuda also got goals from Helewka (1), Wiederer (1), and Chartier (2).

#4 In goal for tonight’s game in Tucson, Antoine Bibeau, who stopped 22 shots and they needed the defense to keep them in the Game 2.

#5 Game 3 is tonight. How do you see these two teams matching up in Tucson? Will San Jose be able to handle a series on the road that could possibly go five games?

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Thornton out for Game 1 Thursday night; Speed the key for Sharks in series where Knights have home ice

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks will play Game 1 of the second round in Vegas after some seven days off after playing their last game in San Jose against the Anaheim Ducks last Wednesday.

#2 Nothing official has been announced yetm but Game 2 in Vegas on Saturday, Games 3 and 4 in San Jose on Monday and Wednesday nights.

#3 The Knights’ head coach Gerard Gallant says the Knights are ready and are anxious to get started like San Jose is. Gallant said they’ve been waiting too long for round two to get started.

#4 Talk about the Sharks’ key players for this second round and how they match up for this series with Vegas. Also, the Sharks will be without Joe Thornton for Game 1.

#5 The Knights have one of the toughest goalies in the NHL, Marc-Andre Fleury. How do you see the Sharks faring against him?

Join Mary Lisa for the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Barracuda even series with dominant 6-3 win over Roadrunners

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda (1-1) went back to well that they have relied on throughout the season. Rookie winger sensation Rudolfs Balcers scored two goals on his way to a four-point night in helping power his team to a 6-3 victory over the Pacific Division Champion Tuscon Roadrunners (1-1) on Saturday evening at SAP Center. With the win, San Jose evened up their best of five playoff series at one game apiece.

The Barracuda received the fast start they wanted. Ivan Chekhovich picked up the puck behind the net and fed a pass over to Balcers at the left slot. Balcers spun around and snapped home a shot, using the defenseman as a screen, past Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill (1-1) at the 1:25 mark of the first period for a 1-0 lead.

“Had one line really going tonight,” said head coach Roy Sommer about the Chartier-Balcers-Chekhovich line. “Those guys were really good. It was fun to watch.”

The Roadrunners would tie the score under three minutes later. Conor Garland pick pocketed Nick DeSimone inside the Cuda zone, fed the puck back to Dylan Strome who skated in from the right slot in between the faceoff circles and fired home a shot past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (1-1). The unassisted goal came at the 4:18 mark of the first period.

Strome would give Tuscon the lead at the 6:16 mark after a successful faceoff win in the Cuda zone. Mario Kempe fed Strome a pass just beyond the right face off circle and Strome would send in a knuckleball of a shot toward the net that Bibeau never saw thanks to the screen by Garland for a 2-1 lead. It was Strome’s third goal of the playoffs.

In a period that went back and forth between the two teams, Adam Helewka tied it up on the power play. Alexander True’s pass went through the middle of the crease that found Jacob Middleton. Middleton, from the right side of the net, sent a pass back through the crease out in the middle that Balcers was able to touch pass over to Helewka and he buried a backhander into an empty net with Hill down on the ice at the 11:45 mark.

Rourke Chartier gave the Cuda the lead, scoring off the rebound of a Tim Heed shot. Balcers’ initial rebound attempt was stopped by Hill, but he couldn’t get to Chartier, as he was able to lift the puck past Hill for his first goal of the playoffs at the 15:08 mark.

The Roadrunners tied it up while the teams were skating 4-on-4 when Carter Camper carried the puck into the Cuda zone. As two San Jose defensemen gravitated toward him, he fed a behind the back pass over to a wide open Kempe who buried the point-blank shot top self in the left corner past Bibeau for his first goal of the playoffs at the 6:36 mark of the second period. Trevor Murphy received the secondary assist.

Each team had a breakaway opportunity to give their respective team the lead only to see each netminder come up with a huge save. Michael Bunting skated in all alone but was stoned by Bibeau with seven minutes left in the period. Sasha Chmelevski skated down the left boards 1-on-1 with Hill but his bank hand attempt was stymied by Hill less than a minute later in end-to-end action.

In the third period Balcers would give back the Cuda the lead they would not relinquish with his second goal of the evening. On a pretty give and go play Chartier passed the puck over to Balcers at the blue line, Balcers return the favor to find Chartier in the right shot, where his shot hit off the pads of Hill, and trickled out to the middle, where Balcers crashed the net and slammed home the puck past Hill into the left corner at the 3:45 mark.

“It’s always nice when you get that goal early, it got us going,” said Balcers about scoring his two goals. “I think the whole line was hot tonight. We had our chances and we scored them.”

San Jose would get an insurance goal as Chmelevski came in on a 3-on-2 rush, waited for everybody to skate past him, spun around and then fired a shot from the left point. Manny Weiderer drove to the net and was able to tip in the shot top self in the left corner of the goal for his first playoff goal at the 16:00 mark. Captain John McCarthy received the secondary assist.

Chartier completed the scoring with an empty-net goal when he was able to take a cross-ice feed from Chekhovich at the 18:28 mark. Chartier finished with a three points on the night (1G, 2A).

“I think I got to create out here,” said Chartier after the game. “That’s part of my job this year. Some nights it goes in, some nights it doesn’t. Tonight was one of those nights that it did.”

Bibeau, who was once again fabulous in the net for the Cuda, stopped 22 pucks on 25 attempts for the victory. Hill made 26 saves on 31 shots in a losing effort.

“I’ll tell you what, (in) the second period he (Bibeau) basically won us the game,” said Sommer. “They came in the power play, he made the first save and then he came out and made the next save. He did what he needed to do for us tonight.”

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

CHIPPY AFTERMATH! Tempers flared at the end of the first period when a skirmish broke out right in front of the net. No actual fights occurred and there were no penalties enforced. Then with under a minute left in the 3rd period the teams exchanged pleasantries once again with a big scrum that led to fighting majors for San Jose’s Wiederer and Emerson Clark Tuscon’s Trevor Murphy.

“That happens, it’s the playoffs,” said Chartier regarding the extracurriculars during the game. “We don’t like them, they don’t like us and it’s only going to get more physical as it (the series) goes on.”

The announced attendance was 5,197. The Barracuda drew over a combined 9,000 fans for Games 1 and 2 of the series.

UP NEXT: The series shifts back to the desert for Game 3. The Barracuda take on the Roadrunners on Wedneday, April 25 at 7:05 pm PT.

Roadrunners’ late goal upends Barracuda 4-2 in Game 1 of AHL playoffs

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — A heartbreaking ending wasn’t what the San Jose Barracuda (0-1) deserved on a night where they were the more aggressive team, yet that was their fate as the Tuscon Roadrunners (1-0) received the game-winning goal from Lane Pederson late in the third period to defeat San Jose 4-2 in Game 1 of the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs on Thursday evening at the SAP Center.

Michael Bunting came into the left slot and fed a pass over to Pederson, who was able snap home a shot between the five-hole of Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (0-1) with just 1:15 to play in the third period.

San Jose would control the first 10 minutes of the first period as they had quality scoring chances from captain John McCarthy on a wraparound attempt and Alexander True’s point blank chance from the right face off circle, both stymied by Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill (1-0).

“You can’t be disappointed in the effort,” said head coach Roy Sommer. “We had 14 grade A’s (scoring chances) in the second (period). I’m disappointed in the loss, but there was a lot more good than bad in that game.”

Tuscon would be the one to draw first blood at the 11:04 mark of the first period. Dakota Memis took a cross-ice feed from Carter Camper on an odd-man rush. Memis skated in from the right slot and snapped home a shot top-shelf past Bibeau for a 1-0 lead.

The Cuda had a chance early on in the second period to tie up the game when they had a 4-on-3 power play opportunity. Hill was under siege from a barrage of shot attempts by San Jose, but survived it, thanks to a combination of blocked shots by his penalty kill and some good glove work by the Tuscon netminder.

True continued to stay red hot for the Cuda. With Camper in the sin bin for tripping, Tim Heed fired a shot from the point that deflected off Hill onto the stick of a crashing True and he poked home the rebound past Hill for a power play goal at the 9:33 mark of the second period. It was True’s third goal in the past two games. Helewka received the secondary assist.

“Good play by Helewka on the half wall getting the puck off to Heeder (Tim Heed),” said True about his first goal in the playoffs. “I saw that he had a good lane and he made a perfect shot. The rebound just happened to land on my stick, a pretty easy tap in.”

The Roadrunners needed only 23 seconds to regain the lead. Joel Hanley fed Ryan MacInnis a pass in the neutral zone. MacInnis drove the down the right side of the boards and skated into the middle of the crease, where he slid a backhander past Bibeau at the 9:56 mark.

Despite outshooting the Roadrunners 22-6 and outchancing them in the second period, San Jose would head into the second intermission down by a goal.

“It’s a little frustrating because I think we played a complete game,” said McCarthy. “They (Tuscon) buried their chances and we had a lot of chances we didn’t bury. That’s something we gotta look to going forward (for game two). But as far as the compete level and being positionally sound, I thought we did a good job.”

The Cuda would get the equalizer when Heed sent in a shot on goal that rebounded back out to the end of the right faceoff circle. Helewka spun around and fired it back toward the net where it hit off Sasha Chmelevski’s chest into the net for the tying goal at the 5:16 mark of the third period. It was Helewka’s second assist on the night.

“It just hit me in the chest,” said Chmelevski. “When you go hard to the net, sometimes you get those fortunate bounces. It was obviously a huge goal (at the time), but unfortunately we couldn’t get the win today.”

Dylan Strome completed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 13 seconds left in the game.

Hill, who was the best player for the Roadrunners, made 36 saves on 38 shots for the victory. Bibeau made 20 saves on 23 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

“I think we definitely have confidence going into the next game, knowing that we can definitely dominate the game,” said Chmelevski.

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

McCarthy re-signed a one-year extension deal with the Barracuda before the game.

Rourke Chartier suffered an upper-body injury when he was high-sticked in the face with under two minutes remaining in the second period.

San Jose was 5-2-0-1 against Tuscon during the regular season.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda look to earn a split in the series in Game 2 of the first Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs on Saturday, April 21 at 7 pm PT at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Big series starts Thursday night with Roadrunners; Series opens on home ice

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda are in the playoffs, but it took the last two games of the season to get there they had to win on Friday and then on Saturday home and away to get in.

#2 How vital was Alexander True in scoring twice for San Jose to help them get to the post season?

#3 Do you see Alexander getting a shot at the NHL in his future?

#4 The Barracuda ended the season on a very strong note with six straight wins.

#5 The Barracuda face off with the Tucson Roadrunners starting on Thursday night for Game 1 of the first round in San Jose can the Barracuda get this first round?

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