Category: San Jose Barracuda

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Barracuda played in their final game before the AHL All-Star break against the San Antonio Rampage Saturday night at the AT&T Center. Prior to the minor league hockey matchup, San Jose was on a two-game losing skid, while San Antonio shutout the road team 3-0 the night before.

The Barracuda jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Rudolfs Balcers’ goal. Assists were provided by Tim Clifton and Radim Simek.

San Antonio received an elbowing call, which gave San Jose their first power play of the game. Then, Barracuda’s Jon Martin had a heated moment and went to the box for roughing alongside Rampage’s Andrew Agozzino. After the penalties expired, the game reverted back to 5-on-5 hockey.

The Barracuda played a solid first period and headed into the intermission with a 1-0 lead over the Rampage.

San Jose grabbed an early 2-0 lead to start the second period, thanks to Jacob Middleton. Assists were provided by Balcers and Nick DeSimone.

The Barracuda didn’t just stop there. Just a little less than five minutes later, Emerson Clark scored a goal to give San Jose a 3-0 lead.

The Rampage almost got a goal, but they got a slashing call first. No goal for San Antonio. The Barracuda held onto a 3-0 lead midway through the period.

The Barracuda then went on a few power plays following a few penalties committed by the Rampage. San Jose was able to capitalize on one of those power plays as Cavan Fitzgerald snapped a shot into the net during the 4-on-3 man advantage to make it a 4-0 game.

The Barracuda carried a 4-0 lead to the locker room after two periods of play.

Barracuda’s Brandon Bollig got a holding call early in the third period and San Jose headed to the penalty kill for the first time tonight. Balcers then struck again for his second goal of the game and third overall point for a 5-0 lead. Assists were provided by O’Regan and DeSimone.

The Barracuda’s perfect lead was eventually snapped by the Rampage. Andre Mironov apparently said “no shutout in my house” as he fired the puck past Parker Gahagen to reduce the deficit to 5-1 late in the game.

After being blanked last night, the Barracuda got revenge in tonight’s match against the Rampage with a 5-1 win.

Notes
3 stars of the game
1. Rudolfs Balcers
2. Jake Middleton
3. Antoine Bibeau

Barracuda’s starting lineup: Rudolfs Balcers, Danny O’Regan, John McCarthy, Jacob Middleton, Nick DeSimone and Antoine Bibeau.

Up Next
The Barracuda return to action as they take on the Stockton Heat on February 2 at 7 pm PT.

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Antonio Rampage (23-16-4-0) scored three goals in the first period and never looked back as they dominated the San Jose Barracuda (19-17-1-2) with a 3-0 shutout victory at the AT&T Center on Thursday night.

San Antonio took control of the game from beginning to end. Rocco Girmaldi scored his 13th goal of the season just 85 seconds into the game. His shot sailed past Barracuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (12-8-1). Klim Kostin and Chris Butler assisted on the goal.

Kostin was awarded a penalty shot at the 5:48 and made the most of his one-on-one chance beating Bibeau for a 2-0 lead. The unassisted goal was his fifth on the season.

Samuel Blais completed the scoring in the frame when he scored his 10th goal on the season at the 16:48 mark. Jessie Graham and Jean-Christophe Beaudin assisted on the goal.

The Cuda had a chance to get back in the game with four minutes left in the second period when Rampage forward Felix Girard went to the sin bin for tripping. However they could not put the pack behind Rampage goalie Ville Husso (10-6-1).

The Cuda had two power play opportunities within the first five minutes of the third period but couldn’t capitalize on the man advantage and ended up frustrated at the end of the night despite outshooting San Antonio 13-10 in the period.

Husso saved all 29 shots from Cuda sticks to earn the shutout victory. Bibeau suffered the loss despite a strong game with 38 saves on 41 shots.

GAME NOTES: The power play woes continued for San Jose as they ended the night 0/3 while San Antonio was 0/1 on their only power play opportunity.

Marcus Sorensen was recalled by the San Jose Sharks due to the injury to Joe Thornton.

Rudolfs Balcers will be joining his goalie Antoine Bibeau in Utica, New York next week as he was selected to participate in the AHL All-Star Classic.

UP NEXT: San Jose will take on the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday evening at AT&T Center at 5 pm PT.

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Barracuda and San Diego Gulls sequel was released Saturday at the Valley View Casino Center. In case you missed it, San Jose fended off San Diego’s comeback and escaped with a 3-2 victory last night.

The Barracuda’s starting lineup consisted of Rudolfs Balcers, Danny O’Regan, Marcus Sorensen, Jacob Middleton, Nick DeSimone and Antoine Bibeau.

The Barracuda’s Twitter account had some fun before the game. San Jose tweeted, “The national anthem is way more exciting when the audio and video don’t match up. #PregameThoughts.”

Former NHL player and first black NHLer, Willie O’Ree, did a spectacular job on his ceremonial puck drop.

It didn’t take long for the Barracuda to draw first blood, as DeSimone scored an early goal, just one minute into the opening period. Middleton and Filip Sandberg collected the assists on DeSimone’s goal.

The Gulls quickly responded with a game-tying goal from Nic Kerdiles. Kerdiles stood on the door step and banged in Dennis Rasmussen’s rebound for the equalizer.

The Barracuda-Gulls rivalry was in full effect, as Brandon Mashinter and Jaycob Megna dropped the gloves with each other for an action-packed fight.

Both teams were tied at one apiece after 20 minutes of play.

The Barracuda were apparently ready to rock in the second period. Meanwhile, the Gulls announced a scoring change: Rasmussen got credit for their first goal; the with assist came from Deven Sideroff.

Bibeau made a noteworthy save in the period, but did you expect anything less from this Barracuda goaltender?

The Barracuda took back their lead, 2-1, on the power play. Julian Bergman scores on a shot from the point. Sorensen and O’Regan collected the assists on Bergman’s go-ahead goal.

The Barracuda led the Gulls 2-1 after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 25-22 in favor of San Jose.

Bibeau came up big in the third period. Also, the Barracuda were a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. The Gulls guessed Bibeau was going to the AHL All-Star Game or something after witnessing Sam Carrick being denied on the breakaway.

The Barracuda had a huge opportunity on what turned out to be a wild power play. John McCarthy’s shot was denied and then Eric Fehr was denied on the other end.

The crowd in San Diego was reportedly loud and looking for a tie. In other news, O’Regan spent some time showing off his silky smooth handles behind the Gulls’ net.

The Gulls pulled their goalie Kevin Boyle for an extra attacker with 1:40 left in regulation. But their change didn’t help them out as the Barracuda escaped with a 2-1 win. The Sharks also beat the Penguins 2-1. That being said, it was a great day for both San Jose hockey teams.

Three Stars of the Game
1. Bibeau (28 saves)
2. DeSimone (1 goal)
3. Bergman (1 goal)

Notes
The Sharks recalled goaltender Troy Grosenick from the Barracuda.

SD Ducks Sled Hockey came out to the Gulls’ Diversity Night.

San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers attended the game.

Up Next
The Barracuda return to action when they host the Texas Stars Tuesday at 7:30 pm CT.

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda (18-16-0-2) were finally able to take some revenge in their house of horrors known as the Valley View Casino Center as they escaped with a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Gulls (20-16-1-0). They snapped their nine-game losing streak in San Diego. It was their first regular season regulation win in San Diego since November 14th, 2015.

After allowing San Diego to score two unanswered goals in the third period to tie the score, the Barracuda didn’t take long to regain the lead. The tie would last just 16 seconds as Brandon Mashinter would get a gift from San Diego’s Brian Cooper whose backhanded attempt to clear the puck went right to Mashinter and he fired a shot in one motion past Gulls goalie Reto Berra (9-6-0) who wasn’t expecting the shot. The unassisted goal was his seventh goal on the season at the 5:38 mark to give the Barracuda a 3-2 lead.

San Jose took control of the first period as they outshot San Diego 18-8. Captain John McCarthy created one of the many scoring chances for the Barracuda when he created a turnover in the Gulls zone, but his shot was stopped by Berra. Barracuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (11-7-0) matched Berra a short time later making a nice save on a point blank shot attempt by Nic Kerdiles.

The Barracuda would cash in when Danny O’Reagan blasted a shot on goal that was stopped by Berra that created a rebound and a mad scramble in front of the net. Defenseman Redim Simek raced in from the blue line and scored his third goal on the season on a bang bang play snapping a shot past Berra at the 8:15 mark. Simek got off a big schneid as that was his first goal in the last 23 games. Filip Sandberg also received an assist on the play. It was the first time San Jose had a lead at the Valley View Casino Center this season.

In the second period, the Gulls controlled play as they put pressure on the Barracuda early in the period. Bibeau made a brilliant save on Kerdiles five minutes into the frame. San Diego forced the Barracuda in taking consecutive penalties just moments before the midway point through the period.

However, Marcus Sorensen would turn the tables on the league-leading Gulls power play when he scored a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 break with O’Reagan. Simek joined the play and took a pass from O’Regan, but his shot attempt was blocked. Sorensen was able to corral the puck and snipe it past Berra for his sixth goal of the season at 8:49 mark of the second period for a 2-0 lead.

In the third period, the Gulls would breakthrough early as they were able to keep the puck inside the Barracuda zone after a failed clearing attempt. Kevin Roy came on a fresh line change and was able to snap home a shot past Bibeau for his seventh goal of the season at the 3:26 mark. Dennis Rasmussen and Julius Nattinen assisted on the goal.

Roy would score again just under two minutes later and tied the game on the power play at the 5:22 mark after putting home a rebound off a mad scramble in front of the net after a shot hit off the crossbar. Roy was able to beat Barracuda defenseman Paul Martin to the puck and net his eighth goal of the season.

The Gulls had a goal waved off by Kalle Kossila with 3:50 left in the third period as the referees ruled the puck never crossed over the line. They had a chance to tie the game late in the game when Simek went into the sin bin for tripping with three minutes left and had a 6-on-4 advantage when they pulled Berra for an extra attacker, but could not get the equalizer.

Bibeau earned his 11th victory of the season on 27 shots on 29 shots. It was his third straight win. Berra took the loss on 43 saves on 46 shots.

GAMES NOTES: The game was chippy throughout the game with lots of post whistle scrums. San Jose’s Brandon Bollig and San Diego’s Ryan White exchanged fisticuffs in the first period. San Jose went 0/3 on the power play, while San Diego was 1/5.

UP NEXT: The two teams will do it all over again on Saturday night from Valley View Casino Center. Faceoff is at 7pm.

Photo credit: @goicehogs

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE—The Rockford IceHogs (21-15-1-2) scored two goals in under five minutes in the second period and held on for a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda (16-15-0-2) at the SAP Center on Friday night. Rockford snapped San Jose’s four-game home winning streak.

Rockford skated out to a fast start as they tilted the ice in their favor in the first 10 minutes of the first period. Matheson Iacopelli led a 2-on-1 break and was able to snipe a shot past under the arm of Barracuda goalie Troy Grosenick (5-6-2) inside the left post at the 5:40 mark. The unassisted goal was his ninth goal of the season.

San Jose couldn’t generate much offense in the opening period as they were constantly going into the sin bin. With the help of  a busy Grosenick, they were able to kill off all three power play opportunities for the IceHogs. Rockford dominated the shot clock by out shooting the Barracuda 14-4.

In the second period, Julius Bergman tied the game on the power play with his fourth goal of the season. Danny O’ Regan back handed a cross-ice pass to the defenseman who skated down the right wing and rifled a shot top shelf past Collin Delia (4-4-0) at the 5:36 mark.

Tyler Sikura got the momentum back for the IceHogs when was able to slam home his own rebound past Grosenick as a result of a 2-on-1 with Andreas Martinsen. His initial shot hit Grosenick in the mask before following up for his 10th goal of the season at the 9:10 mark of the second period.

Tanner Kero scored his third goal of the season into a wide-open net on the rebound when the IceHogs Anthony Louis’ shot from the point hit off of Grosenick and found a wide open Kero to tap it home for a 3-1 lead at the 14:02 mark. Rockford out shot San Jose 18-8 in the period.

San Jose wouldn’t go away quietly as they cut the deficit to 3-2 when Rudolfs Balcers banged home his team leading eighth goal of the season at 11:28 of the third period. Jacob Middleton’s shot from the point hit off Adam Clendening’s skate right over to Balcers who buried home the pack past Delia.

Kero finished off the scoring with an empty net, power play goal and his second of the game with just 39 seconds left in the game.

Delia earned the victory making 23 saves on 25 shots. Grosenick finished the evening with 39 saves on 42 shots in the defeat.

GAMES NOTES: It was the 500th career minor league hockey game for Barracuda forward Brandon Mashinter, who played last year for Rockford.

“Definitely wanted to be back for this one”, said Mashinter before the game. “Told the optometrist I am playing in this one.”

Mashinter returned to the lineup after suffering an upper body injury to his eye last weekend in San Diego.

Bergman’s power play goal snapped an 0-27 streak by the Barracuda that spanned six consecutive games.

Overall, San Jose was 1/3 on the power play, while Rockford was 1/6.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Bakersfield Condors on Monday afternoon (1/15) at 1:15 pm PT at the SAP Center.