Category: San Jose Barracuda

Barracuda stand strong in 4-1 win over Stockton

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda began a short two-game road trip on the right track with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Stockton Heat on the road on Wednesday night.

The Barracuda jumped ahead with two second period goals. Nikolay Goldobin got things started with a power-play marker  less than eight minutes into the period. Seven minutes later, Goldobin found Jeremy Morin for a goal that put San Jose ahead 2-0.

The sense of urgency continued in the final period, as John McCarthy connected on a breakaway early on to extend the lead to three goals. Barclay Goodrow recorded his team-high 17th goal of the season, fending off a late surge by the Heat for a strong road win.

Aaron Dell stopped 30 shots for the Barracuda, who were 1-of-4 on the power play and were outshot 31-23 by the Heat. But San Jose was able to hold Stockton to just two power plays, killing off both penalties.

The Barracuda currently stand at fourth in the Pacific Division and will play the Condors on Saturday on the road.

Barracuda Down Condors 4-2

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Barracuda climbed a little closer to a playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Bakersfield Condors. Petter Emanuelsson scored two goals for San Jose, while John McCarthy scored the game winner and Jeremy Morin added an insurance goal into an empty net. Joel Rumpel made 24 saves for the Barracuda in his first AHL game. After the win, he said that he was “a little bit nervous before the game. But the guys let me feel the first couple from the outside, so it was easy from there.”

The teams took ten penalties in the first two periods alone, not counting fighting majors. The only goal scored during any of those penalties was a short-handed goal by Bakersfield’s Jujhar Khaira. After the game, John McCarthy explained how that takes a toll on a team, even when the penalty kill is successful:

It kind of gets in way of the flow of the game. We’re not really rolling our lines when that happens so that’s something we’ve got to work on going forward. I think even last game, first period we took too any penalties. There’s a lot of guys who aren’t killing penalties then they’re kind of out of the flow of the game.

Some players, though, thrive on the penalty kill. After the game, assistant coach Ryan Mougenel said of McCarthy:

One of Mac’s biggest strengths is the penalty kill. I think it’s really kind of translated into his offense. Sometimes it’s little things, like some guys at practice have to watch pucks go in the net to have success, to score, like Goldobin. He [McCarthy] builds his confidence through the pk and he’s one of our most consistent guys.

The penalties started early and came often after that. The first was a cross-checking penalty to Bakersfield’s Rob Klinkhammer at 4:18. San Jose had a couple of shots and the Condors only cleared the puck once, but the Barracuda could not get a puck past goaltender Eetu Laurikainen.

That came a few seconds after the penalty expired. It was not a beautiful zone entry, but the Condors fumbled an interception at their blue line, putting the puck in front of Petter Emanualsson. He got moving quickly and before the defenders could get after him, he had taken his shot and scored.

Half way through the first period, the shots were 9-5 Barracuda. The shots stayed that way even when the Condors scored the tying goal. A strange bounce sent the puck into the blue paint, off of a body and into the net, surprising even the Bakersfield player who was on his way behind the net to collect the puck. The goal went to Mitch Moroz, with an assist to Dillon Simpson.

Fighting majors took Gus Young and Kale Kessy out of the game for five at 12:04. Karl Stollery and Andrew Miller joined their teammates in the box with coincidental minors for slashing and roughing respectively.

Bakersfield’s Jujhar Khaira thought had scored the go-ahead goal, but he had done so over the prone body of the Barracuda goalie. Rumpel was thus prone only because Dillon Simpson had skated into and fallen over him seconds earlier. The goal was disallowed for goaltender interference and the Barracuda got a power play. The final 30 seconds of that power play were amplified into a five on three when Matthew Ford also went to the box, this time for cross-checking.

The Barracuda found themselves on the other end of a five on three early in the second period. At 1:43, Nikolay Goldobin went to the box for tripping. Just under 90 seconds later, Stollery joined him after being called for interference. San Jose escaped the penalties unscathed, and drove the play to the other end to rebuild their shot lead.

By the middle of the second period, the Barracuda again had the shot lead at 22-18, and again took the lead on the scoreboard. A good rush from Ryan Carpenter on the wing and Petter Emanuelsson up the middle beat the Condors to the punch. Assists went to Carpenter and Gus Young.

The Condors responded by taking an interference penalty. Kessy had been in the box for less than a minute when Khaira won a race to the puck and went all the way down the ice to tie the game again. Kessy got out of the box just long enough to take two more penalties and sit for four minutes, called for high-sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct.

With 2:30 left in the four minute power play, the Barracuda lost Jevpalovs to a penalty. With less than two minutes left in the Bakersfield penalty, Jeremy Langlois went to the box for kneeing, putting the Barracuda down 3-4. San Jose weathered that too, but had squandered a perfectly good power play.

The Barracuda were back on the penalty kill less than two minutes into the third period. Julius Bergman went to the box for holding at 1:06.

Eventually, the penalties burned themselves out and with just over four minutes left, John McCarthy won the race to a puck as it exited the Barracuda zone: “I think somebody was catching up to me on my inside so I didn’t have time to move it to my forehand and shoot. So I just got it to the net and hopefully if it didn’t go in maybe we would have got a second whack at it. But it went in.” It squeaked by on the short side, bouncing off of the goaltender’s back. Assists went to Parkes and Stollery.

The Condors pulled their goaltender withe less than 90 seconds remaining and Morin scored the empty netter with six seconds to go.

The Barracuda next play on Wednesday at 7:00 PT against the Heat in Stockton.

San Jose Barracuda Saturday post game wrap up: Barracuda fall short of Condors

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

Photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

SAN JOSE–In the first of a hockey doubleheader Saturday night at SAP Center, the San Jose Barracuda fell 3-2 to the Bakersfield Condors despite two goals from Nikolay Goldobin.

Goldobin’s second goal midway through the third period cut the Bakersfield lead to just one, but the Barracuda could not find the equalizer. They did outshoot the Condors 9-5 in the final stanza.

The Condors dominated the first period and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Hamilton. However, the Barracuda salvaged a goal heading into the second period, as Goldobin connected on a centering pass to draw San Jose within 2-1.

Matthew Ford put Bakersfield ahead 3-1 with the lone marker of the second period, although San Jose put up 15 shots to Bakersfield’s 7.

Neither team scored a power play goal in the game, with the Barracuda going 0-for-5 and the Condors going scoreless on four man-advantages.

The Barracuda remain at 57 points and stay at fourth in the Pacific Division. Next up, they will take on the Condors again, this time in Bakersfield on Sunday.

The San Jose Barracuda Demolish the Stockton Heat, win 7-1.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Barracuda routed the Stockton Heat Tuesday night at the SAP Center. The Barracuda dominated play all night long and continued their mastery over the Heat. The final score was 7-1.The Barracuda own a 7-0-1-1 record against Stockton and have three more games with them before the end of the season. The Barracuda’s record improves to 24-18-6-3 while Stockton drops to 23-22-1-2.

The San Jose Barracuda played a  strong first period against the Stockton Heat. The Barracuda took a 1-0 lead with less than three minutes played in the first period. Captain Bryan Lerg scored his fourteenth goal of the year. The puck went behind the net, and a Lerg received a great pass from Barclay Goodrow. Lerg was in the slot, and he blasted it by Heat goalie Kevin Poulin for the score. Goodrow and John McCarthy assisted. The Barracuda added a second goal at the 7:03 mark of the first period. The Barracuda was on a power play, and left-winger John McCarthy scored on a rebound. Assists went to Lerg and Joakim Ryan. The Barracuda had two more power plays in the period, but they could not score. They attacked the net, but the Heat goalie kept them off the board. The Barracuda had an 11-5 advantage in the shots on goal department. San Jose in the lead 2-0 after one period.

The Barracuda continued to play well in the second period. They scored two goals in the period to take a 4-0 lead until late in the period when the Heat scored to make it a 4-1 game. The Barracuda’s Jeremy Langlois scored a shorthanded goal with 5:49 played to give the ‘Cuda a 3-0 advantage. Langlois streaked down the right side of the rink then cut in front of Poulin and beat him with a wicked backhanded shot. The assist went to Michael Healy.Nikolai Goldobin made it 4-0 when he scored on a five on three man advantage. Defenseman Karl Stollery made a great pass from behind the net to set up the goal for Goldobin. It was the twelfth tally of the year for the twenty-year-old rookie, who was the first draft choice of the San Jose Sharks. Assists went to Stollery and Lerg. Lerg has a goal and two assists so far. The Heat’s Hunter Shinkaruk scored on a power play with just 3:14 left in the period. It was his first goal of the year as a member of the Heat and his twenty-second of the season.

The Barracuda’s Nikolai Goldobin scored his second goal of the night with 9:05 played in the third period. The Barracuda were on a power play and were forcing play in front of the Heat’s net. Poulin blocked a couple of shots but the rebound found its way to Goldobin’s stick, and he put it in for the score.The Barracuda scored their sixth goal of the night when Michael Haley beat Poulin for the score. Karl Stollery made a great pass to Haley, who was in perfect position in front of the net. The blowout continued when Ryan Carpenter scored the Barracuda’s seventh goal of the game.The goal came with a little over three minutes left to play.

Attendance wasn’t announced but it was a very sparse crowd.

Barracuda fall to Gulls 5-2 to end road trip

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 5-2 loss in San Diego against the Gulls on Saturday night.

Despite outshooting San Diego 43-26, San Jose was unable to find the back to the net enough times. The Barracuda fell behind 2-0 early as Brian McGrattan and Nic Kerdiles scored in the first period for the Gulls.

The Barracuda cut the lead in half on a power play goal by John McCarthy, but the Gulls responded with two more scores as Kerdiles ripped a writers past Barracuda goaltender Troy Groesnick to extend the San Diego lead to 3-1. Late in the second period on a power play, Chris Wagner connected on a rebound for the Gulls for a three-goal lead.

Trevor Parkes’ goal 26 seconds into the third period narrowed the deficit back to two, but an empty-net goal by Wagner sealed the victory for San Diego.

The Barracuda fall to 23-18-6-3 and finish the road trip with two wins, a shootout loss and a regulation loss. Next up, they face Stockton at the SAP Center on Tuesday. 

Barracuda come from behind to beat Condors

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda skate to a regulation in 4-3 in at Bakersfield on Friday night

Ben Smith scored with under two minutes to play in regulation to give the San Jose Barracuda a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Bakersfield Condors on the road on Friday night.

With the game tied 3-3, the Barracuda managed to keep the puck in the offensive zone, and Smith cleaned up a rebound from in close for the game-winning goal.

The Barracuda trailed 2-0 as the Condors notched the first two scores. Tyler Pitlick and Dillon Simpson lit the lamp early, but San Jose carried some momentum into the second period after Ryan Carpenter put them on the board with a late first period goal.

San Jose evened it at two goals apiece at the 7:53 mark of the second as John McCarthy re-directed one into the net, only to have Rob Klinkhammer finish a nice bang-bang play in front and give Bakersfield the lead five minutes later.

But the Barracuda responded, with Michael Haley firing in a wrist shot to tie the game up heading into the third period.

The Barracuda wound up outshooting the Condors 34-24 as Aaron Dell recorded 21 saves.

Next up, San Jose will play the San Diego Gulls on the road Saturday night.

Barracuda Beat the Heat 4-1

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda–The Barracuda get a split with a win against the Stockton Heat 4-1 on Sunday

The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Stockton Heat by a score of 4-1 Sunday. The loss ended the Heat’s 10 game home win streak and moved the Barracuda back into third place in the AHL’s Pacific Division.

In stark contrast to Saturday’s meeting, Sunday’s game started out as a low-scoring affair, with just one goal in the first two periods. The game opened up in the third, mostly for San Jose. Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell deserves much of the credit for the win. His team was outshot 26-16 through the first two periods but he stopped them all until the third period. In all, he made 39 saves on 40 shots. John McCarthy scored two goals in the game, with goals also scored by Nikita Jevpalovs and Trevor Parkes. Freddie Hamilton scored the lone goal for the Heat and Stockton goaltender Kevin Poulin made 25 saves on 28 shots faced.

Nikita Jevpalovs opened the scoring Sunday, giving the Barracuda a first period lead. Nikolay Goldobin’s shot from the left side created a rebound for Jevpalovs to pick up and put away. Assists went to Goldobin and Mirco Mueller. Goldobin is currently working on point streak of six games, a season high for the team.

The second period did not start out as well as the first, with the Barracuda being outshot 7-1 in the first half. The rest of the period did not go much better for them, and Aaron Dell stopped 12 shots while his team only took 6. Still, Stockton had not scored and the Barracuda held on to their 1-0 lead.

The Barracuda started the third much better, taking a lead on the shot clock early, but at 5:16, the Heat tied the game with a goal from Freddie Hamilton. Assists went to Kenny Agostino and Garnet Hathway. It was Hamilton’s 14th goal of the season.

Gus Young was called for slashing at 6:18 of the third, and half way through the Stockton power play, Mirco Mueller was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as well. Stockton took their time out to prepare for the five on three.

The Barracuda held on through the five on three and then, during the abbreviated five on four, John McCarthy escaped with the puck through the neutral zone and beat Poulin to give San Jose the lead back. The goal was unassisted.

Parkes was tripped at 9:53 by Gabriel Verpaelst, giving the Barracuda their first power play of the game. It was just their second power play of the weekend.

McCarthy scored again at 14:25, after Micheal Haley got the puck in while taking a hard hit. Trevor Parkes controlled the puck behind the net and got it to McCarthy who came in late to get to the net. Assists went to Parkes and Haley.

Parkes got the empty net goal at 17:40, with an assist to Joakim Ryan.

Raffi Torres played on Saturday but not Sunday, which was consistent with the team’s expectation that he would play in just one of the weekend games. Barclay Goodrow was also out of the lineup, possibly in case the Sharks had to call him up for Monday’s game. Mirco Mueller was in the lineup, having returned from his call up last week.

The Barracuda next play on Friday in Bakersfield at 7:00 PST.

Barracuda Can’t Come All The Way Back Against Heat

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda–SJ Barracuda @ Stockton Heat promo for Sat 2-20-16 game

The San Jose Barracuda narrowly dropped a 6-5 overtime decision to the Stockton Heat Saturday night at Stockton Arena. Barclay Goodrow put San Jose (21-17-6) on the board first, but Stockton (21-20-1) answered back with 3 straight goals to grab a stranglehold on the game. San Jose would tie the game at 5-all to earn a point. Ryan Carpenter, John McCarthy and Captain Bryan Lerg also scored for the Barracuda while forward Trevor Parkes collected a pair of assists. Former San Jose Shark Freddie Hamilton tallied a goal and two assists, as did Barracuda forward Trevor Parkes.

Goodrow opened the scoring just 2:13 into the game, beating Stockton netminder Kent Simpson for his 16th goal of the season. The Heat responded immediately, with Kenny Agostino also potting his 16th goal of the season just 1:47 later.

Stockton would take the lead 9:24 into the contest on defenseman Kenney Morrison’s power play goal.  Hamilton would then double the lead 10:19 into the 2nd period. Lerg’s 13th goal of the year, coming at the 13:01 mark of the period would pull San Jose within one, but the Heat would seemingly put San Jose away in the 3rd.

Agostino again beat Sharks netminder Troy Grosenick 2:20 into the final period, then NHL veteran Mason Raymond would add the dagger goal at the 4:21 mark to make it 5-2. Grosenick made 33 saves on 39 shots.

To commence the comeback, Ryan Carpenter netted his 11th goal of the season 10:18 into the 3rd. McCarthy scored with just 1:11 left, then Parkes would score with 33 seconds remaining to force the extra session.

The comeback was for naught after Raymond beat Grosenick 3 minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime period for his 2nd goal of the night and 4th of the year.

Michael Haley and Raffi Torres both fought for the Barracuda.

Up next for San Jose is a meeting with the Bakersfield Condors next Friday then a stop in San Diego Saturday before the Barracuda return home for three-straight.

Barracuda Fall 4-2 to Condors

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda–The Barracuda lose to the Bakerfield Condors 4-2 on Valentines day at SAP

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Barracuda fell to the Bakersfield Condors by a score of 4-2 Sunday. The game winner was scored by Ryan Hamilton. Anders Nilsson was in net for the win, making 21 saves on 23 shots. For San Jose, Aaron Dell made 22 saves on 25 shots faced. Both Barracuda goals were scored by Ben Smith.

San Jose and Bakersfield were playing for third place in the division on Sunday. When the game started, the Barracuda had a two point lead over the Condors but had played one more game. With the win, the Condors jumped the Barracuda for third place in the AHL’s Pacific Division.

I remember when the Bakersfield Condors wore grey and burgundy and had the names of local businesses on the tails of their jerseys. That was when they were an ECHL team last year. Now the Condors look pretty much like the Oilers, especially from a distance far enough to not see the emblem. They wear the same colors but they differ in one important respect: they are doing well in their division this season.

The Barracuda were first on the power play, into the first period. Bakersfield was called for too many men on the ice and Anton Slepyshev served the penalty at 11:47. San Jose did not score. Instead, Bakersfield scored at . Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell stopped the first couple of shots during a Condor attack during which the Barracuda could not clear the puck out. Andrew Miller’s shot went over Dell’s shoulder from the slot to give the visitors the lead. It was Miller’s twelfth of the season. Assists went to Rob Klinkhammer and Jujhar Khaira.

The Condors kept the Barracuda on their heels for the rest of the period. With San Jose defenders stuck in their zone, they were lucky to make it to intermission down by just one.

At the end of the period, the teams were tied on the shot clock but the home team trailed by one.

The second period was marked by a lot of hits and questionable stick use. By the ten minute mark, the Barracuda had added two shots and the Condors just one. Near the eleven minute mark, the game’s first fight broke out behind the Barracuda goal line. The scuffle landed Andrew Miller and Joakim Ryan in the box with roughing minors. Miller got an additional two minutes, so Slepyshev joined him in the box and a Barracuda power play commenced.

San Jose still could not score, but they did keep the Condors on the defensive. And defend they did. The Baracuda had very little time to take the shots they got credit for and many that just missed the net. With six minutes left, Bakersfield still only had one shot in the period but they still had a one goal lead.

The Condors got their first power kay with 4:13 left in the second. San Jose’s Julius Bergman went to the box for slashing. During their power play they finally got a few shots on goal. Half way through the power play, Karl Stollerysent the puck out of play and was called for delay of game. San Jose managed the three on five penalty kill and the minute of four on five that followed.

At the end of the second, the score was still 1-0 Condors and the shots were 17-15 Condors.

The third period started with an early chance for the Condors that hit a post. That seemed to wake the Barracuda up and they responded with several good shifts in the offensive zone. When the Condors pushed back, they were wrapped up in extended board battles and had few chances to score again until the middle of the period.

At, the Condors extended their lead. A neutral zone breakdown gave the Condors a two-then-three on one with Julius Bergman as the one. Jujhar Khaira scored the goal with assists going to Andrew Miller and Griffin Reinhart.

The goal unsettled the Barracuda and inspired the Condors. The orange and blue attack continued with the Barracuda scrambling defensively.

The Barracuda recovered somewhat in the second half of the period. At 12:05 they scored after John McCarthy and Ben Smith combined to win the puck off the boards. McCarthy carried it behind the net and tried a wraparound. That did not work but Smith was on the other side of the crease to catch the puck and put it in. It was his seventh goal of the season in eleven games played with the team. McCarthy received the lone assist.

The Condors did not let that go and stretched their lead back to two with 3:40 left in the game. Entering the zone fast two one two, Ryan Hamilton and Tyler Pitlick gave the Condors their third goal of the game.

The Barracuda made a game of it with just over a minute left. A good four skater rush through the neutral zone and some give and go between Smith and Bryan Lerg resulted in another goal for Smith.

Barracuda coach Sommer opted to pull his goaltender after that and with 26.2 left in the game, the puck escaped the neutral zone and only the Condors’ Klinkhammer was near enough to catch it. He put it in the Barracuda net.

Final score: 4-2 Condors.

John McCarthy led the Barracuda in shots on goal with five. Mirco Mueller, called up to the Sharks briefly after Brenden Dillon’s recent injury, was back with the AHL squad in time for Sunday’s game.

Raffi Torres, still on the Barracuda roster, did not play for the second game in a row. He has played five games with the Barracuda this year.

The Barracuda hit the road next week and will face the Heat on Saturday and Sunday in Stockton.

Aaron Dell, Barracuda Shutout Rampage

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By Ben Leonard

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda–Pink is the new color for shutout for SJ Barracuda Saturday over San Antonio

SAN JOSE, Calif. –The long, drawn-out chase for Roy Sommer’s 637th win seemed to take a lot out of the San Jose Barracuda, pressing to earn their coach his win. After they finally helped him set the AHL’s all-time wins record on Wednesday, captain Bryan Lerg said the victory helped them all “take a deep breath.” That breath certainly appeared to have helped the team clear its head, picking up its first shutout in franchise history in a 5-0 victory over the San Antonio Rampage.

Before Wednesday’s victory, the Barracuda had dropped 8 of their last 9 in search of that victory. “Enough was enough, Lerg said. “I told Roy before the game that it was happening tonight. It’s just been lingering too much. It’s easy to say, but it had been weighing down people because everyone wanted it done.”

With the weight off his shoulders, ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell had another masterful game in the net for San Jose, picking up 30 saves to keep the Rampage from lighting up the lamp. Dell now has 80 saves in the last two games.

Right winger Ben Smith scored twice for San Jose, including the first goal off a deflection on a power play early in the first period. Heading into the third period, the ‘Cuda had a nice 3-0 cushion behind goals from defenceman Patrick McNally (his first of the season) and right winger Nikita Jevpalovs.

In the third period, the ‘Cuda added some insurance on another Smith goal, his fifth of the season, pushing the lead to 4-0. A few minutes later, Lerg added a goal, pushing the lead to an insurmountable 5-0.

NOTES: Sommer bestowed the honor of dropping the puck in the second game of a doubleheader at SAP Center…San Jose donned pink sweaters for cancer research…San Jose outshot San Antonio 43-30….