Category: San Jose Barracuda

Barracuda fall in shootout to Bakersfield

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

The San Jose Barracuda were unable to extend their win streak to three, as they fell 2-1 in a shootout to Bakersfield on the road on Wednesday morning.

It was a special start for school day, and the home team sent the kids home happy.

In the shootout, Ryan Hamilton scored the lone goal as Condors goaltender Laurent Brossoit stopped all three shootout chances for the Barracuda.

Down 1-0 in the third period, the Barracuda evened the score on a deflection by Bryan Lerg at 6:38 and the teams headed to overtime tied 1-1. Despite an exciting overtime session that saw an unsuccessful breakaway by Barclay Goodrow, the Barracuda were unable to find the back of the net.

Bakersfield struck first midway through the first period on a wraparound goal by Marc-Olivier Roy. The game remained 1-0 into the third in a low-scoring affair.

In the midst of a seven-game road trip, the Barracuda will head to Stockton to take on the Heat on Saturday.

photo credit San Jose Barracuda from game in Bakersfield Wed 11-18-15

Barracuda complete back-to-back wins over Gulls

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

photo credit SJ Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda hung on on Saturday night for a 4-3 win over the San Diego Gulls to complete a back-to-back road sweep.

The Barracuda won in a shootout on Friday night, but on Saturday they needed just 60 minutes to come away with the victory.

Taking a 4-1 lead into the third period, the Barracuda hung on after the Gulls converted on a 5-on-3 midway through the period and scored with 2.1 seconds on the clock to cut the lead to 4-3. But it was too little, too late.

San Jose started off fast with two goals in the first period. Jeremy Langlois and Karl Stollery converted on goals. Early in the second period, Mark Cundari scored a power play goal on a shot from the point to give the Barracuda a three-goal lead.

It was enough to hold off the Gulls and advance the Barracuda’s road record to 4-2-0-0. San Jose is 5-6-0-1 overall.

Up next, the Barracuda will play the Condors in Bakersfield at a special 10:30am start time on Wednesday.

Barracuda Notch Shootout Win Over Gulls

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

In an exciting affair, the San Jose Barracuda defeated the San Diego Gulls 4-3 in a shootout on the road on Friday night.

Down 3-2 late in the third period, Scott Timmons even the scored for the Barracuda with 24 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.

The overtime was a wild one. The Barracuda thought they had won on a goal by Joakim Ryan, but it was waved off. Then, San Diego had a prime opportunity on a penalty shot, but Barracuda netminder Troy Groesnick turned down Brandon Montour.

In the shootout, Jeremy Langlois converted in the third round to win it for San Jose.

The Barracuda came back from a 2-0 deficit as Barclay Goodrow and Bryan Lerg scored in the second period to even the score. San Jose dominated the period, outshooting San Diego 13-6. It was a sharp contrast to the first period, where the Gulls jumped ahead with two early goals and controlled possession.

Attendance on Friday was 10,010.

The Barracuda will remain in San Diego and play the Gulls again tomorrow on the road.

Barracuda’s comeback attempt falls short in loss to Reign

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

The San Jose Barracuda had a tremendous opportunity to come back from a 2-0 deficit, but could not convert on a late 5-on-3 power play as they fell to the Ontario Reign 2-1 on the road on Wednesday night.

The loss kicked off a seven-game road trip for the Barracuda.

Jeremy Langlois cut a 2-0 deficit in half in the second period for the Barracuda with a nice individual effort, bursting into the zone and firing one in from the left circle.

But Ontario’s two first period goals were too much to overcome. Kurtis MacDermid and Sean Backman recorded goals for the Reign before the ten-minute mark of the first as they outshot San Jose 11-5.

The Barracuda finished 0-for-3 on the power play and missed a key chance to even the score late in the third with a two-man advantage.

They have now lost six of their last seven games and are 3-6-0-1 overall. They are 2-2-0-0 on the road.

Next up, San Jose will play a pair of games at the San Diego Gulls on Friday and Saturday.

Condors Soar Past Barracuda

Published on by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By: Ben Leonard

SAN JOSE, Calif. —

Donning their new orange and black jerseys, the San Jose Barracuda (3-5-0-1) resembled the Philadelphia Flyers, but the Bakersfield Condors (4-5-0-1) were the only ones flying at the SAP Center, soaring to a 6-2 victory. Five different Condors scored while the Barracuda squandered an early lead, and then some in a crazy first period, handing the Barracuda their fifth loss in their last six games.

Before most of the announced crowd of 3,009 settled into their seats at the SAP Center, the Barracuda found themselves up 1-0, thanks to Jeremy Langlois’ second goal of the young season. For your viewing pleasure:

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However, his goal didn’t come without some suspense — it took a replay review to confirm his goal. The Barracuda were dominating the possession battle in the early going, holding the puck on the Condors’ side of the ice for most of the first five minutes. Bakersfield wasn’t able to muster their first shot until seven minutes into the contest. Head coach Frank Somner: “That’s the start we were looking for.”

However, the tide turned quickly towards the Condors after they took their first shot, even when it seemed like the tide had swamped them. They were shorthanded after forward Mitch Moroz was called for boarding ‘Cuda defender Julius Bergman at 14:24, but that didn’t phase Bakersfield, who quickly tied the game up at 1-1 after a miscue by ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell. Instead of freezing the puck, Dell tried to put the puck behind the net for his defense, but Bakersfield left-winger Ryan Hamilton came back around and put it through the wickets to light up the lamp for his fourth goal of the season.

Bakersfield would quickly add another goal to take a 2-1 lead after another turnover behind the Barracuda’s net. This time Jujhar Khaira slammed one home. Then just to add to the craziness of the first period, Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg crashed to top-shelf a rebounded shot for his fourth goal of the season to tie the game at two apiece, a lead that only held for two minutes. Bakersfield winger Matthew Ford killed the Barracuda’s momentum with *another* battle behind Dell’s net that ended up lighting the lamp, giving the Condors a 3-2 lead heading into the second period (when the Condors really started to take flight), enough to knock Dell out from behind the net.

His replacement, Troy Grosenick, didn’t get any better results the rest of the way than Dell did in the first. It’s not like his team was doing him any favors, making it easy for Bakersfield with an onslaught of penalties, giving them three separate power plays in the period. He did his best to limit the damage, saving 13 of Bakersfield’s 15 shots in the second, but he let two sneak past him. Both were scored from the left face-off circle by two players who hadn’t scored all season, first defender David Musil five minutes in, and then three minutes later, Kyle Platzer gave the Condors a comfortable 5-2 lead heading into the final period.

Sommer on his team’s lackadaisical performance:

“We just weren’t clicking on all eight cylinders….I was excited to see how they were going to come out…but I don’t think we were ready to play”

The Barracuda tried to mount a rally in the third, but couldn’t get anything going. With a 5-2 lead, the Condors could afford to play a little more conservatively, and locked down the ‘Cuda, with Khaira adding a late insurance goal, beating Grosenick for his second of the game.

The ‘Cuda outshot the Condors throughout the game (42-32), especially in the early going (21-14 with 14:45 left in second), but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Sommer said he wasn’t going to let the goaltenders “off the hook” for their performance today.  Captain Bryan Lerg maintained that change had to come from “the players,” not just their head coach.

Notes: 

SAP Center hasn’t been too kind to the ‘Cuda, who have only picked up one win in six games at home. So much for home ice advantage…Michael Haley is now on recall with the San Jose Sharks….Bryan Lerg, Nikolay Goldobin, and Mark Cundari were loaned to the ‘Cuda after the Sharks’ game on Saturday…

 

Bears Fly, Barracuda Fall in 3-2 Loss to San Diego Gulls

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The fuzz flew Saturday at the SAP Center, but the home team couldn’t claw back in time to complete a comeback. The San Jose Barracuda fell to the San Diego Gulls 3-2 Saturday afternoon in front of 4,053 fans and hundreds of their closest plush pals after tying the game late in the third period.

Forward Barclay Goodrow scored to set off the first Teddy Bear Toss in Barracuda history and Nikita Jevpalovs lit the lamp, but a late goal from Joseph Cramarossa spoiled the Barracuda’s otherwise charitable mood.  Mike Sgarbossa scored a pair of goals for the Gulls (8-2-0-0) and netminder John Gibson denied 30 of 32 Barracuda shots to leave San Jose (3-4-0-1) fans empty-handed of both bears and a win.

“It was an entertaining game,” said Barracuda coach Roy Sommer. “The fans saw a good push back from us.”

Sgarbossa netted his first goal of the game on Gulls rush in the first period. Defenseman Brandon Montour jumped up on the play and ripped a shot from the left faceoff dot. Grosenick made the save, but Sgarbossa pounced on the loose puck to bang home a goal 8:15 into the game.

The Gulls forward would net his second goal of the period, again on a deflection from one of his teammates with just under 33 seconds left in the period. Nick Ritchie cut across the slot attempting to fire a shot from dead center. A Barracuda defenseman managed to block the shot, but the puck rolled to Sgarbossa for the easy tap-in on his second goal of the game and season. The Gulls outshot San Jose 11-6 in the first.

“You get the first goal, you’re probably going to win the game or get somm point,” said Sommer. “On either side that seems to be what’s been happening to us. I told those guys ‘hey, go for it’. The team that gets the first goal wins 80, 90 percent of the time so go for it.”

Goodrow, playing in his first game with the Barracuda after a demotion from the San Jose Sharks, pulled the Barracuda within one while initiating an ursine avalanche. Linemate Scott Timmins fired a shot on Gibson that was stopped, but a falling Goodrow managed to backhand the puck over Gibson’s pad at the 18:37 mark. The bears will be donated to local charities to give to children in need during the holiday season.

“I was just trying to find the puck,” said Goodrow. “I was able to poke it in.”

The Barracuda managed 15 shots on goal in the second to take a 21-20 edge over the Gulls. The San Jose effort gave the Barracuda their first goal against the Gulls in a game two games’ worth of time. The Barracuda scored two goals in the first period of an October 21st contest at SAP before getting shutout for the remainder of the game and held completely scoreless on the following Friday.

Nikita Jevpalovs tied the game on a rebound goal of his own, beating Gibson for his second goal of the season with 7:21 left in the game. The tie would be short-lived, with Joseph Cramarossa sniping one past Grosenick blocker side for his first point of the season just over five minutes to play. San Jose again outshot the Gulls 12-8 in the final period.

“I thought we had a really good third period,” said Sommer. “It was one of the better thirds we’ve had all year. We kept the pressure on them, they didn’t have a lot. The third goal could have been prevented. I thought we could have pushed it instead of backing in. It was just a bad goal.”

With the attacker pulled, the Barracuda lit the lamp literally but not figuratively. Melker Karlsson, appearing in his first game since October 23rd, poked at a loose puck in a netfront scramble. The linesman saw differently from the goal judged and ruled the play dead.

“It was on the goal line,” said Karlsson. “I missed it two times. I hit the puck, the goalie saved it. It was lying there but I couldn’t get one.”

After facing a team they haven’t had much success against Saturday, the Barracuda get a crack at a team they scored their most recent victory over. The Barracuda host the visiting Ontario Reign Sunday, just under a week removed from San Jose handing the Kings’ affiliate their only regulation loss this year. Karlsson is expected to play.

“I felt a lot better today, more energy,” said Karlsson. “I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but I felt pretty good.”

“As far as I know, he’s in,” stated Sommer.

Barracuda Defeat Reign For First Home Win

Published on by M WalshLeave a comment

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Ontario Reign 4-2 for their first home win of the season. San Jose goals were scored by John McCarthy, Mirco Mueller, Jeremy Langlois and Nikolay Goldobin. After a long break between games, the Barracuda were very well-rested. The last time San Jose played was October 24, and that was a 3-0 loss to the Reign in Ontario. The break gave them a chance to practice and made the win all the more important. After the game, Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said: “It’s big for us. The mood of the practices, everything’s going to be upbeat, their Halloween party’s tonight. So they can go have some fun, we have a day off tomorrow so it fits in good.”

Of the time between games, Sommer said that they had made good use of it: “I thought they had a good week of practice… I thought they went hard and everything was about going to the net and that’s where our goals were from tonight.”

The Reign were far from well-rested. Sunday’s game was their third in three days. The fatigue factor was something the Barracuda knew they should take advantage of. After the game, San Jose forward John McCarthy said:

They had a tough weekend, a lot of travel and we talked about kind of taking advantage of that in the first period, coming out… Because we know how it feels to be that team on the road. You come in after a long road trip and when a team’s all over you right away, it messes with your head.

Aaron Dell was in net for the Barracuda, with Peter Budaj at the other end for the Reign. Ontario has opted to use veteran goaltenders this season, with NHL veterans Budaj and Ray Emery playing as a tandem.

John McCarthy started the scoring for San Jose, 2:45 into the first period. Three Barracuda entered the Reign zone, with just two Ontario players defending. McCarthy went to the net and Trevor Parkes got the puck to him with a pass from the boards. Assists went to Parkes and Nikolay Goldobin.

The Barracuda also got the first power play, 7:44 into the period. Michael Mersch, Ontario’s leading goal scorer, went to the box for tripping. Just before that penalty expired, Nikita Jevpalovs went to the box for high-sticking. With 30 seconds left in the penalty, Mersch tied it up for the Reign. Assists went to Sean Backman (the Reign’s points leader) and Valentin Zykov.

Jevpalovs also took the Barracuda’s second penalty, this time it was hooking at 12:47.

The Barracuda were trailing by three shots at the end of the first period, and by the middle of the second they had only added four. The second period was far from shot-heavy, with the Reign only taking three by the ten minute mark. No penalties were called until the fourteen minute mark. The call was for holding and it went to Ontario’s Vincent LoVerde.

It only took Mirco Mueller four seconds to put a shot on net from the blue line. His shot went between two Barracuda skaters as they passed in front of the net and gave the Barracuda the lead. An assist went to Scott Timmins. It was the first goal from a Barracuda defenseman.

The Reign took the goal right back. Justin Auger won the puck behind the net and tried to wrap it around with a backhand. When that did not work, Ryan Horvat picked up the rebound and tossed the puck between Dell’s shoulder and the post. Dell’s vision was obstructed by his own defender and also Auger so he really did not have a chance. Assists went to Auger and Jonny Brodzinski.

The Barracuda had another power play chance at 15:34, when MacDermid went to the box for cross-checking. Nothing came of that, and the Barracuda shortly found themselves on the penalty kill when Patrick McNally went for hooking. That Reign power play did not last long, because Nic Dowd shoved Timmins face first into the glass. That evened the numbers up and put Dowd in the box for boarding.

The period closed with the teams tied at 2, and the Reign leading in shots 22-19.

The third period started with the teams playing four on four for a minute and one second. A 32 second power play for San Jose followed but did not produce a goal.

One of the Barracuda’s better chances came when Karl Stollery found himself in the slot with a clear view of the net. Unfortunately for him, his stick broke and the shot went wide. Seven minutes in and the Barracuda were keeping the Reign on their heels but Budaj was alert and preserved the tie with several saves.

The Barracuda were back on the power play at 9:38 to go, when Ontario’s LoVerde went for hooking. The resulting power play did not start especially well. The Barracuda spent several seconds chasing down the puck in their own zone and keeping it away from attacking penalty killers. The rest of the power play was broken up by stoppages and clears that limited scoring chances.

More four on four play commenced at 12:02 when Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Julius Bergman sat for two minutes. Samuels-Thomas was sent away for embellishment, while Bergman did time for tripping. Neither team profited from the penalties.

Back at even strength, San Jose’s Joakim Ryan escaped an attacking Ontario player in the Barracuda zone, then took the puck all the way to Reign territory. With Ontario defenders closing on him, he used a backhand pass to give the puck to Jeremy Langlois. Langlois carried it around behind the net before scoring with a wrap around.

Another four on four session began when Mirco Mueller and Ryan Horvat were confined with matching roughing minors. Neither team scored.

The Reign pulled their goalie in the final two minutes and it took the Barracuda nearly a minute to clear the puck out. Nikolay Goldobin followed it out and scored an empty-netter. Assists went to McCarthy and Peter Emanuelsson. With that goal and his assist, Goldobin had his first two points of the season in one game.

Final score: 4-2 Barracuda.

No Barracuda had more than three shots, but four had three: McCarthy, Ryan Carpenter, Patrick McNally and Goldobin. For Ontario, Mersch led in shots with six. San Jose’s Aaron Dell made 32 saves on 34 shots, while Peter Budaj made 25 saves on 28 shots.

The Barracuda next play on Saturday, November 7th against the San Diego Gulls in San Jose at 1:15 PT.

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: Canadiens win streak stops at nine; Caps Ovechkin goes for all time goals by Russian NHL player; Preds-Sharks part of the rivalry package on NBCSN

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

by Joe Lami

photo credit canadiens.nhl.com pk subban

SAN JOSE–On the NHL Podcast today the Vancouver Canucks ended an amazing streak by the Montreal Canadiens defeating them 5-1 the Habs streak was stopped at nine. Was the Habs feeling the pressure and pressing? Or were the Canucks just out for blood and wanted to stop the Canadiens at every turn.

The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin is close to setting the all time goal scoring record for an NHL Russian player. Ovechkin currently has 480 career goals and Sergei Federov is leading by three with 483 all time goals.  Also the Nashville Predators get set with their key players James Neal, Craig Smith, Flip Forsberg, and Roman Josi as the Preds face the Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Wednesday night.

The LA Kings are swinging the sticks and finding the back of the nets as they have now won six straight games. That win streak is a testimony which holds true after a rather weak start. The Kings are getting great offensive help from Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, and goaltender Jonathan Quick.

Joe talks on these subjects and much more on the NHL Podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda shutout in Ontario

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

Peter Budaj is a veteran of nearly 300 NHL games, and the goaltender is still going strong, even if it’s in the minors.

Now with the Ontario Reign of the AHL, the 33-year old Budaj posted a shutout of the San Jose Barracuda, as San Jose fell 3-0 on the road Saturday night.

The Barracuda drop to 2-3-0-1, while the Reign remain unbeaten at 5-0-0-0.

Down 1-0 in the third period, the Barracuda allowed Reign rookie Adrian Kempe to score on the power play at 4:12 to double Ontario’s advantage. Michael Mersch added an empty net goal to seal the 3-0 victory.

This came despite San Jose putting nine shots on goal in the third. It also outshot Ontario 10-9 in a scoreless second period, but could not get one past Budaj, who made 24 saves in all.

Ontario got on the board with the lone goal of the first when Andrew Crescenzi converted on a rebound.

The Barracuda have not scored in eight straight periods, and they also went 0-for-5 on the power play on Saturday.

Aaron Dell replaced Troy Groesnick in net at the start of the second period after Groesnick sustained an injury in the first.

Barracuda Shut Out By Gibson, Gulls

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

SAN JOSE, Calif. – It will continue to be a season of firsts in the inaugural campaign for the San Jose Barracuda, but with the highs will also come the lows. Friday night at the SAP Center, the Barracuda earned an inevitable and unenviable first after falling to the San Diego Gulls 3-0.

Ducks goalie John Gibson made 23 saves to shut out San Jose for the first time this year and give the Barracuda losses in two-straight for the first time this season. The Barracuda also fell to the undefeated Gulls (4-0-0-0) 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night at home.

“There’s still plenty of things to work on,” said San Jose coach Roy Sommer. “We’re still young. We’d like to get a home win here.”

The Gulls scored twice in the first period on miscues from the Barracuda. Chris Wagner scored the first goal of the game at the 5:02 mark after cherry picking behind a Barracuda defender at the Gulls blue line. After defenseman Brandon Montour chipped the puck up, Wagner scooped it up and skated down the wing unimpeded before beating Barracuda goalie Aaron Dell’s glove hand for the goal.

Dell’s glove would come up short with 1:49 left in the period when he appeared to glove down a Gulls shot only to have the puck pop out where Chris Mueller could tap in his first goal of the season and double the Gulls’ advantage. One gaffe aside, Dell played well for the Barracuda, turning away 31 shots.

“We didn’t have any hold ups, we had a few miscues,” said San Jose forward Micheal Haley. “They had a lot of steam coming into our end. It’s hard to get out of your end when they’re coming at you full speed.”

While the Barracuda didn’t beat Gibson in the 1st 20 minutes, they came close on a 5-on-3 power play just about halfway through the period. Twice San Jose ripped perfect cross-crease passes just off the goal line, but twice one of the top goalie prospects in the AHL Gibson robbed would-be goals.

“That was the turning point in the game,” said Sommer. “We had two good looks where he made two great saves. After that we didn’t have much.”

First Gibson robbed Nikolai Goldobin on the glove side, then kicked away a stick-side shot pad-high from Melker Karlsson. Goldobin also hit the post on the man advantage in the third period on a night when San Jose’s power play unit was snakebit (0-for-5).

“He’s covering the bottom so we have to go up top,” said Karlsson. “If it’s there you have to hit it. That should be a goal.”

San Diego added a power play goal in the 2nd after Nick Ritchie received a pass from Brandon Montour to Dell’s right. Ritchie’s wrist shot beat Dell blocker side to give the Gulls a commanding lead with 4:04 left a period that saw the visitors outshoot the home team 15-5.

“They had a very good forecheck,” said Haley. “They didn’t give us very much time or options which makes it very hard for us to get our forecheck going. It was just one of those days where it felt like we were chasing and not supporting.”

For the Barracuda, it’s back to work after a quick bus trip to the Inland Empire. San Jose takes on the Ontario Reign, affiliate of the rival Los Angeles Kings

“We’ve got a hard game tomorrow,” said Sommer. “That’s a team that’s undefeated. They’re not missing much from the team that won the Calder Cup (as the Manchester Monarchs). We’ll have our hands full tomorrow.”

Notes: The regulation loss snapped a three-game point-streak for the Barracuda. After losing to Rockford on opening night, the Barracuda twice beat Bakersfield before falling to San Diego in a shootout Wednesday…Melker Karlsson played in his second game with the Sharks affiliate, finishing with a shot on goal. “I’m getting better and better but I still have some things to work on. I haven’t practiced that much so my conditioning isn’t where it should be,” said Karlsson…Micheal Haley was returned to the Barracuda for Friday’s game after skating on the Sharks fourth line in their game against the Kings Thursday night. He saw 6:48 of ice time. Haley is expected to play Saturday against Ontario, his third game in a row. “It’s the American Hockey League. If you don’t want to play three-on-threes go play up top,” Sommer said with a smile…Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg played 8:51 with a shot on goal. He remains with the parent club…Defenseman Karl Stollery missed the game with an injury.