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San Jose Barracuda defenseman Luca Cagnoni (#42) plays the puck out of his zone during his team’s 4-1 loss to the Iowa Wild at the Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday NOV 2, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Iowa Wild reversed their fortunes against the San Jose Barracuda in a 4-1 victory on Saturday evening at Wells Fargo Arena.

San Jose had its five-game winning streak snapped. Iowa has won two games in a row after starting the season losing their first seven games. Iowa was swept by San Jose when they visited the ‘Cuda two weeks ago.

Iowa (2-6-1) drew first blood 15 seconds to start the game. A failed clearing attempt by ‘Cuda defenseman Jake Furlong was intercepted by Ben Jones. The Wild center skated around Furlong and beat Barracuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov with a wrist shot to the far side for his second goal of the season.

The Wild doubled its lead with an even strength goal right before the opening frame finished. Hunter Haight began an odd man rush up the ice. Haight found Travis Boyd along the left wing. Boyd centered a backhanded pass to Michael Milne who finished off the play with a wrist shot past Askarov for his third goal of the season at the 19:49 mark.

It was the worst first period by San Jose (6-2) this season as they started and finished the period giving up goals. They had 10 shots on goal but weren’t able to get one passed by Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt.

Iowa scored its third unanswered goal of the game early in the second period. Graeme Clark skated into the ‘Cuda zone on a counterattack. Clark deked out a Barracuda defender before sending a rink wide pass over to Brendan Gaunce who beat Askarov to the far side with a wrist shot for his third goal of the season at the 4:54 mark.

The Barracuda had two power play opportunities in the middle frame but weren’t able to cash in either one as the Wild penalty kill kept San Jose off of the board.

San Jose spoiled Wallstedt’s shutout bid with an even strength goal in the third period. A shot from the point by Jimmy Schuldt was initially saved by Wallstedt, but Colin White crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound for his fourth goal of the season at the 12:23 mark.

Body completed the scoring with an empty net goal, second of the season, with 1:05 remaining in the game to seal the deal for Iowa.

Wallstedt (2-3-1) stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced in earning his second win of the season. Askarov (5-1) made 32 saves on 35 shots in suffering his first loss of the season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Iowa was also 0-for-5.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Wallstedt 2) Boyd 3) Milne.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Iowa conclude their two-game series on Sunday 11/3 at 1:00pm at Wells Fargo Center.

San Jose Barracuda forward Andrew Poturalski, who was the number one star of the game, battles with Coachella Valley Firebirds defenseman Gustav Oloffson during the Barracuda’s 5-1 win over the Firebirds at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday OCT 30, 2024.

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda are scorching hot.

Team Teal had five different goal scorers in a 5-1 route of the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won a season best five games in a row and just their second game against their Pacific Division rival. Coachella Valley has lost their third game in five games.

San Jose (6-1) drew first blood with an even strength goal in the first period. Brandon Coe intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and skated into Coachella Valley zone. Coe threaded a pass to an unmarked Luke Grainger who made one move to get Firebirds goalie Ales Stezka to go down before roofing a backhander top-shelf for his first goal of the season at the 7:34 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead 58 seconds later. Luca Cagnoni kept the puck inside the Firebirds zone. The rookie defenseman found Andrew Poturalksi along the slot and Poturalski’s shot deflected off of the leg of Colin Graf and into the back of the net for Graf’s third goal of the season at the 8:32 mark.

Coachella Valley (2-3) had 12 shots on net in the opening frame but weren’t able to solve the mystery known as Barracuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov who made some key stops to keep the Firebirds off of the scoreboard.

The Firebirds cut the lead in half midway through the second period. Jager Firkus found Ben Meyers down low behind the net. Meyers made a move to get past Shakir Mukhamadullin before skating out from behind the net and lifting a backhander past Askarov for his second goal of the season at the 10:30 mark.

San Jose regained their two-goal lead with a short-handed goal. Justin Bailey won a battle along the boards and sent a pass up the ice that sprung Colin White on a breakaway. White beat Stezka with a back hand shot for his third goal of the season at the 13:02 mark.

The Barracuda earned its biggest lead of the contest early in the third period. Donovan Houle, who had a great night throwing his body around against the Firebirds, threw a shot on net that was initially saved by Stezka. Lucas Vanroyboys crashed the net and on is second attempt cleaned up the rebound for his second goal of the season at the 3:52 mark.

Poturalski completed the scoring with an empty net from deep inside his own zone for his third goal of the season at the 16:50 mark as Coachella Valley pulled their goalie with over four minutes remaining in the final frame.

Askarov (5-0) remained undefeated as he stopped 36 of the 37 shots to earn his fifth win of the season. Stekaz (1-3) made 33 save on 37 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-2 on the power play. Coachella Valley was 0-for-1.

San Jose is 2-10-2-3 in the all-time series with Coachella Valley.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Poturalski 2) Askarov 3) Grainger.

UP NEXT: San Jose heads to the Midwest this weekend to take on the Iowa Wild in a two-games series. The first game is Saturday 11/2 at 4:00pm at Wells Fargo Arena.

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda scored three goals in the third period to take control of a close game as they defeated the Henderson Silver Knights 5-3 took on Friday morning at Lee’s Family Forum.

San Jose has won a season best four games in a row, including five of their first six games and swept its second straight series. Henderson has lost four games in a row and five of their first six to start their season.

San Jose (5-1) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Ethan Cardwell fed a pass back up to the point. Defenseman Jimmy Schuldt blasted a one-timer past Silver Knight’s goalie Akira Schmid for his first goal of the season at the 1:50 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead just under six minutes later. Luca Cagnoni continued his hot streak when his shot from the point was redirected by Andrew Poturalski for his second goal in back-to-back games at the 7:28 mark. Collin Graf picked up the secondary assist.

Henderson (1-5) struck back with an even strength goal 92 seconds later. A shot from the point by Calden Addison pinballed around a scrum in front of the crease. The rebound leaked out to the left wing where Brandon Hickey beat ‘Cuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov with a wrist shot the short side for his first goal of the season at the 9:00 mark.

San Jose scored an insurance goal early in the third period thanks to a turnover inside the Henderson zone. A failed clearing attempt along the right boards led to Ethan Frisch pinching in and sending the puck toward the net. Anthony Vincent redirected the puck past Schmid for his third goal of the season at the 4:07 mark.

Vincent, who only scored two goals last season, already has third goal in six games for the Barracuda.

Ethan Cardwell iced the game for the ‘Cuda late in the final frame. Vincent found Cardwell with a pass at center ice and the sophomore forward skated into the Henderson zone past two defenders before depositing the puck top-shelf to the short side for his first goal of the season at the 15:18 mark.

Gage Quinney scored a 5-on-3 power play late in the period. Quinney skated around from the right wing to up top before whipping a wrist shot past Askarov for his second goal in as many games at the 17:31 mark.

The Barracuda regained its three-goal lead with an empty net goal. Cardwell earned the assist of the game when he outbattled two Silver Knights defenders along the boards behind the net. Cardwell won the puck and flipped it over to Filip Bystedt who buried the puck into the empty for his second goal of the season at the 18:23 mark.

Kai Uchacz completed the scoring with a power play goal. Uchacz cashed in on a turnover behind the net and skated out on front and beat Askarov from point-blank range for his first goal of the season with 16 second remaining.

Askarov (4-0) remained perfect on the season as he stopped 28 of the 32 shots he faced to earn his fourth win of the season. Schmid (0-4) made 36 saves on 40 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-2.

San Jose is 14-16-2-2 in the all-time series versus Henderson.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday 10/30 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose Barracuda defenseman Luca Cagnoni (#42) celebrates his second goal of the game against the Henderson Silver Knights with fellow teammates Andrew Poturalski (#22) and Joey Keane (#94) at the Lee’s Family Forum on Wednesday OCT 23, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda never won three games in a row last season.

They can check that box off of the list this season. Luca Cagnoni scored two goals to help his team defeat the Henderson Silver Knights 5-2 on Wednesday evening at Lee’s Family Forum.

San Jose has won three games in a row and four of its first five to start the season. Henderson has lost three games and four of its first five to start the season.

San Jose (4-1-0) drew first blood late in the first period with an even strength goal. Ethan Cardwell sent a pass down low over to Colin Graf behind the net. Graf skated out from behind the net and found Cagnoni in the left slot and the rookie defenseman blasted a one-timer past Silver Knights goalie Akira Schmid for his third goal of the season at the 15:57 mark.

Cagnoni, who has acted as a catalyst for the Barracuda offense, has scored a goal in three straight games.

The Barracuda doubled its lead with 10 seconds remaining in the opening frame. A turnover inside the Silver Knights zone led to Graf centering a pass from behind the net out to Andrew Poturalski in between the face off circles. Poturalski’ fanned on his first attempt but buried his second chance to the far side for his first career goal in a ‘Cuda uniform.

Henderson (1-4-0) had two power play opportunities but could not cash them in thanks to San Jose’s penalty kill remaining perfect to start the season, led by Barracuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov.

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal with the man advantage near the halfway point of the second period. Joey Keane sent a wrist shot up high on net and Scott Sabourin deflected the puck past Schmid for his second goal at the 9:13 mark.

Henderson answered to get on the scoreboard just under three minutes later. Dysin Mayo received the puck at the right slot from Gage Quinney. With Mitch McLain providing a screen on Askarov, Mayo lasered a wrist shot into the back of the net for his first goal of the season at the mark 12:10 mark

It was the first goal Askarov had given up in his three starts. He went 152:09 of shutout hockey before Mayo’s goal.

The Barracuda regained their three-goal lead late in the middle frame. A wraparound attempt by Brandon Coe was initially saved by Schmid. The rebound hit off Filip Bystedt and bounced out to the middle where Cagnoni lifted a backhander past the Silver Knight goalie for his second goal of the game and fourth of the season at the 15:07 mark.

San Jose earned its biggest lead near the halfway mark of the third period. Braden Hache led a rush up the ice. Hache’s pass intended for Kasper Halttunen took a favorable bounce into the Henderson’s zone. Coe skated in a on breakaway and slid the puck past Schmid from point-blank range for his first goal of the season at the 9:25 mark.

The Silver Knights scored their second goal after a bad rebound was given up by Askarov. Matyas Sapovaliv cleaned up the juicy rebound off of a Braeden Bowman shot that leaked out to the middle of the ice for his first goal of the season at the 11:57 mark.

Askarov (3-0) stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his third victory of the season and is 4-0 in his career against Henderson. Schmid (0-3) made 18 saves on 23 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Henderson went 0-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Cagnoni 2) Graf 3) Mayo.

Graf extended his point streak to five games.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its two-games series with Henderson on Friday 10/25 at 11:00am at Lee’s Family Forum.

San Jose Barracuda forward Scott Sabourin (#49) redirects a puck past Iowa Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt (#30) for his first goal of the season at Tech CU Arena on Sunday OCT 20, 2024.

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda scored five goals in the second period to route the Iowa Wild 7-3 on Sunday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose swept the two-game series and has jumped out to a great start in the young season. Iowa remained defeated through their first four games.

San Jose (3-1-0) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Anthony Vincent sent the puck back up to the point to Luca Cagnoni. The rookie defenseman skated in from the left wing and lasered in a wrist shot just inside the near post past Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt for his second goal of the season at the 2:08 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead 24 seconds later. Collin Graf found Justin Bailey inside the Wild zone. Bailey skated in all alone and beat Wallstedt to the far side with a wrist shot for his first goal of the season at the 2:36 mark.

Iowa (0-4-0) answered back 35 seconds later. Micheal Milne sent a cross-ice pass over to Hunter Haight who buried a wrist shot past Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov for his first goal of the season at the 3:01 mark.

The Cuda regained their two-goal lead late in the second period thanks to a great individual play from Lucas Vanroboys in the neutral zone. Vanroboys collected a loose puck near the red line then skated around three Wild defenders before tucking the puck underneath the pads of Wallstedt inside the crease for his first goal of the season at the 13:23 mark.

San Jose went up 4-1 with a power play goal exactly two minutes later. Ethan Cardwell sent the puck from the left wing into the middle of the crease where Scott Sabourin redirected the puck past Wallstedt for his first goal of the season at the 15:23 mark.

Iowa cut the lead in half on the next shift. An odd man rush led to Cameron Crotty finding Haight in the left slot and Haight beat Romanov with a wrist shot to the short side for his second goal of the game at the 15:50 mark.

San Jose made Iowa pay on their next shift. Brandon Coe sent a backhanded pass through the crease to an unmarked Filip Bystedt in front of the crease and the Swedish center buried the puck into the back of the net for his second goal of the season at the 16:03 mark.

The Barracuda weren’t done yet as over a minute and a half later they increased their cushion by four goals. Colin White cleaned up a rebound off a shot from the point by Cagnoni for his second goal of the season at the 17:40 mark.

San Jose scored its fifth goal of the period when Ethan Frisch fired a slapshot from the left point past Wallstedt for his first goal of the season at the 18:07 mark. Donovan Houle picked up his second point of the game with the primary assist. That ended the night for Wallstedt as he gave up seven goals on 25 shots. Backup goalie Samuel Hlavaj replaced Wallstedt to start the third period.

The Wild scored its third goal at the halfway mark of the third period.

Romanov earned his first victory of the season as he stopped 36 of the 39 shots he faced. Hlavaj only faced five shots in the final 20 minutes and saved all five.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play. Iowa went 0-for-2.

San Jose is 10-4-2-0 all time versus the Wild including 6-1-2-0 at home.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Sabourin 2) Haight 3) Cagnoni.

UP NEXT: San Jose takes on the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday 10/23 at 7:00pm at Dollar Loan Center.

The San Jose Barracuda celebrate their 42 victory over the Bakersfield Condors at Tech CU Arena on Sunday OCT 6, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda scored three unanswered goals and held to defeat the Bakersfield Condors 4-2 in both team’s preseason finale on Sunday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

Bakersfield drew first blood early in the first period. Matthew Savoie led a two-and-one odd man rush with Cameron Wright. After a nice give and go, Savoie tapped home the puck into an open net for his first goal of the preseason at the 3:26 mark.

San Jose even the score with a power play goal late in the opening frame. Joey Keane found Andrew Poturalski along the right wing. Poturalski skated in before wiring in a wrist shot past Condors goalie Connor Ungar for his first goal of the preseason at the 17:29 mark.

The Barracuda gained its first lead late in the second period with its second power play goal. A shot from the point of Keane pinballed off of Justin Bailey and behind goalie Brett Brochu. Filip Bystedt poked the puck home for his first goal of the preseason at the 16:36 mark.

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal of the game early in the third period. Gannon Laroque fired a shot toward the net from the point and Donavan Houle redirected the puck past Brochu for his first goal of the preseason at the 4:23 mark.

Bakersfield answered back 30 seconds later when Ethan Ritchie sent a fluttering puck on net. Matvey Petrov, who was camped out in front of the net, redirected the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Georgie Romanov for his first goal of the preseason.

That would be as close as the Condors would get as Tristen Robins closed out the scoring with an short-handed empty net goal, his first of the preseason, with 12 seconds remaining in the game to seal the deal for San Jose.

Romanov stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced to earn the victory. Brochu made eight saves on 10 shots and Ungar made 19 saves on 20 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-4 on the power play. Bakersfield went 0-for-5.

UP NEXT: San Jose opens the 2024-25 season on the road against the Ontario Reign on Saturday 10/12 at 6:00pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda forward Luke Grainger (#57) battles Bakersfield Condors center Daniel D’Amato (#19) for a faceoff during the team’s first preseason game at the Mechanics Bank Arena on Friday OCT 4, 2024. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

James Hamblin scored two goals, including the game-winner as the Bakersfield Condors defeated the San Jose Barracuda 5-3 in the first preseason game of the season on Friday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

There was no scoring in the opening 20 minutes between the Pacific Division rivals. Each team had a power play opportunity, but neither were able to cash in. San Jose’s Joe Carrol went into the sin bin at 9:36 for slashing and Bakersfield’s James Stefan took a slashing penalty at the 13:20 mark.

Bakersfield outshot San Jose 8-6 in the first period. Gabriel Carriere made his first-ever start for the ‘Cuda as he was reassigned to the Barracuda last week during training camp. Collin Delia made his debut for the Condors.

San Jose struck early in the second period to break deadlock. Kaper Halttunen shot a hard shot off of the pads of Delia. Mitchell Russell cleaned up the big rebound with a wrist shot for his first goal of the preseason at the :46 mark.

Russell, trying to make the Barracuda opening night roster, was signed to an entry-level contract by the San Jose Sharks two years ago while Russell was playing in the OHL.

Bakersfield evened the score at the 7:52 mark. Daniel D’Amato sent a tape-to-tape pass over to James Hamblin and the veteran forward beat Carriere with a wrist shot for his first goal of the preseason. Phil Kemp received the secondary assist.

The Barracuda regained the lead with a 5-on-3 power play goal. With Matvey Petrov and Darren Brady in the penalty box, Filip Bystedt found Jake Furlong up top and Furlong blasted a shot past Delia for his first goal of the preseason at the 10:21 mark.

The Condors scored its second equalizer of the period with an even strength goal. Jayden Grubbe set up Cameron Wright in the slot and he buried a wrist shot past Carriere for his first goal of the preseason at the 14:16 mark.

Bakersfield gained its first lead of the game with 1:39 remaining in the middle frame on the power play. Seth Griffith was credited with his first goal of the preseason when he poked the puck underneath Carriere’s glove after a mad scramble in front of the net.

San Jose evened the score with a late answer in the period. TJ Lloyd picked up the a loose puck near the point after a collision. He skated in from the left wing and ripped a wrist shot past Delia for his first goal of the preseason at the 19:52 mark.

The Condors regained their lead with its second power play goal of the game early in the third period. Wright found Hamblin down low in the slot. Hamblin fired in a wrist shot past Carriere for his second goal of the game at the 4:48 mark.

Griffith completed the scoring with his second goal of the game, an empty netter with 28.6 seconds remaining in the contest to seal the deal for Bakersfield.

Delia made 25 saves on 28 shots to earn the win. Carriere made 21 saves on 25 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-4 on the power play. Bakersfield was 3-for-4.

Goalie Yaroslav Askarov was reassigned to the Barracuda as the Sharks trimmed their training camp roster to 33 players. The Barracuda now have four goalies in camp with Askarov, Georgi Romanov, Carriere, and veteran Aaron Dell.

UP NEXT: San Jose closed out the preseason against the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday 10/6 at 3:00pm at Tech CU Arena.