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San Jose Barracuda forward Filip Bystedt (#21) battles for the puck along the boards with Texas Stars defenseman Christian Kyrou (#25) in the second period during the Barracuda-Stars game at Tech CU Arena on Saturday APR 13, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE —Matej Blumel scored two goals, including the game winner with 3:11 left in overtime to give the Texas Stars a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda in the ‘Cuda’s regular season home finale on Saturday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

Mavrik Bourque found Blumel in the middle of the ice and the Stats forward beat ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona with a wrist shot for his second goal of the game, his team leading 30th of the season at the 1:49 mark of the overtime session.

San Jose finished 2-1 on its final regular season homestand and never won three games in a row during the season. Texas snapped a two-game losing streak as they stayed in fourth place in the Central Division.

The opening frame was scoreless but a physical one as both teams threw checks against each other in the first 20 minutes. San Jose had a small edge in shots as they outshot Texas 12-11. Neither team drew a minor penalty.

San Jose (23-33-10-4) drew first blood early in the second period on an abbreviated power play. Filip Bystedt intercepted a clearing attempt by the Stars. Bystedt found Danil Gushchin down low in the right wing and the rookie forward’s point-blank shot inside the crease got behind Stars goalie Remi Poirier and sneaked its way into the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season at the 5:14 mark.

Gushchin’s goal tied him for the team lead in points with 54 points alongside Nathan Todd.

Texas (33-31-4-2) had four power play opportunities in the middle frame but weren’t able to figure out ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona who, like in the first period, stopped all 11 shots he faced, including a one-timer by Kyle McDonald during the Stars’ third chance with the man advantage.

The Stars finally broke through on its fifth power play opportunity early in the third period that carried over from the end of the second period. Derrick Pouliot found Blumel in the right slot and the Texas forward beat Chrona with a one-timer to the short side for his first goal of the game, his 29th, to even the score at the 1:12 mark.

Poirier (17-15-4-1) finished the game stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faces to earn his 17th win of the season. Chrona (6-16-7) made 38 saves on 40 shots in the losing effort.

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

San Jose has lost all 10 games that went into overtime this season. They went 2-2 against the Stars in the season series.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Blumel 2) Gushchin 3) Poirier.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels down to the desert for its final two games of the regular season with a weekend series with the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday 4/19 at 7:00pm at the Tucson Convention Center Arena.

San Jose Barracuda players Kyle Rau (#91), Nathan Todd (#45) and Jack Thompson (#26) celebrate Filip Bystedt’s (#21) third period goal against the Texas Stars at Tech CU Arena on Friday APR 12, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Georgi Romanov is making a strong case to be one of the San Jose Sharks top goalie prospects.

The San Jose Barracuda netminder stopped 38 of the 39 shots he faced en route to a 3-1 victory over the Texas Stars on Friday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won the first two games of their final homestand of the season. Texas has lost three out of its last four games as its headed to the postseason as they clinched a playoff berth in the Cental Division.

Romanov (9-9-8-0) recorded his ninth victory of the season as he was stellar between the pipes for San Jose that help shutdown one of the top prolific offenses in the AHL.

“I thought he (Romanov) had a really good night for us,” said ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy regarding his goalie’s performance tonight. “He (Romanov) thrives kinda in tight play (with) lateral movement. It’s good to see him get the result.”

San Jose (23-33-9-4) drew first blood moments after a killing a penalty. A fanned slapshot attempt by Derrick Pouliot squirted out to the red line. Lucas Vanroboys was at the right place at the right time as he picked up the puck right as he exited the penalty box. Vanroboys skated in and beat Stars goalie Matthew Murray with a wrist shot top shelf to the short side for his first AHL career goal at the 6:01 mark.

“Every time you’re in the (penalty) box, you kind of get it in your head maybe that if all things line up, you can get a good scoring chance out of it. (I) just executed (the play),” Vanroboys said.

The Barracuda doubled its lead on the next shift as they needed just 11 seconds after Vanroboys goal to go up 2-0. A backhanded clearing attempt by Murray from behind his own net was intercepted by Danil Gushchin and the rookie forward threaded a wrist shot into the upper corner of the net far side before Murray could recover in time for his 19th goal of the season. It was the quickest two goals scored in franchise history.

Vanroboys scored his first professional goal in just his third AHL game after playing this past season at the University of Massachusetts where he registered three goals and eight overall points in 29 games for the Minutemen.

“It’s a great experience obviously. When you play college (hockey), you want to move on and play professionally after. It’s a little bit different structure of a day. You gotta be a little more flexible with your schedule and more accountable,” said Vanroboys talking about the difference between playing collegiately and professionally in the AHL.

Texas (32-31-4-2) had two power play opportunities but were shut down by ‘Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov who made 15 saves in the opening frame.

“I thought (our) first period we came out and played the game we wanted to. In the second period, we get off script, we get off (of our) plan. Took a couple of penalties, were back on our heels. I like the way we responded in the third (period),” McCarthy said.

Once again, the Stars put 15 shots on net in the second period, but like the first period, they were stonewalled by Romanov who didn’t give up many rebounds and was aggressive challenging shots in front of the crease in the middle frame.

San Jose put the game away late in the third period with a power play goal. Jack Thompson centered a pass from the left wing over to Filip Bystedt who blasted a one-timer past Murray for his third goal in a ‘Cuda uniform at the 13:59 mark.

Justin Hryckowian spoiled Romanov’s shutout bid with 1:34 remaining in the final frame when tipped home a shot from Matej Blumel for his first goal of the season with Texas on the power play.

Murray (14-15-2-1) made 34 saves on 37 shots in the losing effort as he dropped below .500 for the season.

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

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Vanroboys 2) Romanov 3) Gushchin.

The announced attendance was 3,321 on ‘Cuda mascot Frenzy Bobblehead giveaway night.

UP NEXT: San Jose plays its final home game of the regular season against the Texas Stars on Saturday at 3:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose Barracuda forward Ethan Cardwell (#56) celebrates his go-ahead goal in the third period during the Barracuda’s 6-5 win over the Henderson Silver Knights at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday APR 10, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Ethan Cardwell picked a great time to record his first multi-goal game of the season.

Cardwell scored a shorthanded goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third period as the San Jose Barracuda took down the Henderson Silver Knights in a 6-5 victory on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

Cardwell’s heroics were set up by Tanner Kaspick as he gave the puck up to Cardwell just outside the ‘Cuda zone. Cardwell fired a wrist shot on Silver Knights goalie Jesper Vikman who made the initial save but gave up a juicy rebound. The rookie forward cleaned up his own rebound with a shot to the short side for his second goal of the game and his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 14:31 mark.

“You’re not typically looking to get one (a goal) when you’re short-handed with a couple of minutes to play,” said Cardwell about his game winner. “But sometimes, a squirrel finds a nut. I just kind of put one (a shot) on net and was hoping to kind of catch him off guard and the rebound popped up perfectly and I was able to put it home.”

The teams combined for six goals in the final frame that went back and forth from start to finish.

San Jose snapped its three-game losing streak with four games left in the regular season. Henderson has lost four of its last five games.

San Jose (22-33-9-4) drew first blood near the halfway mark of the first period with a power play goal. Nathan Todd found Jack Thompson at the point. Thompson blasted a slap shot that was tipped past Vikman by Cole Cassels for his 11th goal of the season at the 8:31 mark.

Thompson leads all defenseman in the AHL in power play with 22 (3G, 19 A).

Henderson (27-34-3-5) evened the game late in the first period with a short-handed goal. Bryan Froese skated into the Barracuda zone, found Jonas Rondbjerg along the right slot. Rondbjerg’s wrist shot hit off the shaft of Filip Bystedt’s stick and past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona for his ninth goal of the season at the 14:33 mark.

The Silver Knights gained its first lead of the game with a power play goal early in the second period. Mason Morelli tried to center the puck from the left boards. The puck pinballed around before Jakub Brabenec picked up the loose puck and fired a wrist shot past Chrona for his sixth goal of the season at the 5:01 mark.

The Barracuda answered back with its second power play goal of the game at the halfway mark of the middle frame. Thompson found Danil Gushchin along the left wing. Gushchin threaded a seem pass back door to Nathan Todd who buried a wrist shot for his 19th goal of the season at the 10:17 mark.

San Jose regained the lead late in the second period with an even strength goal. Todd waited to Tristen Robins to get untangled with a Silver Knights defenseman. Robins skated in all alone on Vikman before beating him with a backhand to forehand shot that trickled behind Vikman into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:09 mark.

The Barracuda scored its third unanswered goal in the period just before the second intermission. Ethan Cardwell created a give and go with Gushchin inside the Silver Knights zone. Cardwell skated down the wing before firing an off-balanced shot through the five-hole of Vikman for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 19:18 mark.

Henderson scored two unanswered goals to even the game at the start of the third period before a blink of an eye. Mathieu Cataford sent a puck back up to the point where defenseman Daniil Chayka beat Chrona to the stick side with a slap shot for his first goal of the season at the 1:58 mark.

Then 42 seconds later Daniel D’Amato centered a pass from behind the net over to Morelli who fired a one-timer past Chrona for his 12th goal of the season at the 2:40 mark.

Both goals were a result of the Silver Knights outworking the ‘Cuda to the puck and winning battles inside the Barracuda zone.

“It was crazy coming to the third period with a 4-2 lead. It got a little windy out there and they got a few pucks in (the net). (The) boys just kept going and I’m proud of the way we stepped up after that and got us the win,” ‘Cuda center Filip Bystedt said.

Morelli scored his second goal of the game and Henderson’s third unanswered goal in the period with in the first five minutes. Grigori Denisenko threw the puck toward the front of the net from the left boards. Morelli picked up the puck and wrapped it around the net for his 13th goal of the season at the 5:29 mark.

“Obviously we didn’t like the way we came out (to start the third period. Maybe we thought the game was over (when it was 4-2), I don’t know. We battled back and were able to get the win,” ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy said.

Gushchin scored the equalizer for the Barracuda thanks to a nice individual play by Gushching. Donovan Houle found Gushchin up the ice at the red line. The rookie skated in from the right wing and beat Vikman with a wrist shot snipe to the short side top shelf for his 18th goal of the season at the 12:02 mark.

Henderson pulled Vikman for a six-on-four advantage with under a minute remaining with Cassels in the sinbin for holding. However, the ‘Cuda penalty kill held their ground to hold on for the win.

Chrona (6-16-5-0) finished the game with 31 saves on 36 shots to earn his sixth victory of the season. Jesper (6-7-2-1) made 21 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-3 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-5.

San Jose finished 3-3-2 in the season series with Henderson.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Cardwell 2) Morelli 3) Gushchin.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Texas Stars in a weekend series on Friday 4/12 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Ontario Reign’s Andre Lee celebrates his goal against the San Jose Barracuda in the Reign’s 3-2 shootout win at Toyota Arena on Saturday APR 6, 2024. (Ontario Reign)

by Marko Ukalovic

Taylor Ward scored the game winning goal in the shootout as the Ontario Reign came back from a two-goal deficit to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 3-2 in a shootout win on Saturday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose has lost five of its past six games and finished 1-4 on their five-game road trip. Ontario has won a season best seven games in a row. The Barracuda went winless against the Reign in the season series 0-6-1-1.

San Jose (21-33-9-4-53 points) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Ethan Cardwell came into the Reign zone on a two-on-one odd man rush with Danil Gushchin. Cardwell feathered a pass over to Gushchin who skated in all alone and beat Reign goalie Erik Portillo with a wrist shot to the short side for his 17th goal of the season at the 4:35 mark.

Ontario (38-21-3-4-83 points) out shot San Jose 13-8 in the opening frame but weren’t able to get a puck past ‘Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov, who was impressive and saw the puck well.

The Barracuda doubled in the first two minutes of the second period with an even strength goal. Kyle Rau’s shot went through a scramble in front of the net. The puck leaked out to Tristen Robins who poked home the puck into the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season at the 1:46 mark.

The Reign cut the lead in half just over three minutes later with an even strength goal. Kim Nousiainen set up Francesco Pinelli at the ‘Cuda blueline. Pinelli made a toe-drag past Jack Thompson Pinelli before beating Romanov with a backhander for his 10th goal of the season at the 4:56 mark.

Ontario scored the equalizer late in the third period with an even strength goal. Hayden Hodgen sprung Andre Lee up the ice with a pass in the neutral zone. Lee skated in and his wrist shot hit off the mask of Romanov and through his five-hole for his seventh goal of the season at the 16:22 mark.

The overtime period was filled with drama as Samuel Fagemo thought he had won the game when his wrist shot got past Romanov with 2:07 remaining. However, the officials ruled that there was goaltender interference on the play by Ontario negating the goal. Fagemo had one last attempt that rang off the post with four seconds left sending the game to the shootout.

Portillo (21-10-3-2) finished the game stopping 27 of the 29 shots he faced and all three ‘Cuda attempts in the shootout to earn his 21st win of the season. Romanov, who had another great game in net, made 41 saves on 43 shots as he lost for the first time in a shootout this season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-2 on the power play. Ontario was 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Portillo 2) Lee 3) Romanov.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home for their final homestand, three games, to take on the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday 4/10 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Cameron Hughes (#19) celebrates his go ahead goal against the San Jose Barracuda during the Firebirds 3-1 win at Acrisure Arena on Thursaday APR 3, 2024. (Coachella Valley Firebirds)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Coachella Valley Firebirds scored three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 3-1 on Thursday evening at Acrisure Arena.

San Jose has lost four of its last four games. Coachella Valley has won four of its past five games and sits comfortable in first place in the Pacific Division with 91 points.

Neither team was able to put a dent on the scoreboard in a goal-less first period. Despite Coachella Valley having two power play opportunities and San Jose had one, both team’s goalies Georgi Romanov and Chris Driedger had clean slates in the opening frame that featured both teams have 11 shots on goal.

San Jose’s (21-33-9-3-54 points) fourth line drew first blood early in the second period. Anthony Vincent found Jeremie Bucheler in the right slot. Bucheler’s wrist show was redirected off the post and into the back fo the net by Tanner Kaspick for his sixth goal of the season at the 4:53 mark. The goal snapped a 14-game goal-less skid for Kaspick.

Coachella Valley (41-14-5-4-91 points) dominated the middle frame, but Romanov had another stellar period stopping all 15 shots the Firebirds peppered him with. Romanov did receive help from his two best friends: the posts, late in the period when the Firebirds were on the power play, including 30 seconds of 5-on-3 play. Two different Firebirds hit the post in less than a minute span.

The Firebirds finally broke through on its 33rd shot of the game early in the third period with an even strength goal. Jacob Melanson skate in from the left slot and beat Romanov with a wrist shot falling down to the ice for his sixth goal of the season at the 6:49 mark.

Coachella Valley gained its first lead at the halfway point of the final frame moments after its fifth power play opportunity had expired. Villa Ottavainen’s shot from the left point was tipped past Romanov by Cameron Huges for his 23rd goal of the season at the 10:02 mark.

Kole Lind iced the game for the Firebirds with an insurance goal with two minutes remaining left in the game. Cale Fleury set up Lind with a stretch pass out to the neutral zone. Lind skated in and beat Romanov with a wrist shot through the five-hole for his 16th goal of the season.

Driedger (22-6-5-4) stopped 34 of 35 shots he faced to earn his 22nd win of the season. Romanov (8-9-7), who deserved a better fate as he kept the ‘Cuda in the game with big save after big save, made 39 saves on 42 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Coachella Valley was 0-for-5.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its five-game road trip in Ontario as the take on the Reign on Saturday 4/6 at 6:00pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda goalie Magnus Chrona (#30) makes a save against San Diego Gulls right winger Judd Caulfield (#28) as Akim Aliu (#83) pressured Caulfield during the Gulls 6-5 shootout win at Pechanga Arena at San Diego on Wednesday APR 3, 2024. (San Diego Gulls)

by Marko Ukalovic

It was quite the North American professional debut for the San Jose Sharks 2022 first round draft pick.

In a game that went back and forth all night long, the San Diego Gulls won a wild affair with a 6-5 shootout win over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at P Pechanga Arena at San Diego.

San Jose has lost three out of its last four games. San Diego has won two out of its last three games.

Filip Bystedt, who the Sharks selected with the 27th pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, donned the number 21 on his jersey as he made his pro debut with the ‘Cuda. He centered the top line with Ethan Cardwell and Kyle Rau. Bystedt finished with 17 points (8G, 9A) in 47 games this season for Linkoping HC of the Swedish Hockey League.

Akim Aliu (who wore number 83) also made his debut on the blueline as the 34-year-old veteran played in a game for the first time since 2020 when he played in Czechia. The Sharks signed him to an AHL tryout contract back on March 20th.

San Diego (24-31-8-0) drew first blood near the halfway mark of the first period with an even strength goal. Judd Caulfield sent a pass back up to the point where Nick Wolff’s slapshot was redirected past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona by Nathan Gaucher for his 10th goal of the season at the 9:09 mark.

Gaucher has scored a goal in four straight games for the Gulls.

San Jose (21-32-9-3) answered back with a power play goal less than four minutes later. Danil Gushchin’s wrist shot was redirected by Rau past Gulls goalie Alex Stalock for his seventh goal of the season at the 12:56 mark. Rau snapped a 14-game goal-less draught.

The Gulls regained the late in the opening frame. Glen Gawdin led a rush into the ‘Cuda zone. Chase De Leo found an uncontested Ben King in the right slot and King scored his 15th goal of the season into an empty net at the 16:23 mark.

The Barracuda scored the equalizer with nine seconds left in the first period. Cole Cassels skated out from behind the net and found Scott Sabourin just outside the faceoff circle. Sabourin beat Stalock with a one-timer top-shelf to the short side for his 17th goal of the season.

Sam Colangelo regained the lead with an even strength goal past the halfway point of the second period. Sam Colangelo, who made his AHL debut for San Diego, collected a block shot off a ‘Cuda defender and fired a wrist shot through a sea of traffic past Chrona for his first professional goal at the 12:10 mark.

Bystedt evened the contest with his first professional career goal late in the middle frame. Cardwell entered the Gulls zone on an odd man rush. Rau found Bystedt along the right slot and the Swedish center wired a one-timer past Stalock at the 18:10 mark.

If that wasn’t memorable enough, Bystedt scored his second goal of the game to give the Barracuda its first lead of the game near the halfway mark of the third period. Ethan Frisch cruised around a Gulls defender along the left board before centering a pass over to Bystedt who beat Stalock from point-blank range at the 8:31 mark. Rau picked up his second assist for a three-point night (1G, 2A), his third of the season. Bystedt also finished the game with three points in his debut.

San Jose’s lead was short lived as Carrick evened the game when he completed a two-on-one as he buried a pass from Caulfield into an empty net for his eighth goal of the season 89 seconds later at the 10-minute mark.

The back-and-forth action kept going as San Jose regained the lead 92 seconds after Carrick’s goal. Nathan Todd skated in along the left slot and sent a centering pass over to Cardwell who chipped the puck top-shelf for his team-leading 21st goal of the season at the 11:32 mark.

San Diego made San Jose pay for back-to-back trips to the sinbin for interference late in the period. Sasha Pastujov centered a backdoor pass over to Pavol Regenda who tapped home the puck into an empty net for his 17th goal at the 15:32 mark with the game’s fifth tie.

King scored the only goal in the shootout as the five other four other skaters were unsuccessful with their attempts.

Stalock (2-9-1) finished the game, in what may be the last of his long career, with 22 saves on 27 shots (and all three in the shootout) to earn his second win of the season. Chrona (5-16-4-1) made 28 of 33 saves in the losing effort.

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

De Leo became the all-time Gulls scoring leader with an assist on an Anderw Agozzino goal in a 7-3 loss to Tuscon Roadrunners for his 182nd point on March 30th, surpassing Sam Carrick’s mark of 181 points.

San Jose is now 3-1 in the season series against San Diego.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Colangelo 2) Gaucher 3) Regenda.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its five-game road trip against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Thursday at 7:00pm at Acrisure Arena.