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The Colorado Eagles celebrate their 8-0 victory over the San Jose Barracuda at the Budweiser Events Center on Tuesday MAR 21, 2023. (Colorado Eagles)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Colorado Eagles used seven different goal scorers, including two from Mikhail Maltsev, as they routed the San Jose Barracuda in a 8-0 shutout victory on Tuedsay evening at the Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose has lost two out of its last three games as it fights for the seventh and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division, currently held by the Tucson Roadrunners. Colorado has won three out of its last four games and is on four-game point streak as they hold on to fourth place in the division.

Colorado (33-20-5-3-74 points) scored early and often in the opening frame as they tallied for four games in the period. Ryan Wagner got the party started at the 6:35 mark when he scored his fifth goal of the season. Callahan Burke picked up the only assist on the goal.

Just over two minutes later Riley McCourt scored his first goal of the season at the 8:39 mark. Alex Beaucage and Ben Meyers has the helpers on McCourt’s goal.

The Eagles finished off the first period with two late goals. Maltsev scored his first of the night, his sixth of the season, at the 15:26 mark. Charles Hudson and Cedric Pare were credited with the assists.

David Farrance scored his third goal of the season with 31 seconds remaining in the opening frame as Meltsev and Burke set up Farrance who beat ‘Cuda starting goalie Aaron Dell with a wrist shot. Dell gave up four goals on 14 shots.

San Jose (26-30-1-4-57 points) was badly dominated by Colorado in the opening 20 minutes, despite having two power play opportunities, as they were out shot 14-5.

‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy spelled Dell for the rest of the game as he sent out Strauss Mann to start out the second period. Mann didn’t fare any better as he also gave up four goals to the Eagles.

Hudson scored his team leading 22nd goal of the season on the power play to give Colorado a 5-0 lead early in the second period. Farrance and Meyers receieved assists on Hudson’s goal that came at the 4:48 mark.

Maltsev scored his second goal, also Colorado’s second goal with the man advantage, at the 14:48 mark.

The fireworks continued for the Eagles Sampo Ranta scored his ninth goal of the season at the 16:26 mark.

Beaucage completed the scoring with his eighth goal of the season with 55 seconds left in the middle frame.

Colorado took their foot off the gas pedal in the final frame as they cruised the final 20 minutes as both teams combined for just 13 shots.

Eagles goalie Keith Kinkaid stopped all 21 shots he faced to pickup the shutout victory. Mann made 17 saves on 21 shots in mop up duty.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Kinkaid 2) Maltsev 3) Farrance

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado complete their two-game series on Wednesday 3/22 at 6:05pm at the Budweiser Events Center.

Danil Gushchin (#75) celebrates his goal with his San Jose Barracuda teammates against the Henderson Silver Knights at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday MAR 15, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda scored the final four goals of the game as they cruised to a 6-2 victory over the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday morning at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won three out of its past four games and sit one point behind the Tucson Roadrunners (56 points) for 7th place and the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Henderson have lost four games in a row and currently sit in the 9th place in the Pacific Division.

San Jose (25-28-1-4-55 points) had the drew first blood 27 seconds into the game with an even strength goal. Artemi Kniazev centered a pass in front of the crease to Ozzie Wiesblatt who tucked home the puck from point blank range past Silver Knight’s goalie Ishiah Saville for his third goal of the season.

Henderson (22-32-0-5-49 points) evened the score seconds after their power play expired. Brandon Bisson cleaned up his own rebound from the left slot as he beat ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell with a wrist shot top shelf for his 11th goal of the season at the 4:32 mark.

The Silver Knights gained its first lead of the game thanks to a giveaway by the ‘Cuda behind their own net. Sakari Manninen centered the puck from behind the net to Brayden Pachal who blasted a one-timer past Dell for his third goal of the season at the 13:48 mark.

San Jose evened the score late in the opening frame with the man advantage. Martin Kaut began what was a tic-tac-toe type of goal when he sent the puck down low to Kyle Criscuolo, who then fed a pass through the crease over to Andrew Agozzino and the ‘Cuda captain finished off the play as he buried the puck into an open net for his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 19:29 mark.

The Barracuda regained the lead late in the middle frame. Kniazev intercepted a clearing attempt by Henderson, then spotted Martin Kaut opened on the right wing and Kaut drilled a wrist shot past Saville for his eighth goal of the season at the 18:01 mark.

San Jose scored an insurance goal with its second power play tally of the game. Danil Gushchin picked up a loose puck near the blueline from a scrum along the boards. Gushchin skated in and beat Saville through the five-hole with a wrist shot for his 14th goal of the season just 51 seconds into the third period.

Kniazev picked up his third point of the game with the secondary assist on Gushchin’s goal.

The ‘Cuda put the game away with its third unanswered goal 74 seconds later. A Kaut breakaway attempt was cleaned up by Criscuolo as he trailed the play for his 15th goal of the season.

Agozzino finished off the scoring with his second goal of the game, a short-handed empty netter with 3:59 remaining in the final stanza when Henderson pulled Saville for an extra attacker with the mad advantage.

Dell finished the afternoon stopping 21 of the 23 shots he faced to earn the victory. Saville made 28 saves on 33 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Barracuda hosted its annual ‘Cuda Classroom Day where kids from the local elementary schools were in attendance.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Kaut 2) Kniazev 3) Agozzino

San Jose finished 5-1-0-1 against Henderson in the season series. They finished 1-7-0-0 last season against the Silver Knights.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Texas Stars for a two-game weekend series starting on Friday 3/17 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Seth Griffith and Raphael Lavoie celebrate Griffith’s goal against the San Jose Barracuda on Friday MAR 11, 2023. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Bakersfield Condors blitzed the San Jose Barracuda with five unanswered goals including a hat trick from Seth Griffith in a 6-2 crushing victory on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose had its two-game winning streak snapped. Bakersfield went back up five points on San Jose for seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

It was a reversal of fortune for the home team as they turned the tables to split the two-game series. The night before they were dominated by San Jose in almost the same fashion.

Bakersfield (27-26-2-2-58 points) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Greg McKegg stole the puck behind the San Jose net and centered a pass to an open Seth Griffith and the veteran forward buried a one-timer past ‘Cuda goalie Aarond Dell for his 14th goal of the season at the 9:45 mark.

San Jose (24-28-1-4-53 points) evened the score just under four minutes later. Thomas Bordeleau made a power move around a Condors defender. Bordelaeu’s shot was blocked but ‘Cuda captain Andrew Agozzino cleaned up the rebound sliding the puck past Condor’s goalie Calvin Pickard for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 13:24 mark.

The Condors regained the lead late in the opening 20 minutes on the man advantage. After Cam Dineen kept the puck inside the ‘Cuda zone, James Hamblin sent a cross ice pass over to Raphael Lavoie who snapped home a wrist shot past Dell for his 21st goal of the season at the 18:52 mark.

Bakersfield dominated the first period as the outshot San Jose 22-4.

Lavoie scored his second goal of the game with an even strength goal early in the second period. Lavoie had a give and go with Griffith, and he used a ‘Cuda defender as a screen to roof a wrist shot past Dell for his team leading 22nd goal at the 6:40 mark.

A controversial play led to Bakersfield third unanswered goal of the middle frame. Nick Cicek was apparently tripped up at his own blue line by Griffth. The officials let the play continue with no penalty on the play and Griffith skated in on a breakaway and beat Dell with a backhander for his second goal of the game and 15th of the season at the 14:40 mark.

Noah Philp gave Bakersfield a 5-1 lead just under three minutes later when he scored his 14th goal of the season with a shot top shelf to the short side at the 17:34 mark.

‘Cuda head coach replaced Dell in the net with backup goalie Strauss Mann to start the third period in attempt to shake things up as his team floundered during the first 40 minutes of the game. Dell (10-12-1) allowed five goals on 33 shots.

Griffith completed his hat trick with a 5-on-3 power play goal at the 11:01 mark of the final frame.

Darren Brady picked up his third goal of the season at the 14:03 mark when he finished off a pass from Brandon Coe with a wrist shot that beat Pickard.

Pickard (17-9-2) stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to earn the victory. Mann made seven saves on eight shots in mop up duty for the ‘Cuda.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-6 on the power play. Bakersfield went 2-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Griffith 2) Lavoie 3) Jason Demers

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday at 10:30am at Tech CU Arena.

The San Jose Barracuda began their road trip off with a bang in their 6-2 win over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday MAR 8, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda scored three goals in the second period en route to a 6-2 victory over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday evening at Toyota Center.

San Jose has won two out of its last three games and two in a row over the Reign. The ‘Cuda remain five points behind the Bakersfield Condors for the seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Ontario has lost five games in a row and six out of their last seven.

Ontario (30-21-4-1) drew first blood 66 seconds into the first period on its first shot on goal. ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell misplayed the puck from behind the net. Alan Quine thanked Dell for the gift as he wrapped around the puck into an empty net for his eight goal of the season.

San Jose (23-27-1-4) evened the score just over two minutes later with its first shot on net. Adam Raska fed a pass over to Will Riedell who skated in front of Reign goalie Cal Petersen and deposited the puck to the left side of the net for his second goal of the season at the 3:23 mark.

Wiedell has scored both goals of his career against the Reign.

The Barracuda gained its first lead of the game at the 5:04 mark. Off of a faceoff draw inside the Reign zone, Jeffery Viel beat Petersen with a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season. Viel has scored goals in back-to-back games and extended his point streak to seven.

Ontario scored the equalizer just past the halfway point of the opening frame. Tyrell Goulbourne gathered the puck at the left faceoff circle and snapped home a wrist shot past Dell for his second goal of the season at the 10:06 mark.

San Jose changed the momentum of the game with three unanswered goals in the middle frame.

Kyle Kriscuolo intercepted a pass inside at the Reign blueline and skated in on a breakaway and slid a backhander past Petersen for an unassisted goal, his 13th of the season at the 6:02 mark.

Luke Johnson cleaned up a rebound off a Danil Gushchin shot from the right wing for his 10th goal of the season at the 8:40 mark to give the ‘Cuda an insurance goal after the Reign turned the puck over in the neutral zone that led to the odd man rush for San Jose.

‘Cuda captain Andrew Agozzino put the game away late in the second period with his team leading 21st goal of the season when he finished off a rink wide pass from Riedell with a tap in from the back door. Agozzino extended his point-scoring streak to nine games, one shy of the Barracuda record held by Marcus Sorensen.

Criscuolo concluded the scoring with his second goal of the game, and 14th of the season, with 1:46 remaining in the third period when he banged home a puck in front of the crease from a pass by Thomas Bordeleau.

Dell (9-11-2) finished the evening stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the victory and is 3-0 against the Reign this season. Petersen (13-11-4) made 16 saves on 22 shots in the losing effort.

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

San Jose finished the season series with a 5-3 record against Ontario.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Riedell 2) Lee 3) Goulbourne.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to Bakersfield for a two-game weekend series with the Condors on Friday 3/10 at 7:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose Barracuda’s Danil Guschin celebrates his first of two goals with his teammates at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday FEB 15, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE–Danil Gushchin scored the game winning goal at the 2:52 mark of overtime to give the San Jose Barracuda a 4-3 win over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose snapped its five-game losing streak to conclude its five-game homestand. Ontario had its three-game winning streak end with the overtime loss but have picked up points in its last four games.

Third time was the charm for Gushchin in the overtime session as he had his first attempt stoned away by Reign goalie Cal Petersen and his second attempt clang off the post. Guschin was able to get his own rebound before depositing a backhander to the left corner of the net for his second goal of the game and his and 11th of the season at the 2:52 mark.

San Jose (19-25-0-4) drew first blood past the halfway mark of the first period. William Eklund sent a rink wide pass over to Gushchin who shot the puck between his legs to the far left post for a highlight reel goal, his first of the game and 10th of the season at the 12:58 mark.

Gushchin snapped a 11-game goalless draught.

The Barracuda doubled its lead with a power play goal less than two minutes later. A shot from the point by Thomas Bordeleau was redirected by Kyle Criscuolo for his 10th of the season and fifth with the ‘Cuda at the 14:13 mark.

Ontario (26-17-2-1) cut San Jose lead in half early in the second period. Jacob Moverare used Darren Brady as screen to snap home a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Strauss Mann for his third goal of the season at the 7:06 mark.

The Reign scored the equalizer three minutes later in the middle frame. Samuel Helenius fooled Mann with a wrist shot from the left point that beat the rookie goalie through the five-hole for his first goal in 48 games this season at the 10:48 mark.

Ontario gained its first lead of the game with its third unanswered goal early in the third period. Tobias Bjornfot led an odd man rush into the ‘Cuda zone. Bjornfot found Lias Andersson on the left wing and Andersson wired a wrist shot past Mann to the far side for his team leading 21st goal of the season at the 7:31 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer just under five minutes later. Ozzy Weisblatt centered a pass from behind the net out to C.J. Suess who beat Petersen with a quick one-timer for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:24 mark.

Mann (4-4) finished the night stopping 23 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the victory. Petersen (11-8-2) had a busy night as he made 37 saves on 41 shots in the losing effort and is 0-1-1 against San Jose this season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-4 on the power play. Ontario was 0-for-3.

San Jose improved to 3-0 on the season in overtime games.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Gushchin 2) Suess 3) Petersen

UP NEXT: San Jose began a four-game road trip against the Abbotsford Canucks on Saturday 2/18 at 7:00pm at Abbotsford Centre.

San Jose’s Jeffery Viel fights for a rebound against Calgary’s Daniil Chechelev at Tech CU Arena on Saturday FEB 11, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Matthew Phillips scored the winning goal in the shootout to give the Calgary Wrangles a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost five games in a row. Calgary has won three games in a row and swept the two-game series with San Jose.

Calgary (33-11-2-0) drew first blood late in the first period. Emilio Pettersen point blank chance was initially saved by ‘Cuda goalie Eetu Makiniemi but the rebound was tucked home by Kevin Rooney for his third goal of the season at the 18:49 mark.

Both teams had two power play opportunities, but neither were able to capitalize on their chances with the man advantage.

San Jose (18-25-0-4) answered back with a power play goal midway through the second period. Martin Kaut’s shot from the left wing was initially saved by Daniil Chechelev but Andrew Agozzino tapped home the rebound for his 16th goal of the season at the 10:42.

It was the first power play goal San Jose has scored against Calgary this season.

The Wranglers regained their lead late in the middle frame. Walker Duehr centered a pass to the crease where unmarked Clark Bishop chipped the puck over the shoulder of Makiniemi for his fifth goal of the season at the 16:11 mark.

Calgary went up 3-1 two minutes later with a power play goal. Duehr centered a pass from the behind the net to Adam Klapka who one-timed the puck past Makiniemi for his fourth goal of the season at the 18:22 mark.

San Jose responded right out of the gate to start the 3rd period. Artemi Kniazev sent a back door pass over to an unmarked William Eklund who buried the puck into an empty net for his 13th goal of the season at the :33 mark.

The Barracuda evened the game five minutes later with an even strength goal. Mark Veronneau centered a pass from the right boards over to Tristen Robins who beat Chechelev with a backhander for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:42 mark.

Calgary regained the lead less the two minutes later with an even strength goal. Josh Brook found Pettersen in the middle of the point. Pettersen skated in unchecked before firing a shot over the right shoulder of Makiniemi for his 12th goal of the season at the 7:58 mark.

The Barracuda scored the equalizer with its second power play goal 61 seconds later. Thomas Bordeleau found Eklund at center ice. The rookie forward skated in between two Calgary defenders before snapping home a wrist shot to the far side for his second goal of the game and 14th goal of the season at the 8:59 mark.

Calgary had a power play in the overtime session but failed to take advantage of their opportunity as San Jose forced the game into the shootout.

Chechelev finished the evening with 29 saves on 33 shots to earn the victory. Makiniemi made 27 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-4 on the power play. Calgary was 1-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Phillips 2) Eklund 3) Bordeleau

UP NEXT: San Jose host the Ontario Reign on Wednesday at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.