Barracuda blasts Condors 6-3, sweep weekend series

San Jose Barracuda forwards Anthony Vincent (#76) and Ethan Cardwell sandwiched forward Walker Duehr’s (#55) second goal of the game in a 6-3 win over the Bakersfield Condors at Tech CU Arena on Sunday MAR 23, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda scored three special team goals in a 6-3 route of the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose swept the weekend home-and-home series and has won three games in a row. Bakersfield has lost three games in a row. The Barracuda moved up to fifth place in the Pacific Division one point ahead of the Calgary Wranglers with 72 points.

San Jose (32-21-4-4-72 points) drew first blood late in the first period on the man advantage. Andrew Poturalski fed a pass back up to the point over to Jack Thompson. The Cuda defenseman waited before whipping a wrist shot past Condor’s goalie Olivier Rodrigue for his third goal of the season at the 17:13 mark.

The AHL’s number one power play has scored a power play goal in nine straight games that tied a franchise record.

Bakersfield (26-25-6-3-61 points) registered 14 shots in the opening frame but could not get a puck past Cuda goalie Gabriel Carriere who looked sharped throughout the period. Carriere robbed Darren Brady with a glove save out of midair with Brady attempting to score into an open net with 35 second remaining in the period.

San Jose doubled its lead 25 seconds to start the second power with its second power play goal of the contest. Poturalski found Rem Pitlick down low in the slot. Pitlick laid a backhand pass over to Danil Gushchin who buried a shot past Rodrigue to the far side for his 25th goal of the season. Gushchin has scored a goal in four straight games.

Walker Duehr scored the first of his two goals to give the Cuda its third unanswered goal of the game just over three minutes later. Ethan Cardwell’s shot deflected off of Cam Dineen. Duehr collected the puck, spun around and fired a shot that beat Rodrigue to the short side for his 15th goal of the season at the 13:50 mark of the period.

Bakersfield responded 25 seconds later to get on the scoreboard. Darren Brady’s shot from the left slot was cleaned up by Ethan Keppan for his first in a Condors uniform and second of the season at the 14:15 mark.

Duehr extended San Jose’s back to a three-goal lead with his second goal of the game while the Cuda were on the penalty kill to start the third period. Duehr intercepted a pass by Kyle Mayhew a the blueline that led to a breakaway. Duehr beat Rodrigue with a backhander for a short-handed goal, his 16th goal of the season. San Jose has scored nine short-handed goals this season.

Pavol Regenda put the game away with 10th goal of the season at the 5:42 mark. Jimmy Schuldt sent an outlet pass out Regenda who skated in and beat Rodrigue with a wrist shot below the arm to the far side of the net.

Matthew Savoie scored his 17th goal of the season just past the halfway mark of the final frame. Savoie beat Carriere with a forehand to backhand move in front of the crease after taking a cross-ice pass from Drake Caggiula at the 10:16 mark.

San Jose regained its four-goal advantage Schuldt joined the scoring party. Thomas Bordeleau drove toward the net but fanned on his shot attempt. The Cuda captain pinched in from the point and beat Rodrigue top-shelf for his sixth goal of the season at the 13:53 mark.

Dineen completed the scoring with a power play goal with four seconds left in the game. Dineen’s shot from got through a sea of traffic in front of the crease for his eighth goal of the season.

Carriere (7-5-2-2) finished the game stopping 33 of the 36 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Rodrigue (18-14-6-1) made 38 saves on 44 shots in the losing effort.

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

Bakersfield has given up 10 short-handed goals on the season.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Duehr (2G, 0A) 2) Poturalski (0G, 2A) 3 Regenda (1G, 0A).

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its season series with the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday 3/26 at Pechanga Arena of San Diego.

Yaboah’s lone goal enough as Minnesota United shutout Earthquakes 1-0

San Jose Earthquakes forward Chico Arango (#9) plays the ball up high while being defended by Minnesota United’s Morris Duggan (#23) during the United’s 1-0 victory at Pay Pal Park on Saturday MAR 8, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE —Kelvin Yaboah has been all of the offense for Minnesota United FC.

His lone goal in the first half proved to be the winner as United shutout the San Jose Earthquakes 1-0 on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has lost for the first time this season after starting the season 2-0. They attempted to make franchise history by starting the season with consecutive wins in MLS play. It was Deja vu for Minnesota United as they won for a second consecutive week by a score of 1-0.

“[Minnesota United FC] defended very well. They dealt with a lot of crosses quite well. We obviously made a mistake on the goal, not clearing the ball properly, and not doing a good job stepping to the player who finished. I don’t even know who finished the goal, but bad defending on our part on that particular play, I’m not concerned about a couple of chances they got at the end of the game, because we were very exposed trying to get the goal. We opened ourselves up. We were well aware that was going to happen. I give our keeper [Daniel] credit. He made a lot of good saves,” Quakes head coach Bruce Arena said.

Minnesota United (2-1-0) drew first blood in the 33rd minute. A failed clearing attempt out of the box by San Jose led to Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi collecting the ball out of the air. Oluwaseyi found Michael Boxall inside the box on the right side. Boxall quickly passed it over to Kelvin Yeboah who beat Quakes goalkeeper Daniel with a shot to far corner for his second goal of the season. Yaboah has scored both of Minnesota United’s goals this season.

San Jose (2-1-0) had pressure inside Minnesota United’s zone early in the first ten minutes of the opening 45 minutes. Their best scoring chance came in the 29th minute when Jamar Ricketts centered a ball into the box for a Josef Martinez shot attempt. However, Martinez’s shot was blocked by a United defender and cleared out of the box.

In the 62nd minute Morris Duggan had a great scoring chance to double Minnesota United’s lead, but Daniel made a diving save to his left to keep the ball out of the net.

The Earthquakes won a free quick just outside the box in the 65th minute. Cristian Espinoza’s bid to even the score with his free kick curled just to the right of the net out of bounds.

“Yes, absolutely yes,” said Espinoza when asked if he thought he had scored once he kicked it. “As soon as I saw the ball going over the wall, I was almost expecting that it was going to end up inside the net. It was very close, but unfortunately, I didn’t score the goal.”

Then in the 78th minute, Mark-Anthony Kaye’s right footed shot from outside the box in the center was blocked by Hassani Dotson. San Jose’s best attempt to score the equalizer came in the 80th minute when full back Dave Romney’s (San Jose Earthquakes) with right footed shot from the central position outside the box was knocked away by Minnesota United goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.

St. Clair finished the match with two saves on the evening to earn his second clean sheet of the season. Daniel made five saves on six shots on goal in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 10 corner kicks. Minnesota United had four.

Midfielder Niko Tsakiris made his season debut when he came in as a substitute for Rodriguez in the second minute of stoppage time.

San Jose is 7-7-4 in the all-time series versus Minnesota United.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Colorado Rapids on Saturday 3/15 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

Carpenter’s overtime winner helped Gulls escape San Jose with 5-4 win

San Diego Gulls defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka beats San Jose Barracuda forward Donovan Houle to a loose puck during the Gulls 5-4 overtime victory over the Barracuda at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday MAR 5, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Ryan Carpenter came back to San Jose to haunt his former team.

Carpenter scored the game winning goal in overtime as the San Diego Gulls defeated the San Jose Barracuda 5-4 in a game that went back and forth all night long on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

A bad change by the Barracuda led to a two-on-one odd man rush. Former Cuda forward Justin Bailey skated down the left wing before finding Carpenter who wired in a one-timer past Cuda goalie Gabriel Carriere for his 16th goal of the season at the 1:04 of the extra session.

San Jose with the loss finished 2-2 on their four-game homestand. San Diego has won seven of its last 10 games.

San Jose (28-20-3-3-62 points) drew first blood late in the first period seconds after a four-minute power play expired. Nikita Nesterenko went to the sinbin with a double minor for high sticking Luca Cagnoni. Ethan Cardwell led a rush into the Gulls zone. Cardwell dished the puck over Walker Duehr near the blueline. Duehr skated from right to left, maneuvering around Ryan Carpentar. Duehr beat Gulls goalie Ville Husso with a wrist to the short side for his 12th goal of the season and first in a Cuda uniform at the 19:12 mark.

Duehr made his Barracuda debut after clearing waivers two days ago after being released by the San Jose Sharks. Duehr, who also scored in his Sharks debut when he was claimed off waivers after being released by the Calgary Flames, was on the second line with Danil Gushchin and Rem Pitlick.

San Diego (21-25-5-3-50 points) despite having a power play opportunity near the halfway mark of the opening frame, weren’t able to generate many scoring chances as they were outshot 11-7 by San Jose.

The Gulls evened the contest with an even strength goal early in the second period. A fortunate bounce off the boards led to an odd man rush for San Diego. Coulson Pitre’s shot was kicked out by Cuda goalie Gabrielle Carriere. However, Judd Caulfield cleaned up the rebound into an open net for his sixth goal of the season at the 5:06 mark.

The Barracuda regained the lead exactly 60 seconds later. A faceoff win by Pitlick led to Duehr sending the puck back up to the point. Braden Hache sent a shot on net that deflected off of a Gulls defender skate to the far side of the net for his first career AHL goal at the 6:06 mark.

San Diego scored its second equalizer of the game with a power play goal at the halfway mark of the middle frame. Nico Myatovic centered a pass from being the Cuda net out to an unmarked Yegor Sidorov who beat Carriere with a wrist shot for his 14th goal of the season at the 9:56 mark.

San Jose earned its third lead of the game just over three minutes later. Hache kept the puck inside the Gulls zone on a clearing attempt. Andrew Poturalski picked up the puck along the left boards and danced around in the slot before releasing a wrist shot that beat a screened Husso for his team leading 24th goal of the season at the 13:05 mark.

Jan Mysak scored the third equalizer goal for San Diego and its third goal of the period with a four-on-four goal. Sidorov gave Mysak the puck at the left point. Mysak skated down the wing and rifled a wrist shot off of the far post and into the back of the net for his 14th goal of the season at the 16:48 mark.

Ethan Cardwell gave the Barracuda its fourth lead of the game near the halfway mark of the third period. Thomas Bordeleau gloved down a clearing attempt in the left slot. Bordeleau found Poturalski down low to the left of the crease. Poturalski threaded a pass between his legs over to Cardwell who buried a point-blank shot past Husso for the ninth goal of the season at the 7:47 mark.

Once again like a broken record, the Gulls tied it up at four goals apiece just past the halfway mark of the period. Nesterenko picked up the puck along the right boards. Nesterenko skated down below the goal line before centering a pass with one hand over to Mysak who beat Carriere with a quick one-timer for his second goal of the game and 15th of the season at the 11:42 mark.

Husso (10-5-0-3) stopped 30 of 34 shots he faced to earn his 10th victory of the season. Carriere (5-4-1) made 23 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play. San Diego also went 1-for-3.

Bordeleau, who picked up the secondary assist on Cardwell’s goal, recorded his 100th career AHL point.

Poturalski has nine points in his three games and leads the AHL with 60 points.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Mysak (2G,0A) 2) Cardwell (1G,1A) 3) Poturalski (1G,1A).

UP NEXT: San Jose begins a four-game road trip with a weekend series against the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday 3/8 at 7:00pm at Abbotsford Centre.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: Curry leads Warriors with 28 pts in win over Knicks; Golden State are in Brooklyn Thursday

Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) passes the basketball away from the New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) from floor level in the first quarter at Madison Square Garden on Tue Mar 4, 2025 (AP News photo)

On Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor:

#1 Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry led with 28 points and nine assists and ran his personal record against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden to 12-1 in the Warriors 114-102 win on Tuesday night.

#2 The Warriors Jimmy Butler and Bradin Podziemski each had 19 points and the Warriors are now 3-1 on this current five game road trip. The Warriors are now 12-2 in their last 14 games when playing at Madison Square Garden.

#3 Next up for Golden State they tip off against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Thu Mar 13 for a 4:00pm PST tip. The Nets are a struggling bunch who have lost five in a row and are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference at 21-40.

Join David Zizmor for the Golden State Warriors podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cardwell lifts Barracuda with OT winner for an improbable 6-5 comeback win over Silver Knights

San Jose Barracuda forward Ethan Cardwell celebrates his game winning goal in overtime with defenseman Braden Hache (#86) and the rest of his teammates after his team’s 6-5 win over the Henderson Silver Knights at Tech CU Arena on Sunday MAR 2, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

Danil Gushchin’s first career hat trick which included two goals to even the game late in the third period propelled an unfathomable comeback as the San Jose Barracuda overcame a two-goal deficit to win 6-5 in overtime over the Henderson Silver Knights on Sunday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

Andrew Poturalski set up Ethan Cardwell’s game winning goal 41 seconds into the overtime period to give San Jose a thrilling comeback win after blowing two different two-goal leads earlier in the game. Cardwell skated in with speed from the right wing before depositing a wrist shot to the short side for his ninth goal of the season.

“I got some speed through the neutral zone, and I figured why not use one more burst before I changed. And I was lucky enough to see (the) middle (of the) ice and took my chance when I got it. There was little opening in the top right corner, and I was lucky enough to find it,” Cardwell said.

San Jose swept the weekend series and finished 6-1-0-1 against their Pacific Division rival in the season series. Henderson has dropped two in a row after being 8-2 in its past 10 games as they anchor the division.

San Jose (28-20-2-3-61 points) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Cardwell skated from behind the net and sent the puck up to the left slot where Lucas Carlsson blasted a one-timer past Silver Knights goalie Akira Schmid through the five-hole for his ninth goal of the season at the 5:09 mark.

“When we play the right way, I think we’re a pretty good team. (In the) first period tonight, we took care of the puck, put it in the right places and were able to get it back. Spent the majority of the period in the offensive zone,” Barracuda head coach John McCarthy said.

The Barracuda doubled its lead late in the opening frame. After a clean faceoff win by Thomas Bordeleau, Ethan Frisch’s shot from the point was initially saved by Schmid but Poturalski cleaned up the rebound into an open net for his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 15:43 mark.

Poturalski has 16 multi-point games this season and leads the AHL in points with 57 points in just 49 games.

Henderson (22-30-3-0-50 points) answered back with 19.4 seconds left in the period with a power play goal. Former San Jose Shark defenseman Calen Addison’s shot was cleaned up by Alexander Holtz as he beat Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov with a wrist shot for his first goal of the contest and second goal of the season.

San Jose regained its two-goal lead with a power play goal near the halfway point of the second period. Pavol Regenda sent a pass through the crease to Danil Gushchin. The Russian forward skated into the middle before firing a shot on net. The rebound bounced up in the air and was accidentally knocked into the back of the net by Henderson defenseman Lucas Johansen. It was Gushchin’s 17th goal of the season at the 9:34 mark.

The Silver Knights cut the lead to a one-goal game with its second power play goal of the game late in the middle frame. Addison’s attempted shot on net hit off the skate of Cuda captain Jimmy Schuldt. The rebound went to the stick of Holtz who buried a one-timer into an open net for his second goal of the game and third goal of the season at the 15:54 mark.

Holtz, who played in just his fifth game with the Silver Knights, completed his hat trick, the first of his career, just under two minutes later as Henderson scored the equalizer. Jonas Rondbjerg sent a puck into the Cuda zone. Holtz collected the puck after it pinballed off Schuldt and beat Romanov top-shelf to the short side for his fourth goal of the season at the 17:49 mark.

Holtz wasn’t done as he gave the Silver Knights their first lead with his fourth goal and the team’s third power play goal of the game in the third period. Addison found Holtz in the left slot and he buried a wrist shot between the five-hole of Romanov for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:10 mark. Holtz became first player to score four goals in a game against San Jose in its franchise history.

Henderson went up by two goals thanks to a giveaway by the Barracuda at their offensive blue line. Kai Uchacz skated in all alone and beat Romanov with a wrist shot for his 12th goal of the season at the 15:11 mark.

Gushchin started the comeback when he scored his second goal of the game when McCarthy pulled Romanov for an extra attacker with over three minutes remaining in the period. Gushchin picked up the puck along the left boards and skated in before unleashing a wrist shot past a screened Schmid for his 18th goal of the season at the 16:41 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer when Gushchin completed the hat trick with just 31.2 seconds left in the period to force overtime when once again Romanov was pulled for an extra attacker. Luca Cagnoni found Gushchin along the right slot and Gushchin rifled in a one-time through a sea of traffic in front of Schmid for his 19th goal of the season.

“I think from a character perspective, sticking with it and getting two (goals) with the goalie out and the winner in overtime feels good,” McCarthy said.

Romanov (11-6-3) stopped 20 of the 25 shots he faced in earning his 11th win of the season. It was Romanov’s first start since February 1st against the same Silver Knights club. Schmid (7-18-1) made 40 saves on 46 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Holtz (4G,0A) 2) Gushchin (3G,0A) 3) Cardwell (1G,2A).

UP NEXT: San Jose closes out their four-game homestand against the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday 3/5 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Barracuda light up Silver Knights in 4-1 win

San Jose Barracuda captain Jimmy Schuldt (#59) celebrates Rem Pitlick’s (#90) first goal in a Barracuda uniform along with Danil Gushchin (#75) and Tristen Robins (#52) during the second period of San Jose’s 4-1 win over Henderson at Tech CU Arena on Saturday MAR 1, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda used four different goal scorers in a balanced scoring attack to dominate the Henderson Silver Knights in 4-1 victory on Saturday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose had its fifth victory over Henderson this season and is 1-1 on its current four-game homestand. Henderson has lost just for the third time in its past eight games.

The first period was filled with chippy-ness between the two Pacific Division rivals. Two fights happened in the first ten minutes of the game to help set the tone for a physical battle on Renaissance Night.

The Barracuda (27-20-2-3-59 points) drew first blood late in the opening frame. Thomas Bordeleau intercepted a clearing attempt by Matyas Sapovaliv inside the Silver Knights zone. Bordeleau threaded a backhand pass over to Andrew Poturalski who buried a wrist shot past the five-hole of Silver Knights goalie Carl Lindbom for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 15:01 mark.

Henderson (22-30-2-0-46 points) was dominated by San Jose in the opening 20 minutes as they were outshot 18-5 and did not generate many scoring chances as Cuda goalie Gabriel Carriere was able to easily stop all five shots he faced.

San Jose had a golden opportunity to pad its lead when they had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:43 early in the second period when Sapovaliv went into the sinbin for a high sticking double minor penalty at the 6:59 mark. However, the Cuda weren’t able to capitalize during their extended power play.

The Barracuda scored two goals in a 29 second span late in the middle frame to separate themselves from the Silver Knights. Rem Pitlick scored his first goal in a Cuda uniform at the 18:03 mark. Danil Gushchin found Pitlick in the neutral zone. Pitlick split two Silver Knight defenders on a breakaway and beat Lindbom with a backhand to forehand move to double San Jose’s lead.

Then Pavol Regenda beat Lindbom with a wrist shot under the left arm for his seventh goal of the season at the 18:32 mark. Donavan Houle set up Regenda’s goal from below the goal line. Colin White received the secondary assist.

San Jose opened the third period with its fourth unanswered goal. Bordeleau made a pass between his legs down to the goal line over to Houle who quickly passed it back up to Bordeleau in the slot. Bordeleau beat Lindbom with a wrist shot to finish off the give-and-go with Houle for his 13th goal of the season at the 2:20 mark.

Kai Uchacz spoiled Carriere’s shutout bid with his 11th goal of the season at the 8:14 mark. Uchacz won a battle along the boards with Jake Furlong. Uchacz skated in from the short side and chipped the puck up and over Carriere. Mitch McLain and Calen Addison picked up helpers on the goal.

Carriere (5-4-0) finished the game stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced to pick up his fifth win of the season. Lindbom (13-10-1-2) had a busy night as he made 40 saves on 44 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams finished 0-for-5 on the power play.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Bordeleau (1G,1A) 2) Poturalski (1G,1A) 3) Houle (0G, 2A)

UP NEXT: San Jose and Henderson conclude their two-game weekend series on Sunday 3/2 at 3:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Kings Win Western Conference Battle Beating Rockets 113-103.

Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine (8) takes a shot over the Houston Rockets center Steven Adams (left) in first half action at the Toyota Center in Houston on Sat Mar 1, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Saturday night the Sacramento Kings (31-28) beat the Houston Rockets (37-23) 113-103. The Kings suffered a devastating loss when Domantas Sabonis injured his hamstring in the opening minute of the game.

It is still not known how severe his injury is. The rest of the team had to step up in his absence and they were spotless. Bench giant Jonas Valanciunas was magnificent finishing the game with a double double, 14 rebounds and 15 points. The Kings bench was also on task scoring 42 points collectively. The high score for the Kings was DeMar DeRozan in an impressive win for Sacramento.

Game recap: Sacramento had a 25-21 lead after the first twelve minutes of play but suffered a devastating injury in the first minute of the quarter. Domantas Sabonis was forced to leave the game due to a hamstring injury .

This was a huge blow for the Kings. Sacramento had taken a 21-5 lead mid-way through the quarter despite the loss of Sabonis. Houston came roaring back and trailed by four points going into the second quarter.

The loss of Sabonis would really come into play in the second quarter. Houston took the lead in the quarter but the Kings remained within striking distance. Sacramento had a 16 point lead in the opening quarter and the largest lead for the Rockets in the second quarter was three points. The Kings took back the lead with one minute left in the half 58-56. At the half Sacramento was hanging onto a 63-59 advantage.

The Rockets Dillon Brooks had everything with the Houston comeback scoring 9 of his 12 points in the second quarter. Alperon Sengun also had a productive first half with 17 points.

The Kings bench had scored 26 points in the first half of the game with Valanciunas leading the pack with 11 points. The starters were forced to play without Sabonis but were putting up a solid fight.

Zach LaVine finished the first half with 13 points with Keegan Murray chipping in 11 points. Malik Monk and DeRozan would both be looking for a more productive second half. The Kings had proven that they could not only keep up with the Rockets but also had the ability to win their third game in the row and come away with a in in this battle.

Sacramento got on task early in the third quarter taking as much as an eight point lead with both Monk and DeRozn starting the quarter strong. Five minutes into the quarter DeRozan got into it with Dillon Brooks no surprise to anyone.

The feisty Brooks excels in stirring the pot but it did not deter the Kings who had led for most of the quarter with five minutes left. At 5:14 Sacramento had a 80-74 lead. After leading for most of the quarter the Rockets threatened to take the lead only trailing by a basket 82-79 with under three minutes left to play. The Kings were excelling defensively in the absence of Sabonis leading after three 89-82.

Sacramento got off to a red- hot start in the fourth quarter taking a 96-85 lead needing to keep the pressure on Houston. The Rockets had not able to get out and transition a whole lot. The Kings had put the stops on Brooks who had not scored at all in the second half. With 6:36 left in the game, the Rockets were fighting to get back in the game trailing 103-94.

Both Keon Ellis and Valanciunas were working with four fouls apiece. With under five minutes left in the game the Kings would need both of these guys. Houston was still very much in this game with 3:23 left on the clock but they had to get something going trailing 109-97.

Sacramento refused to let the Rockets back in the game continuing to extend their lead and with under 2 1/2 left on the clock led 111-98. With under a minute left in the game the Kings had won their third game in a row beating the Rockets 113-103.

Despite the loss of Sabonis in the opening minute of the game, the Kings handled their business with some stellar play. DeRozan had the team high with 21 points followed by LaVine who had 20 points.

Monk and Murray both finishing with double figures. Valanciunas was red hot off the bench playing for 30 minutes and finishing with a double double; 14 rebounds and 15 points. The Kings bench was solid scoring 42 points collectively. The Kings showed a lot of grit in this game and will need it as they continue on this road trip.

Game notes: Saturday the Kings took on the Rockets in a Western Conference battle. The Kings continued their current road trip when they extended their two-game winning streak after beating the Hornets in a blow-out 130-88 Monday followed by a win against the Utah Jazz 118-101 Wednesday.

The Rockets came into this game also on a two-game winning streak beating the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night 118-106 and the Milwaukee Bucks in a close game Tuesday night 100-97. Sacramento came into this game with no injured players.

Monday the Kings will travel to Dallas for a matchup with Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson and the Mavericks looking for their fourth win in a row. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 5:30 PM.

Wright’s late goal stuns Barracuda as Condors escape with 3-2 win

San Jose Barracuda forward Tristen Robins (#52) battles for the puck while being tied up by Noah Philp (#15) during the Barracuda’s 3-2 win at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday FEB 26, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Cameron Wright was at the right place at the right time.

Wright scored the game winning goal with 3:15 remaining in the third period to give the Bakersfield Condors a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost three out of its past four games and back-to-back at home. Bakersfield snapped its six-game losing streak.

A giveaway by Tristen Robins off of the skate of Rem Pitlick in front of his own net set up Wright’s heroics. Wright grabbed the puck and beat Cuda goalie Gabriel Carriere with a turnaround wrist shot for his 10th goal of the season.

The first period featured 20 minutes of physicality and chippy-ness. Both teams combined for five big open ice hits, three by San Jose and two by Bakersfield. The physicality led to many after whistle skirmishes with no love lost between both squads in their sixth meeting this season.

San Jose (26-20-2-3-57 points) drew first blood late in the opening frame. Cuda goalie Gabriel Carriere sent a clearing attempt that ricochet of the left boards and trickled out to the neutral zone. Thomas Bordeleau gathered the puck, raced down the ice on a breakaway, his second of the period, and glided the puck past Condor’s goalie Olivier Rodrigue through his five-hole with a backhander for his 12th goal of the season at the 15:27 mark.

“Yeah, I wasn’t missing twice,” said Bordeleau when asked about his second breakaway chance. “I just got what the goalie gave me really and I just didn’t have time to roof it. So, I thought the five-hole was going to be a really good option.”

Bakersfield (21-19-6-3-51 points) came within inches of evening the game up while on the power play. However, Carriere made a glove hand save while sprawled down in the crease, robbing an open net chance by notorious Cuda killer Seth Griffith.

“I just kinda just tried to get something over there and luckily it ended up going in my glove. But I was trying to cover as much (ground) as possible,” Carriere said.

The Condors scored the equalizer with 17.6 seconds left in the first 20 minutes. Phil Kemps initial shot was saved by Carriere, but the rebound popped up and was batted in out of midair by Alex Swetlikoff, who was uncontested in front of the crease, for his third goal of the season.

Bakersfield gained its first lead of the game with a five-on-three power play goal late in the second period. With Braden Hache and Luca Cagnoni taking penalties 27 seconds apart, Connor Carrick beat Carriere with a wrist shot to the glove side for his 11th goal of the season at the 13:45 mark. Carrick has scored in four straight games against the Barracuda and has eight points during that stretch. Griffith who picked up the primary assist, now has 43 points in 39 games against San Jose.

“Obvious (we took) a lot of penalties, a lot of penalty kill. It disrupted the flow of the game. And then yeah we gotta take care of the puck better in our own slot…It was an important game for us and I would have liked to have had more of a team wide investment in the game. I didn’t think everybody was into it,” Barracuda head coach John McCarthy said.

San Jose evened the game to start the third period while on a continuation power play from the second period. Cagnoni fed a pass down low to Rem Pitlick near the right boards. Pitlick found Danil Gushchin along the goal line and the Russian forward snuck a wrist shot just inside the right post for his 16th goal of the season 34 seconds in.

The Barracuda’s puck management was poorly managed for the majority of the final frame as they weren’t able to get Carriere off of the ice for an extra attacker until there was under 30 seconds left and never had a good scoring chance at the end of the game for the equalizer.

Rodrigue (15-11-6-1) finished the game stopping 16 of the 18 shots to earn his 15th win of the season. Carriere (4-4-0), who arguably was the Cuda’s best player on the ice, had a busy night and kept San Jose in the game for the entire 60 minutes made 37 saves on 40 shots in the losing battle.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play. Bakersfield went 1-for-6.

Colin White played in his 100 career AHL game.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Wright (1G,0A) 2) Gushchin (1G,0A) 3) Carrick (1G,0A).

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its four-game homestand with a weekend series against the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday 3/1 at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

New look Earthquakes impress with 4-0 shutout win over Real Salt Lake in season opener

San Jose Earthquakes wingback Jamar Ricketts is emphatic after scoring his first career MLS goal in his first career MLS start against Real Salt Lake at Pay Pal Park on Saturday FEB 22, 2025. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes are out to prove the critics wrong in 2025.

San Jose scored three goals in the second half to route Real Salt Lake 4-0 in the season and home opener on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose started out the season with a win for the for first time since 2018 and first home opener win since 2021. Real Salt Lake has lost to San Jose three out of its last four matches.

“It means a lot, it means a lot to us,” said Quakes midfielder Cristian Espinoza on the team snapping the losing streak to start the new season. “We’re coming off a really tough year last year. We worked really hard in the preseason to be at this level in this first game. To be honest, I’m really happy because of the performance of the team. I personally want to go and congratulate my teammates because they made a really big effort tonight.”

It was a beginning of a new era of Quakes soccer with the coaching debut of head coach Bruce Arena, who brings a winning pedigree with having had success with Los Angeles as well as the debuts of newly acquired strikers Josef Martinez and Cristian “Chicho” Arango, both proven goal scorers throughout their MLS careers.

San Jose (1-0-0) drew first blood in the 28th minute for the game’s first goal. Beau Leroux dribbled in from the right wing before centering the ball into the middle of the box. Midfielder Jamar Ricketts, who made his first career MLS start, one-timed the ball between two Real Salt Lake defenders into the back corner of the net past goalkeeper Rafael Barbosa for his first career MLS goal. Ricketts was San Jose’s first round draft pick last year in the MLS Super Draft taken 13th overall.

“Playing wingback, you gotta be up and down the field,” said Ricketts regarding his goal. “But as I seen the ball, seen Beau (Leroux) travelling inside the box, I knew I had to crash the back post and be aggressive. So, once I seen the ball come across, I was like, I gotta be the first to win the ball. And that’s how I got my foot on it.”

Leroux, who signed a first-team contract just yesterday, dished his first MLS assist. He was  not only making his first MLS start for the Quakes but also his MLS debut. A San Jose native, Leroux scored five goals last season for the Quakes’ MLS NEXT Pro team, The Town FC.

The Earthquakes had a chance to double its lead in the 38th minute when Ricketts centered a ball into the box for Arango but Chicho’s shot attempt sailed high over the net.

Sunnyvale, Calif. native Diego Luna led the attack for Real Salt Lake (0-1-0) in the opening 45 minutes. He had three shot attempts but all sailed wide right of the net. RSL registered its first shot on goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Tyler Wolff’s free kick was deflected off of the wall of San Jose defenders from just outside the box. The rebound leaked out to Alexandros Katranisa who fired a shot on target that Quakes goalkeeper Daniel jumped high in the air to deflect the ball over the net.

San Jose had a goal disallowed in the 51st minute after Cristian Espinoza chipped the ball past a RSL defender and centered a ball out to Arango who shot the ball into the back of the net. The sideline judge deemed Espinoza was offsides wiping out the goal.

Real Salt Lake had chances to score the equalizer from Pablo Ruiz and Nelson Palacio in the 63rd and 64th minutes but Daniel stoned away the three total attempts on net.

“We made some mistakes we have to get better at, but the nice part about this team is when we started to rebuild our roster, we wanted the team in place all preseason, instead of bringing in guys this week or last week, two weeks from now. So, we’ve had a month to try to become a team,” Arena said.

The Quakes doubled their lead on its first set piece of the season. Espinoza’s free kick sailed into the middle of the box and Rodriguez headed the ball over the outstretched arms of Barbosa into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal four minutes later. On a counterattack, Espinoza sent in a long ball from just beyond midfield into the center of the box. Justen Glad misplayed the ball out of the air and Ousseni Bouda, who came into the game as a substitute in the 67th minute, collected the ball and calmly kicked the ball past Barbosa for his first goal of the season.

Left back Vitor Costa closed out the scoring for San Jose in the 83rd minute when he finished off a centering pass from Mark-Anthony Kaye as the Earthquakes kept their foot on the gas pedal in the onslaught.

Daniel finished the match stopping all seven shots he faced to earn his first clean sheet of the season and also his seventh career shutout in MLS play. Barbosa made five saves on nine shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with six corner kicks. Real Salt Lake had five.

The 4-0 final margin is the Quakes’ largest victory in a season opener in club history.

Espinoza’s three assists marked his 10th career multi-assist game in MLS play, giving him 74 total helpers to extend his career club record.

Espinoza extended his run of consecutive MLS regular-season games played tonight to a current league-high of 110 (Oct. 2, 2021 – present). The streak is not only a Quakes record but now fifth longest in MLS history and second among all field players in MLS history, passing Darlington Nagbe (May 1, 2021 – Apr. 6, 2024). Goalkeeper Luis Robles holds the league record with 183 straight appearances (Sept. 29, 2012 – May 12, 2018).

San Jose is 18-15-12 in the all-time series verses Real Salt Lake.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to the Midwest to take on Sporting KC on Saturday 3/1 at Children’s Mercy Park.

Gushchin’s two goals pave the way for Barracuda in 5-3 win over Roadrunners

San Jose Barracuda forward Danil Gushchin celebrates along the ‘Cuda bench one of his two goals during the Barracuda’s 5-3 win over the Tucson Roadrunners at Tech CU Arena on Saturday FEB 8, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Danil Gushchin scored two goals and came within a crossbar of a hat trick as the San Jose Barracuda defeated the Tucson Roadrunners 5-3 on Saturday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose split the series with their Pacific Division rival and has won three out of its past five games. The ‘Cuda picked up points in six games of their seven game homestand. Tucson has lost nine of its past 10 games.

San Jose (24-14-2-3-53 points) drew first blood just past the halfway point of the first period. Danil Gushchin dropped a back pass over to Braden Hache at the Roadrunners blueline. Hache wrist shot from the point was redirected by Filip Bystedt past Roadrunners goalie Matthew Villalta for his eighth goal of the season at the 10:55 mark.

Bystedt snapped a season long 13-game goal-less draught. This was Hache’s first game with the ‘Cuda since being called up from the Wichita Thunder as he made his home debut.

Tucson (20-20-2-1-43 points) answered back late in the opening frame with an even strength goal. Egor Sokolov won a battle along the left boards. He centered the puck over to Hunter Drew who rang a shot off of the post. The rebound came right to the tape of Sokolov who buried the puck into an open net past ‘Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov for his 15th goal of the season at the 18:08 mark.

The Barracuda regained the lead with 14.8 seconds remaining in the first 20 minutes. Thomas Bordeleau threaded a needle of a pass up to a wide-open Gushchin in between the faceoff circles. Gushchin made a move in before lifting the puck over the glove of Villalta for his 10th goal of the season.

The Roadrunners evened it up at two early in the second period. Max Szuber kept the puck inside the Barracuda zone and was able to push it up to Cameron Hebig along the left boards. Hebig skated in and pinpointed a wrist shot off the far side post and past Romanov for his team leading 17th goal of the season at the 4:31 mark.

Gushchin gave the ‘Cuda its third lead of the game with a power play goal. Luca Cagnoni found Gushchin along the left slot. Gushchin skated in before firing a wrist shot top shelf to the glove side for second goal of the game and 11th of the season at the 12:02 mark.

Gushchin thought he scored his third straight goal of the game with 1:11 remaining in the middle frame when he beat Villalta with a wrist shot after receiving a rink wide pass from Bordeleau after Colin White made a drop pass to Bordeleau. The call on the ice was called a goal by the officials. However, after a very lengthy video review it was determined the puck caromed off the crossbar.

White returned to the Barracuda after being placed on waivers yesterday by the San Jose Sharks.

In the third period the Barracuda held down the fort and shut out the Roadrunners the rest of the contest. White iced the game for San Jose when he scored an empty netter after Tucson pulled Villalta for an extra attacker. White’s sixth goal was scored at the 17:38 mark.

Cardwell completed the scoring for San Jose with an empty goal at the 18:47 mark, his sixth goal of the season. White picked up the only assist on the play to complete a three-point game.

Lleyton Moore scored his sixth goal of the season with 1.2 seconds left in the contest to close out the game’s scoring.

Romanov (10-6-3) finished the game stopping 25 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his 10th victory of the season and snap a three-game winless streak. Villalta (10-15-3-3) made 35 saves on 38 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gushchin (2G, 1A) 2) White (1G, 2A) 3) Bordeleau (OG, 2A).

UP NEXT: San Jose starts a four-game road trip on Tuesday 2/11 against the Colorado Eagles at 6:05pm at Blue Fcu Arena.