Tag: AHL

San Jose Barracuda forward Ozzy Wiesblatt was the number one star in his team’s 6-3 win over the San Diego Gull at the Pechanga Arena on Wednesday APR 5, 2023. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN DIEGO — It was a night to remember for Ozzy Wiesblatt.

The rookie forward scored his first ever professional hat trick as the San Jose Barracuda shot down the San Diego Gulls 6-3 on Wednesday evening at the Pechanga Arena.

San Jose gained a point on the Tucson Roadrunners, who lost to the Henderson Silver Knights in a 5-4 shootout, and trail four points behind for the seventh a final playoff spot in the Pacific Division with four games remaining. San Diego has lost eight of its last nine games as it sits in the anchor of the division.

San Diego (20-45-2-1-43 points) drew first blood early in the first period. Chase Priskie scored his sixth goal in a Gulls uniform when he beat ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell with a slapshot from the point at the 4:42 mark. Dylan Sikura and Benoit-Olivier Groulx set up Priskie’s 10th overall goal of the season.

San Jose 29-33-1-5-64 points) evened the score late in the opening frame. Shakir Mukhamadullin’s shot from the point was cleaned up by Artemi Kniazev with a backhander past Gulls goalie Gage Alexander for his fifth goal of the season at the 14:16 mark.

The Barracuda took control of the game in the second period scoring even strength goals. Adam Raska set up Danil Gushchin in the slot and the rookie forward spun around and wired a wrist shot past Alexander for his 18th goal of the season at the 5:31 mark.

Gushchin has been a busy guy as he’s been up and down between the Sharks and the Barracuda and has scored in back-to-back games for ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy.

Wiesblatt scored his first goal of the contest at the 12:27 mark. Nikolai Knyzhov set up Wiesblatt with a back pass at the left point and the former 2020 first round pick of the Sharks sniped home a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season.

San Jose scored its fourth unanswered goal 59 seconds later with Gushchin’s second goal of the game. The native of Yakaterinberg, Russia skated along from the right boards back up to the point before sending a seeing-eye wrist shot past a screened Alexander for his 19th goal of the season. Mukhamadullin picked up his third assist on the play, recording his first ever multi-point game.

San Diego stopped the bleeding 33 seconds as Groulx lasered in a wrist shot from a tough angle for his 17th goal of the season at the 13:59 mark.

Wiesblatt recorded his second goal of the game late in the middle frame on a penalty shot. Ozzy skated in from left wing, paused before burying a wrist shot past Alexander for his fifth goal of the season at the 17:41 mark. It was the third penalty shot goal in franchise history for San Jose.

Priskie scored his second goal of the game with a power play tally 59 seconds into the third period. Sikura set up Priskie who beat Dell with a one-timer from the left slot for his 11th goal of the season.

Wiesblatt completed his hat trick at the 7:23 mark when he cleaned up a wraparound attempt from Kyle Criscuolo right in front of the crease for his sixth goal of the season.

Dell finished the game stopping 15 of the 18 shots to earn his the victory. Alexander made 35 saves on 41 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Gamer were: 1) Wiesblatt 2) Sikura 3) Gushchin.

UP NEXT: San Jose return home for their final two home games of the season as they host the Colorado Eagles on Friday 4/7 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Coachella Valley’s Max McCormick and Kole Lind celebrate a goal during their team’s 4-3 win over the San Jose Barracuda at Acrisure Arena on Monday APR 3, 2023. (Coachella Valley Firebirds)

by Marko Ukalovic

Cameron Hughes had the game winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout as the Coachella Valley Firebirds defeated the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 on Monday evening at Acrisure Arena.

Coachella Valley won all eight games against San Jose this season as the Barracuda went 0-5-1-2 against the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate in ’22-’23. San Jose collected a point despite the loss and now trail the Tuscon Roadrunners by five points with five games remaining in the regular season. The Firebirds regained sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division with a one-point lead of the Calgary Wranglers.

It was San Jose’s best effort against Coachella Valley this season as the game went back and forth during the 60 minutes of regulation.

The opening 20 minutes featured a scoreless period. The Firebirds had two power play opportunities but weren’t able to capitalize on either chance as the Barracuda’s penalty kill kept Coachella Valley off the scoreboard. San Jose was only to generate four shots in the period.

Coachella Valley (46-14-4-2-98 points) drew first blood on the power play early in the second period. Max McCormick set up Kole Lind in the slot and Lind buried a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell for his team leading 29th goal of the season at the 3:45 mark.

San Jose (28-33-1-5-62 points) responded with an even strength just under three minutes later. Nathan Burke led a two-on-one odd man rush with Kyle Criscuolo inside the Firebirds zone. Criscuolo, who had scored his first NHL goal with the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, made a move to the inside before firing a wrist shot past Firebirds goalie Chris Driedger for his 16th goal of the season at the 6:54 mark.

The Barracuda gained its first lead 35 seconds later. Adam Raska fed a pass over to Danil Gushchin, who also scored his first NHL goal with the Sharks two days ago against the Arizona Coyotes, made a similar move to Criscuolo’s going inside the middle as he beat Driedger with a wrist shot for his 17th goal of the season.

The Firebirds took advantage of their sixth power play in the game as they scored the equalizer early in the third period. Ryker Evans set up Hughes 18th goal of the season at the 2:45 mark.

Carsen Twarynski gave the Firebirds a 3-2 lead when he was able to poke the past Dell after he tried wrapping around the puck from behind the net for his 17th goal of the season at the 14:36 mark.

Andrew Agozzino scored the equalizer while making history with 19 second remaining in the period. With Dell pulled for an extra attacker a shot from the point by Shakir Mukhamadullin caromed off the boards and the ‘Cuda captain batted the puck out of the air with a backhander for his team leading 25th goal of the season. It matched the Barracuda’s franchise record for most goals in a season first set by Barclay Goodrow in 2015-16 season.

Dell made sure the game went to the shootout when he stopped McCormick with a breakaway attempt with under two minutes left in the overtime period. Then Dell made a save on a point blank shot by Lind with under a minute remaining. The best overtime chance for San Jose came when Agozzino’s wrist shot hit the post.

Driedger (7-3-0) finished the game stopping 19 of the 22 shots (and all three of the four shootout attempts) he faced to earn the victory. Dell (14-17-2) made 37 saves on 40 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NTOES: San Jose finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Coachella Valley went 2-for-7.

Coachella Valley has won eight straight games at home.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Hughes 2) Twarynski 3) Tye Kartye.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its four-game road trip against the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday 4/5 at 7:00pm at Pechanga Arena.

The Texas Stars celebrate one of their seven goals against the San Jose Barracuda at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Saturday APR 1, 2023. (Texas Stars)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Texas Stars scored four special team goals in the first period as they cruised to a 7-2 route of the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

San Jose’s playoff hopes suffered a big blow as they sit six points behind the Tucson Roadrunners for the seventh and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division with just six games left in the regular season. Texas reclaimed first place in the Central Division as they jumped ahead of the Milwaukee Admirals by one point.

Texas (36-18-9-3-84 points) took advantage of San Jose’s three trips to the sin bin in the opening 20 minutes. Marian Studenic scored his 18th goal of the season with the Stars first power play goal of the game at the 3:16 mark.

Mavrik Bourque scored the Stars second power play goal, his 14th goal of the season at the 10:54 mark, as Will Butcher picked up his second assist of the period. Antonio Stranges was credited with the secondary assist.

Stranges scored Texas’ third consecutive goal on the man advantage just under two minutes later, his fourth goal of the season at the 12:14 mark, as Curtis McKenize picked up the only assist on the play.

San Jose (28-33-1-4-61 points) scored a power play goal of their own late in the opening frame. Martin Kaut set up Tristen Robins who beat Stars goalie Remi Poirier top shelf with a wrist shot for his 17th goal of the season at the 16:29 mark. Robins has scored in a back-to-back games for the ‘Cuda.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse for San Jose, they did as the Stars scored a short-handed goal at the 18:41 mark. Thomas Harley centered a pass right to the crease and Riley Tufte buried a point-blank shot past ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell for his 16th goal of the season.

Texas kept their foot on their gas pedal in the middle frame. Harley set up Rhett Gardner who scored his 10th goal of the season at the 9:01 mark. That spelled the end for Dell as ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy replaced him with Strauss Mann. Dell (14-16-2) gave up five goals on 23 shots in 29 minutes of action.

Ryan Shea scored just over two minutes later with his seventh goal of the season at the 11:03 mark. Studenic and Tanner Kero recorded assists on the goal.

Harley scored the Stars fourth unanswered goal to complete his three-point evening with his 10th goal of the season at the 12:06 mark.

Adam Raska closed out the scoring in the third period with his fourth goal of the season at the 8:41 mark. Will Riedell and Anthony Vincent, who picked up his first point in a ‘Cuda uniform, recorded assists on Raska’s goal.

Poirier (7-4-2) stopped 26 of the 28 shots to earn the victory. Dell made nine saves on 11 shots in mop up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Texas went 3-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Harley 2) Studenic 3) Stranges.

San Jose split the season series with Texas going 2-2.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues their four-game road trip when they take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Monday 4/3 at 7:00pm at Acrisure Arena.

San Jose Barracuda forward Nathan Burke gets inside position inside the Texas Stars during the ‘Cuda 2-1 overtime victory at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda are doing everything possible to keep their slim playoff hopes live.

Derrick Pouliot scored the game winner 48 seconds into overtime to give the ‘Cuda a 2-1 victory over the Texas Stars on Friday evening at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

Daniel Guschin led a three-on-two rush up the ice with Andrew Agozzino. The ‘Cuda captain centered a pass to a trailing Pouliot who skated in and wired a wrist shot past Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood for his third goal of the season.

San Jose now trails the Tucson Roadrunners by six points for the seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division with seven game remaining. Texas, with the loss, fell out of first place in the Central Division as the trail the Milwaukee Admirals by one point with 82 points.

A scary moment happened at the 2:41 mark of the first period when Matej Blumel was checked into the boards by Ozzy Wiesblatt that resulted in Blumel being seriously injured and carried off on a stretcher. He did not return to the game.

San Jose (28-32-1-4-61 points) dominated the shot clock in the opening 20 minutes as the outshot Texas 10-4. However, they were not able to get a puck past Wedgewood.

Texas (35-18-9-3-82 points) escaped the period without giving up a goal despite taking two penalties late in the period.

The Barracuda drew first blood late in the second period with a short-handed goal. Kyle Criscuoolo sent a pass up the ice to Tristen Robins who got between two defenders inside the Stars zone before firing a wrist shot past Wedgewood for his 16th goal of the season at the 15:17 mark.

The Stars scored the equalizer just past the halfway mark of the third period. Former Barracuda forward Scott Reedy won a battle for the puck along the board and centered out front where Ryan Shea beat ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell with a wrist shot through traffic for his sixth goal of the season at the 10:33 mark.

Dell finished the night stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced to earn the victory. Wedgewood made 24 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams finished 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Pouliot 2) Shea 3) Wedgewood

UP NEXT: San Jose and Texas conclude their two-games series on Saturday 4/1 at 5:00pm at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park.

Colorado Eagles forward Ryan Wagner (#13) fights for room between the San Jose Barracuda’s Artemi Kniazev (#25) and Darren Brady (#92) during the Eagles 3-2 win at the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday MAR 22, 2023. (Colorado Eagles)

by Marko Ukalovic

Charles Hudon’s second goal of the game proved to be the game winner as the Colorado Eagles edged the San Jose Barracuda in 3-2 victory on Wednesday evening at Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose has lost two games in a row and sit three points out of the seventh place and the final spot in the Pacific Division, currently held by the Tucscon Roadrunners. Colorado swept the two-game series as it sits comfortably in fourth place.

San Jose (26-31-1-4-57 points) drew first blood near the halfway mark of the opening frame with a power play goal. Tristen Robbins scored his first goal of the game and 13th goal of the season at the 8:26 mark. Artemi Kniazev and Brandon Coe recorded the helpers.

Colordo (34-20-5-3-76 points) evened it up early in the second period a power play goal from Hudon. Hudon’s first goal of the game and 23rd of the season at the 2:16 mark were assisted by Ben Meyers and David Farrance.

Robbins regained the lead for the ‘Cuda just over two minutes later with his second power play goal of the contest. His 14th of the season came at the 4:45 mark of the middle frame as Cow and Shakir Mukhamadullin assisted on the goal.

It was Mukhamadullin’s first point in a Barracuda uniform in just his second game with the team.

The Eagles scored the equalizer early in the third period with an even strength goal. Cedric Pare scored his ninth goal of the season at the 5:58 mark from Nate Clurman and Meyers who picked up his second helper of the game.

Hudon’s and the Eagles second power play goal just past the halfway mark of the final frame proved to be the game winner as Hudon scored his team leading 24th goal at the 11:19 mark. Mikhail Meltsev and Farrance were credited with assists on the play.

Eagles goalie Justus Annunen stopped 32 of the 34 shots to earn the victory. Aaron Dell, who made his second straight start, made 29 saves on 32 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Bothe teams finished 2-for-6 on the power play.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Hudon 2) Robins 3) Pare.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host a two-game weekend series with the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday 3/25 at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.