Tag: AHL

Game of inches this photo shows how the Colorado Eagles force San Jose Barracuda goaltender Alexi Melnichuk (1) to cover up at the exact time of a shot. The Eagles edged the Barracuda in a one goal win at SAP Center in San Jose on Fri Oct 29, 2021 (photo from San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE—Kiefer Sherwood is doing his best in becoming the next ‘Cuda killer.

His game winning goal with 22 seconds left in overtime gave the Colorado Eagles a 5-4 over the San Jose Barracuda on Friday evening at SAP Center.

Dylan Sikura, who was a ‘Cuda killer last year with Henderson, fed Sherwood with a pass into the Barracuda zone. Sherwood skated in and fired a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his second goal of the night.

San Jose had its two game winning streak snapped. Colorado won their first game of the season after being winless in their first five games.

San Jose (2-1-1-0) drew first blood under four minutes into the first period. Nick Merkley sent in a shot from the point that Evan Weinger was able to drop pass back to Noah Gregor. The ‘Cuda left winger skated in the middle and deposited a wrist shot past Eagles goalie Justus Annunen for his second goal of the season at the 3:52 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead less than three minutes later when Timur Ibragimov started a counter attack. Ibragimov fed a pass out to Scott Reedy who sent a rink wide pass over to Nicolas Meloche. The second year defenseman fired a wrist shot from the right point just inside the left post into the back of the net for his first goal of the season at the 6:27 mark.

Colorado (1-4-0-1) cut San Jose’s lead in half on the power play midway though the opening frame. Sikura sent a rink wide pass from the right faceoff circle over to Sherwood. The Eagles right winger buried a one-timer past Melnichuk for his first goal of the game at the 11:51 mark.

Sherwood has three goals in four games against San Jose. He leads the Eagles with six goals.

The Eagles scored the equalizer midway through the second period. After John Leonard was stopped on a breakaway attempt, Justin Barron led a counter attack for Colorado. Alex Beaucage found Gabriel Fountaine along the point and the Eagles left winger blasted a slap shot past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 8:40 mark.

The Barracuda had a tough time generating any quality scoring chances in the middle frame as they were busy having to kill minor penalties for the majority of the period as they made three trips to the sin bin. They were out shot 12-8 by Colorado.

“As soon as we’d get going five on five, we’d take a penalty,” Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said.

San Jose regained the lead on the power play in the third period. Joachim Blichfeld sent a shot on goal from the left slot that deflected off the leg of Reedy, who was camped out in front of the crease. John Leonard cleaned up the rebound depositing the puck into an open net for his second goal of the season at the 7:16 mark.

Once again Colorado was able to even the score. On a delayed penalty call, Sikura circled around from behind the net and found a streaking Jordan Gross in the right slot and he buried a one-timer past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 10:25 mark.

The Barracuda went up by a goal late in the period as they scored their second power play goal of the game. Nick Cicek sent a pass down to Sasha Chmelevski from the right point. Chmelevski found Nick Merkley open in the slot and Merkley snapped home a one-timer past Annunen for his second goal of the season at the 16:32 mark.

Colorado didn’t go away quietly as they scored eight seconds later to tie the game for a third time. Off the ensuing faceoff, Defenseman Ronald McKeown sent a slapshot from center ice that took a favorable bounce off the boards over to Mikhail Maltsev who sent in a quick wrist shot from the left faceoff circle top shelf into the left corner of the net for his second goal of the season.

“Right off the next shift. They throw it around…it was a bad play on our part. We should’ve just stayed in the net. He (Melnichuk) came out and it kinda took our mojo away but we had chances on the four on three (power play in overtime), but not that outcome I wanted,” Sommer said.

Annunen finished the night stopping 26 of 30 shots he faced to earn his first victory of the season. Melnichuk made 31 saves on 35 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2-for-5 on the power play. Colorado went 1-for-6.

UP NEXT: San Jose travel up to Stockton to take on the Heat on Sunday 10/31 at 5:00pm.

The San Jose Barracuda edge out the Colorado Eagles at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on Sat Oct 23, 2021 in AHL action (image from sjbarracuda.com)

by Marko Ukalovic

LOVELAND, Colo—Third time was a charm for the San Jose Barracuda on the power play.

After not scoring a power play goal in the team’s first two games, the Barracuda scored twice with the man advantage in a 3-2 comeback win over the Colorado Eagles on Saturday evening at the Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose have won two games in a row. Colorado have lost four games in a row to start their season.

San Jose (2-1-0-0) drew first blood on the power play early in the first period. Ryan Merkley sent in a shot from the point and Jayden Halbgewachs was able to redirect the puck past Eagles goalie Justus Annunen (0-1-1) for his second goal of the season at the 2:24 mark.

The power play goal for the ‘Cuda snapped an 0-for-6 streak to begin the season.

Colorado (0-3-1-0) answered back with a power play goal of their own to even the score. Jacob MacDonald kept the play alive at the point as the puck bounced over to Kiefer Sherwood. The native of Columbus, Ohio wired in a wrist shot from the left slot past ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko (0-0-0) for his third goal of the season.

The Eagles gained their first lead on an even strength goal. Alex Newhook sent a rink wide pass over to Rolan McKeown. The Eagles defenseman made a backhand pass through the crease where Callahan Burke tapped the puck into an open net past Sawchenko for his third goal of the season at the 13:17 mark.

Colorado dominated the last 10 minutes of the opening frame as they out shot San Jose 14-10.

San Jose answered back with the equalizer on just their fifth shot of the period. Ryan Merkley skated down the right wing and his centering pass was deflected off the pads of Annunen. The puck caromed over to Halbgewachs who buried a wrist shot past Annunen for his second goal of the game and third of the season at the 17:46 mark.

Despite outshooting the Barracuda 16-6 in the middle frame and having the ice tilted inside the ‘Cuda for the majority of the period, the Eagles went into the second intermission scratching their heads.

San Jose scored the go ahead go with its second power play goal of the game. Nick Merkley sent a slap shot from the right wing and Noah Gregor tipped the puck past Annunen for his first goal of the season at the 7:31 mark with just one second left on the power play. Joel Kellman was credited with the secondary assist.

Colorado poured the offense on the final 10 minutes of the third period as they out shot San Jose 13-11.

The Cuda survived the final 19 seconds down six-on-four as Colorado had a power play as Kellman was called for a holding penalty and pulled Annunen for an extra attacker.

Sawchenko (1-0-0) finished the game stopping 41 of the 43 shots he faced to earn his first win of the season. Annunen (0-2-2) made 24 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Halbegwachs 2) Dalton Smith 3) Burke

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado return to meet up for a third straight game on Friday 10/29 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda John Leonard gets the Barracuda the go ahead goal against the Colorado Eagles at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on Oct 22, 2021 (file photo thehockeywriters.com

by Marko Ukalovic

LOVELAND, Colo—In a game that went back and forth, John Leonard provided the heroics for the ‘Cuda.

Leonard scored the game winning goal late in the third period as the the San Jose Barracuda defeated the Colorado Eagles 5-4 on Friday evening at the Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose earned its first win of the season of the ’21-’22 season. Colorado have lost three straight games to start the season.

Leonard pick pocketed Jordan Gross at the red line and raced down the right side on a breakaway. Leonard went sliding down before stuffing the puck underneath Eagles goalie Justus Annunen for his first goal of the season with 4:12 remaining in the game.

Colorado (0-2-0-1) drew first blood early in the first period. Former Barracuda defenseman Keaton Middleton sent a cross ice pass from the left end line over to Alex Beaucage who crashed in from the right wing. The puck hit off a Barracuda defenseman’s stick right to the tape of Beaucage who deposited the puck into the back of the net for his first goal of the season at the 6:13 mark.

The Eagles controlled the majority of the play in the opening frame as they outshot the Barracuda 12-7.

San Jose (1-1-0-0) answered back with two goals in 17 second span early in the first second period.

After a faceoff win by Dylan Gambrell, Noah Gregor sent a shot attempt behind the net that bounced off to the right where a pinching Nick Merkley came in and put the puck into the short corner of the past Annunen for the team’s first goal of the season and his first at the 4:07 mark.

The ‘Cuda then gained possession of the puck inside the Eagles zone where Noah Gregor sent a pass back to the left point where Nick Cicek blasted a one-timer through traffic into the back of the net for his first career AHL goal for the rookie defenseman at the 17:24 mark.

Colorado answered back with the equalizer four minutes later. Kiefer Sherwood stripped the puck off two Barracuda players inside the Eagles zone. Sherwood backhanded the puck out of the zone that sent Dylan Sikura on a breakaway and the former Henderson Silver Knight beat ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk with a wrist shot for his first goal of the season at the 8:31 mark.

The Eagles regained the lead on a two-on-one break. Callahan Burke set up Dalton Smith with a cross ice pass and Smith buried the one-timer past Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 16:59 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer 44 seconds later. Timur Ibragimov led a counter attack into the Eagles zone. Ibragimov sent a back pass over to Jayden Halbgewachs in the left shot and the veteran forward rifled home a wrist shot to the far side to beat Annunen for his first goal of the season at the 17:43 mark.

Colorado went up 4-3 with a power play goal right at the end of the period. With the ‘Cuda shorthanded due to a minor penalty for too many men on the ice, Justin Barron snapped a wrist shot top shelf through a sea of traffic in front of the crease for his first goal of the season with one second remaining in the period.

The goal was reviewed and the call stood as it was determined the goal crossed the line before the horn sounded.

The Eagles outshot the ‘Cuda 15-8 in a wild middle frame that featured six combined goals.

The ‘Cuda evened the score to start the third period. Ryan Merkley skated in from the point to the right slot where he found Scott Reedy with a back door pass on the left in front of the net and Reedy tapped home the puck into an open net for his first goal of the season at the 1:58 mark.

Melnichuk finished the game with 21 saves on 25 shots to earn his first win of the season. Annunen made 29 saves on 34 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play and are 0-for-7 to start the season. Colorado was 1-for-2.

San Jose is now 8-5-2-1 against Colorado in the all-time series.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado wrap up their two-game series on Saturday 10/23 at 6:05pm at Budweiser Events Center.

San Jose Barracuda and Colorado Eagles battled at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland on Sun Oct 10, 2021 for the second straight day (@ColoradoEagles photo)

By Len Shapiro

The San Jose Barracuda took a tough loss in their second straight pre season game at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland by a three goal deficit 4-1 to the Colorado Eagles. The Barracuda drew first blood with a first period goal at 4:53 when John Leonard and Joel Kellman assisted for a Nick Cecik goal for a 1-0 San Jose lead.

The Eagles tied the score later in the first period with assists from Dylan Sikura and Jordan Gross as Kiefer Sherwood scored at 16:40 to tie the game. In the second period it was all Colorado scoring two goals on Barracuda goaltender Alexi Melnichuk.

The Eagles Ben Tardif and Martin Kaut assisted to Luke Burzan who scored at 3:01 and at 9:11 Andreas Wingerli and Robert Hamilton assisted on a Alex Beaucage goal for a 3-1 Eagles lead.

In the third and final period Beaucage scored again at at 6:22 with assists from Jean-Luc Foudy and Robert Hamilton to take the Eagles home for their second win in as many as two straight nights. For Melnichuk in goal he stopped 36 out of 40 and allowed four goals and for Eagles goaltender Peyton Jones a perfect outing going 15-15 and Eagles starter Justin Annunen he stopped 14 out 15.

The Barracuda are back to the drawing board as they pay a visit to the Bakersfield Condors for their third straight game on the road Sun Oct 17th. Face off 5PM PDT.

San Jose Barracuda faced off with the Colorado Eagles at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland Col in pre season AHL action on Sat Oct 9, 2021 (photo from sjbarracuda.com)

by Marko Ukalovic

LOVELAND, Colo—The Colorado Eagles overcame a two-goal deficit with three goals in the final three minutes of the game to beat the the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 in both teams first preseason game of the 2021-’22 season on Saturday evening at the Budweiser Events Center.

Jean-Luc Goudy scored his second goal of the game with 40 seconds left in regulation for the game winning goal to sink San Jose. Trey Bradley and Dalton Smith were credited with the assists.

Colorado (1-0) drew first blood early in the first period. Matthew Boucher sent over a pass the led to Brandon Cutler on a breakaway. Cutler did a dipsy-do right at the crease to get ‘Cuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko to go down before sliding a backhander into an open net for his first goal of the preseason at the 5:37 mark. Ben Tardif was credited with the secondary assist.

San Jose (0-1) was even with Colorado on the shot clock at eight a piece in the first period as Eagles goalie Hunter Miska was perfect in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second period it didn’t take long for the teams to establish some bad blood between them. 43 seconds in, Nick Cicek and Connor McDonald exchanged fisticuffs. McDonald was also given a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

San Jose scored the equalizer on the power play. Zach Gallant scored his first goal of the preseason at the 7:42 mark of the second period. Evan Weinger and Timur Ibragimov were credited with the assists.

Both team switched goalies midway through the second period. Trent Miner replaced Miska for the Eagles and Zachary Emond for the ‘Cuda.

The ‘Cuda gained its first lead of the game 1:23 later. Brinson Pasichnuk scored his first goal of the preseason at the 9:05 mark. Jayden Halbgewachs and Scott Reedy were credited with assists.

Joesph Garreffa gave the Barracuda what looked to have been insurance goal late in the third period when he scored his first goal of the preseason at the 14:05 mark.

Colorado started its comeback with Foudy’s first goal of the content that cut the lead to a one goal game with his first goal of the preseason at the 17:05 mark.

42 seconds later Ryan Wagner scored the equalizer for Colorado for his first goal of the preseason. Andrew Nielsen and Alex Beaucage were credited with the assists.

Colorado out shot San Jose 22-8 in the third period.

Miner earned the win stopping 12 of the 13 shots he faced in 30:13 of ice time. Emond made 23 saves on 26 in 29:59 of ice time in the losing effort. Miska finished his night 10 saves on 12 shots in 29:47 of ice time. Sawchenko had 10 saves on 11 shots in 29:47 of ice time.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Foudy 2) Wagner 3) Cutler

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado battle again on Sunday 10/10 at 1:00pm at Budweiser Events Center.