by Jerry Feitelberg
photo credit: sjmercurynews.com SJ Barracuda logo
The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Charlotte Checkers 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday afternoon at the SAP center. Head coach Roy Sommer’s team evened the season series with the Checkers at two apiece. The Barracuda fell to the Checkers Monday as the played a lackluster game. San Jose played a much better game.
The Barracuda and the Checkers played a lively first period. The Barracuda held their own as they killed off two penalties early in the period. Goalie Aaron Dell made a terrific stop on a two on one rush by the Checkers while the “Cuda was on a power play. The contest remained scoreless until the 16:18 mark when the Checkers’ Sergei Tolchinsky beat Dell for the first score of the game. Danny Biega and Brock McGinn assisted. The Barracuda tied the game with just twelve seconds left when Michael Haley put the puck past Daniel Altshuller for the tally. Julius Bergman assisted on the play. The Barracuda outshot the Checkers 13-12. Score tied at one after one period.
There was no scoring in the second period. Bith teams continued the levely play as they skated up and down the ice. The Checkers continued to lead in the shots on goal category 23-22. The Barracuda’s Michael Haley and the Checkers’ Mike Cornell sat out five minutes of the period as they were flagged for fighting. Both the Barracuda and the Checkers had one power play opportunity but neither team could convert.
San Jose scored their second goal of the game with 15:01 left to play in the game. Forward Ryan Carpenter poked the puck into the nets during a huge scrum in front of Checkers’ goalie Daniel Altshuller. Ther Checkers tied the ame with just 5:25 left as Jake Chelios beat Dell for the score. Neither team could score and the game ended in a tie and headed for Overtime.
The Barracuda had their chances in the five-minute overtime period. The Checkers were called for three penalties but San Jose did not score. The game will be settled by a shootout. Bryan Lerg beat Altshuiller to secure the win for San Jose by a final score of 3-2.
Game Notes- With the win, San Jose’s record improves to 12-10-2-3 and they have won three of the last four games. Charlotte drops to 17-12-1-0.
San Jose’s Ryan Carpenter and goalie Aaron Dell were awarded first and third stars respectively after the game. Charlotte’s Sergei Tolchinsky won the second star. Aaron Dell stopped 31 shots for the Barracuda. Charlotte’s Altshuller recoireded 32 saves in a losing effort.
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