Tag: hockey

Barracuda escape with 3-2 win over Roadrunners

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda aimed to rebound from their previous loss prior to their tilt with the Tuscon Roadrunners at SAP Center Sunday.

Things appeared to be bright for the Cuda, who killed their first penalty (Jacob Middleton for high-sticking at the 13:18 mark of the first period) and then Alex Schoenborn scored his first goal on the season with 9:21 left in the first. Caleb Herbert picked up the lone assist on Schoenborn’s goal.

The Cuda took a 2-0 lead with 4:28 left in the first. Julius Bergman scored on the power play for his ninth goal on the season. Bergman fired a shot to beat Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill. Assists went to Radim Simek and Manuel Wiederer.

The Cuda led the Roadrunners 2-0 after 20 minutes of play. However, shots were 8-6 in favor of Tuscon.

The Roadrunners finally got on the board to cut the Cuda’s lead in half 2-1 at the 16:50 mark of the second period. Lawson Crouse scored his 10th goal on the season. Assists went to Mike Sislo and Dakota Mermis.

The Cuda immediately made it a 3-1 game just 2:12 later. Wiederer scored his seventh goal on the season. Emerson Clark picked up the lone assist on Wiederer’s goal.

The Cuda held onto their 3-1 lead through 40 minutes of play. Shots were tied at 16 apiece.

Well, the Roadrunners have come back from two-goal deficits in the past, so there was a chance that they might do it again. Not this time though.

Roadrunners’ Ryan MacInnis brought his team within one, 3-2, with his fifth goal of the season just 20 seconds into the third period. Assists went to Tye McGinn and Dysin Mayo.

Cuda goalie Stephon Williams made quality saves throughout the game. Williams finished with 27 saves in San Jose’s win.

The Cuda escaped with a 3-2 win over the Roadrunners.

For the Roadrunners, Hill allowed three goals on nine shots before being pulled in favor of Hunter Miska, who stopped all 20 shots he faced.

Three stars of the game
1. Manuel Wiederer
2. Lawson Crouse
3. Alex Schoenborn

Notes
Cuda starters: Stephon Williams, Radim Simek, Manuel Wiederer, Julius Bergman, Jon Martin and Emerson Clark.

Roadrunners starters: Adin Hill, Andrew Campbell, Tye McGinn, Dysin Mayo, Lawson Crouse and Ryan MacInnis.

Up Next
The Cuda kick off their brief, two-game road trip with a game against the Griffins this Friday at 4:00 pm PST.

Barracuda unable to string two wins together as they lose to Reign 7-3

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda were looking to win two games in a row, entering Saturday’s rivalry matchup against the Ontario Reign at SAP Center.

The Reign pretty much gave the Cuda a hard time in the first period.

The Reign went on an early power play for hooking against the Cuda’s Julius Bergman. Just three minutes in, Michael Mersch found the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The Reign made it a 2-0 game after Kyle Bauman notched his first professional goal in his third AHL game so far this season. Bauman made a diving backhand flip on the puck, which made its way over the shoulder of Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau.

The Cuda cut the lead in half on Brandon Mashinter’s goal, his 16th on the season,

But the Reign quickly found a way to extend its lead to 3-1 with 4:34 left in the first. Matt Moulson found himself in the middle of the crease with the puck on his stick and put it in the net.

The Cuda trailed the Reign 3-1 at the end of the first. Shots were 16-9 in favor of San Jose.

Cuda’s Emerson Clark scored on the breakaway for his eighth goal on the season to pull his team within one just 3:08 into the second period.

From there, things started getting chippy between the two rival teams. Mersch and Kurtis MacDermid were not happy with each other, which led them to drop the gloves for an action-packed fight. In addition, Colby McAuley threw the puck into the empty net. The officials were perplexed at first, but then figured out to assess the appropriate penalties.

The Reign went on a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes. Ontario managed to redeem themselves as Philippe Maillet tallied a power-play goal, his 17th on the season, at the 11:37 mark. As a result, the Barracuda pulled Bibeau in lieu of Stephon Williams.

Justin Auger made it 5-2 Reign with 6:29 left in the second. Auger completed a stunning pass from Sam Herr in the far corner for his 10th goal on the season.

The Reign expanded its lead to 6-2 with 4:58 left in the second. Maillet dangled around the net and fed Sean Walker, who fired in a clean slap shot and subsequently picked up his sixth goal on the season.

Reign’s Bokondji Imama went to the box late in the second. Reign goalie Cal Petersen made a tremendous save on the penalty kill, but then the Cuda’s Rudolfs Balcers proceeded to score a power-play goal, his 18th goal on the season, to help his team cut the lead in half with 3:04 left in the second.

The Barracuda started to pave its way back into the game, but continued to trail the Reign 6-3 at the end of the second. Shots were 29-20 in favor of San Jose.

Austin Wagner beat Williams through the five-hole for his ninth goal on the season, giving the Reign a 7-3 lead with 1:13 left in the third period.

The Reign pretty much had this game from start to finish and the Cuda lost by a score of 7-3. Petersen finished with 33 saves for Ontario. Meanwhile, Bibeau made 10 saves and allowed five goals before being pulled in favor of Williams, who made eight saves and allowed two goals in relief of Bibeau.

Notes
Cuda starting lineup: Rudolfs Balcers, Rourke Chartier, Adam Helewka, Jacob Middleton and Tim Heed.

Reign starting lineup: Jordan Subban, T.J. Hensick, Kurtis MacDermid, Jonny Brodzinski and Austin Wagner.

Up Next
The Cuda host the Roadrunners Sunday at 3:00 pm PST.

Couture helps Sharks take 2-1 OT win over Golden Knights

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Photo credit: @TheSpearSJSU

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Sharks welcomed the Pacific Division-leading Las Vegas Golden Knights to their home ice at SAP Center Thursday night. The Sharks brought a five-game win streak into Thursday’s game compared the Golden Knights’ two-game streak, but the biggest storyline was that the Knights had a chance to clinch a playoff berth that night.

The Knights got down to business when Tomas Tatar fired the puck past Sharks goalie Martin Jones for an early 1-0 lead at the 16:13 mark of the first period. Assists went to Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore.

Shots were 13-11 in favor of the Sharks, but they trailed the Knights 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

The Sharks tied the game at one apiece when Brent Burns fired a slap shot that went past traffic and into the net, beating Knights goalie Malcolm Subban for his 11th goal of the season at the 16:33 mark of the second period. Assists went to Paul Martin and Jannik Hansen.

Sharks rookie Kevin Labanc put some of his offensive skills on display, but he gave the puck to a Knights player and missed out of a chance that might’ve led to a scoring opportunity for San Jose.

The score was tied at one apiece after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 31-15 in favor of San Jose.

The score remained tied at one apiece after 60 minutes of play. Shots were 43-22 in favor of San Jose.

Logan Couture scored the game-winning goal, his 31st of the season, just 39 seconds into the overtime period to lift the Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Knights. Jones finished with 24 saves for San Jose. Subban made 42 saves in a losing effort for Vegas.

Regardless of the outcome, Vegas made history as an expansion team after hitting the 100-point mark as the game went into overtime.

Notes
Sharks’ starting lineup: 
Evander Kane – Joe Pavelski – Melker Karlsson
Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier – Chris Tierney – Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow – Eric Fehr – Jannik Hansen

Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones

Aaron Dell

Scratches: Tim Heed, Joel Ward, Joonas Donskoi and Marcus Sorensen.

Knights’ starting lineup: 
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Tomas Tatar
David Perron – Erik Haula – James Neal
Ryan Carpenter – Cody Eakin – Alex Tuch
Tomas Nosek – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt
Shea Theadore – Deryk Engelland
Jon Merrill – Colin Miller

Malcolm Subban

Oscar Dansk

Scratches: Brad Hunt, Oscar Lindberg and Zach Whitecloud.

 

Up Next
The Sharks host the Calgary Flames this Saturday at 1:00 pm PST.

Barracuda end three-game losing streak with thrilling 4-3 OT victory over Roadrunners

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

With the San Jose Barracuda’s (27-24-4-3) playoff hopes hanging by a thread, Jacob Middleton gave his team a glimmer of hope with the game-winning goal on the power play in overtime to defeat the Tuscon Roadrunners (35-18-5-1) by a score of 4-3 on Tuesday evening at the Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

San Jose salvaged the last game on their four-game road trip, where they went 1-2-1 and snapped their three-game losing streak.

Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (19-13-3) started the rush when he outraced a Tuscon attacker to the puck after the puck was cleared out of the Roadrunner zone. Bibeau’s outlet pass went to Brandon Mashinter, who skated back into the zone and passed it over to Middleton, who fired a shot inside the right post past Roadrunner goalie Adin Hill (16-10-4) for the game-winning goal. The defenseman’s fourth goal of the season came at the 2:07 mark of overtime.

San Jose would draw first blood in the first period. Colby McAuley pounded home a rebound for his third goal on the season after a wraparound attempt by Rourke Chartier was saved by Hill at the 8:16 mark of the first period. Zach Frye received the secondary assist.

Mashinster would quickly make it 2-0 just 31 seconds later. Alex True sent over a pass to Mashinter down in the low slot and the veteran winger fired a spinning back-hander past Hill for his ninth goal on the season at the 8:47 mark. McAuley received the secondary assist for his first multi-point game of his career.

San Jose had a close call late in the first period when a shot from Tuscon’s Mike Sislo hit off the cross-bar, pinballed off of Bibeau that was rolling back toward the net until defensman Radim Simek rescued the puck out of danger before it crossed the goal line to keep Tuscon off the board heading into the first intermission.

Tuscon would cut the lead in half early in the second period. Dakota Mermis sent a pass to Sislo, who skated down the left side of the boards and was able to bury a shot just inside the right post past Bibeau’s short side. Sislo’s team-leading 23rd goal on the season came at the 3:18 mark.

The Cuda regained their two-goal lead back on the power play. Mashinter crashed the net putting a shot on goal that bounced off Hill. Manny Wiederer pounced on the loose puck and slammed home the rebound for his sixth goal on the season for the rookie forward at the nine-minute mark of the second period. Nick DeSimone received the secondary assist.

Joel Hanley cut the lead down to one goal early in the third period. Michael Bunting won a battle inside the Cuda zone, fed the puck over to Hanley who fired a shot past Bibeau for his first goal (and first goal in 93 games) on the season at the 4:42 mark.

The Roadrunners would get the equalizer when Carter Camper went coast to coast from his own zone, skated through the Cuda defense and snapped a shot past Bibeau with 1:17 left in the third period. It was his 15th goal on the season, including his 14th point in nine games since being acquired by Tuscon from the Cleveland Monsters at the trade deadline.

Bibeau responded with a nice bounce back game, making 31 saves on 34 shots.

Hill suffered his first regulation loss since the All-Star break, making 14 saves on 18 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/5 on the power play while Tuscon went 0/3

Captain John McCarthy missed the game due to an upper body. Calvan Fitzgerald and Jeremy Roy were also injury scratches.

Mashinter hit the post on a breakaway shot seconds after Sislo’s goal.

Tuscon’s rookie sensation Nick Merkley was an injury scratch. Merkley leads the team with 11 power play goals.

Bunting now has eight points in seven games played against the Barracuda this season – (6G, 2A).

With the loss, the Roadrunners four-game winning streak, tied for their longest win streak of the season, was snapped.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home for a two-game weekend series starting on Saturday, March 24 as they play their final game of the season against the Ontario Reign at SAP Center at 5:30 pm PST.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Be very careful, Vegas is coming to SAP Center with the conference’s best record

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

The New Jersey Devils who paid the San Jose Sharks a visit on Tuesday night were caught off guard, getting crushed 6-2. You can’t take the Sharks for granted against the Sharks you have to play steady and play a good defensive game that what the Sharks really need. If they get into one of these 11-goal games, it’s going to be a fun game to watch, but that’s a little too risky. Defense is the Sharks’ key to success. Last night’s game was a good model, but we don’t know if the Devils were all they can be.

As a model, the Sharks have to play a good defensive game and shooting every time they stand in range of the net is a good idea. The Vegas Golden Knights, who lead the Western Conference, are eight points ahead of the Sharks, who are in second place, and it’s a question of whether or not the Sharks can catch them. It’s certainly worth trying. It’s better than losing points. The only goal in front of the Sharks right now is catch Vegas.

Mary Lisa Walsh does the San Jose Sharks podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda try to make the second time the charm after getting shutout by Tucson on Tuesday night

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

The San Jose Barracuda went into Tucson Tuesday and just laid an egg and matter of fact got goose-egged in a 4-0 shutout. The Roadrunners are firing on all cylinders right now as they’re the best team in the Pacific Division. They’ve been the best team from the start of the season up to now in March. The Roadrunners were without their leading scorer, Dylan Strome, who was promoted to the Arizona Coyotes.

You would have not know that Strome was not there because everyone else just stepped up in Tucson and pitched in and had a great game all-around from the first to the fourth line. They proved why they’re a first place team by dominating from start to finish. At one point, the Barracuda only had 13 shots on goal through the first 40 minutes of play. So not only are the Roadrunners getting good chances and getting the Barracuda to take a bunch of penalties, but they were limiting the Barracuda offensive attack, which led to the shutout.

Marko Ukalovic does the SJ Barracuda podcast each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Fourth Line Leads Way in Sharks’ 6-2 Win Over Devils

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Matthew Harrington

Tuesday night was a feel-good night for the San Jose Sharks all around. Sure, the Sharks won 6-2 over the visiting New Jersey Devils to run their win streak to five, but how they did it was far more exciting than what they did.

The Sharks’ fourth line members each scored a goal apiece, Jannik Hansen lit the lamp for the first time this season and Paul Martin picked up his first NHL point of the 2017-18 season. Logan Couture scored his 30th goal, crossing the triple-decade club for the third time in his career and first since 2012. The power play scored not once, but twice in a game, and to cap it all off, coach Peter DeBoer picked up his 350th win.

That Joe Thornton was spotted skating earlier in the morning, or that the Los Angeles Kings lost in overtime earlier in the night to fall back four points behind team teal for second in the Pacific Division were just icing on the cake.

New Jersey came into the contest on an impressive run, having beaten Vegas, Nashville and Los Angeles before falling to the Ducks in the previous quartet of games. San Jose put the Devils on their heels early though, thanks to fourth liner Eric Fehr’s third goal of the year 5:32 into the game.

Brent Burns fed Paul Martin, up with the big club and playing largely thanks to injuries to a number of blueliners with Tuesday’s victim being Joakim Ryan, who then teed up a point shot. The shot whistled wide of the net to keeper Corey Schneider’s right but ricocheted off the back wall to Fehr on the opposite post. Fehr went top corner of Schneider’s shoulder for the 1-0 lead.

Hart Trophy candidate Taylor Hall breathed life into the Devils devils at the 11:19 mark after Justin Braun failed to clear up an aerial pass. No. 9 scooped the puck up on a hop and scored easily on the breakaway for his 32nd goal of the season.

Joe Pavelski scored the most Joe Pavelski-like goal just over a minute later on the power play, tipping a Kevin Labanc shot past Schneider for his 19th goal of the year and a 2-1 lead.

Jannik Hansen, the “beneficiary” inserted onto the fourth line due to injuries to Joel Ward and Joonas Donskoi, used his speed to get a breakaway on former Vancouver Canucks teammate Schneider, scoring his first goal of the year with 4:46 left in the first period.

The final member of the fourth line to Barclay Goodrow chased Schneider from the game after scoring his career-best seventh goal of the season 10:38 into the second period.

Logan Couture then put the Sharks up 5-1, beating relief netminder Keith Kinkaid on the first shot he faced with 8:42 left in the period. Brendan Dillon assisted on both goals.

The Sharks would take advantage of another power play opportunity, with Mikkel Boedker scoring his 14th goal of the year with 1:40 left in the second. Brent Burns assisted on the goal for his third point, all assists, of the game. In total, San Jose was a perfect 2-for-2 on the man-advantage.

New Jersey would beat goalie Martin Jones just once more over the duration of play, with Blake Coleman scoring an even strength goal with 1:36 left in regulation for the final score of 6-2. Jones made 26 saves.

San Jose now sits four points ahead of LA and five ahead of second wild card team Anaheim. They sit behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the division lead though, eight points back with nine to play. If San Jose hopes to gain ground, they’ll need a victory over the expansion team when they visit the Shark Tank Thursday night.

Roadrunners make road kill out of Barracuda in 4-0 shutout victory

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The Pacific Division-leading Tuscon Roadrunners (35-18-4-1) flexed their muscles in dealing a big blow to the San Jose Barracuda’s (26-24-4-3) fading playoff hopes with a dominating 4-0 shutout victory on Tuesday evening at the Tuscon Convention Center Arena. It was the Cuda’s third consecutive loss and sixth time they have been shutout this season.

The Roadrunners drew first blood on their second power play opportunity when Connor Garland was able to light the lamp after snapping home a rebound off a shot from Mike Sislo that got past the outstretched arms of Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (18-13-3) for his sixth goal of the season at the 7:11 mark of the first period. Dakota Mermis received the secondary assist.

Tuscon made it a 2-0 game just seconds after killing off a penalty by Lane Pedersen. Carter Camper sent in a shot on goal that Bibeau was able to deflect behind the goal. Pedersen collected the puck, circled around the net and slid the puck into an empty net for his 11th goal on the season at the 13:53 mark. Goalie Adin Hill (16-10-3) received an assist on the goal.

Mario Campe would chase Bibeau from the game when he scored a breakaway goal at 4:36 mark of the second period. After a failed clearing attempt out of the Cuda zone, Garland fed a pass over Campe, who skated in with a pretty move going backhand to forehand to bury the puck past Bibeau for his 16th goal on the season. Stephon Williams took over for Bibeau in net.

Michael Bunting made it 4-0 on the power play. After Williams was able to stop consecutive shots by Pederson and Lawson Crouse, Bunting made the third attempt a charm, scoring his 17th goal on the season at the 15:37 mark.

Hill, who wasn’t busy during the first 40 minutes, was strong in the third period and finished with 20 saves for his third shutout of the season. Bibeau suffered the loss, making 14 saves on only 17 shots. Williams, in his first relief appearance for the Cuda, made 17 saves on 18 shots.

GAMES NOTES: San Jose went 0/4 on the power play. Tuscon went 2/5.

Tuscon was without their leading point scorer, Dylan Strome, who was recalled up to the Arizona Coyotes.

Despite suffering from the flu, Julius Bergman–initially listed as a scratch–was in the lineup for the Cuda.

The Cuda are now 5-1-0-1 all time against Tuscon.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! San Jose’s Emerson Clark and Tuscon’s Garland exchanged fisticuffs in a penalty-filled first period at the 7:26 mark.

Streaks stopped–Captain John McCarthy and Rourke Chartier both had their four-game scoring streaks end and Adam Helewka’s three-game streak stopped.

It was the first loss for San Jose at Tuscon Convention Center Arena this season.

With the loss, the Cuda dropped to last place in the Pacific Division.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda will look to salvage the end of their four-game road trip in the back-end of their two-game series against Tuscon on Wednesday 3/21 at 7:05 pm PST.

Barracuda gain a point, but fall 5-4 to Reign in overtime

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose Barracuda were looking to rain on the Ontario Reign’s parade at the Citizens Business Bank Arena on Sunday.

The Barracuda tweeted out their starting lineups in a fairly creative manner.

The Reign got off to a strong start as Philippe Maillet finished a wraparound to open the scoring for a 1-0 lead at the the 16:06 mark of the first period. A Reign player then fired a shot into the net, but Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau stopped the shot with a notable save.

The Barracuda went on their first power play of the game after the Reign committed a faceoff violation. However, Ontario made it a 2-0 game when Jonny Brodzinski (Mike Brodzinski’s older brother) buried a one-timer from the far side with a minute left in the first.

Shots were 7-6 in favor of the Reign, who led 2-0 after the first.

But the action was just getting started in the rivalry game. Both teams exchanged words with each other. This time around, they remained at even strength, which was a rare occurrence.

A Reign player was called for high-sticking and the Cuda returned on the power play. Not only that, San Jose scored just 10 seconds into that power play. Alex True collected a deflection from Nick DeSimone and fired the puck into the net to cut Ontario’s lead in half at the 13:12 mark of the second period.

After a Cuda power play that was sparked by a Reign tripping penalty, Julius Bergman helped his team erase a two-goal deficit with a full-strength goal to tie the game with 7:08 left in the second. San Jose then went on a 5-on-3 penalty kill as Adam Helewka and Brandon Mashinter went to the box for boarding.

The Cuda were short-handed and the Reign capitalized with the man advantage as Jonny Brodzinski scored a power-play goal–his second of the game–with 4:57 left in the second. With that goal, Brodzinski tallied his 1,000th AHL point.

The Cuda’s power play was most definitely good. Jacob Middleton tied the game at three apiece with 28 seconds left in the second. The officials reviewed Middleton’s goal and decided that it was still good.

Shots were 22-21 in favor of the Cuda, but the score was even at three apiece after the second.

Nobody predicted a wild start, but the Cuda took a 4-3 lead on a short-handed play by DeSimone early in the third period.

It was a first for both teams when San Jose’s Zach Fryes dropped the gloves with Ontario’s Jordan Subban (P.K. and Malcolm Subban’s youngest brother). Fryes experienced his first professional fight, while Subban and his team had their first fight against the Cuda since the 2015-16 AHL season.

Since the Cuda didn’t want to be left out of time in the box, the game headed into a 4-on-4 and the Reign tied the game at four apiece. After that, Ontario headed back on the power play for the remainder of the game, which went into a sudden death overtime.

There’s nothing like an extra dose of hockey, but the game was in favor of the Reign. Just 59 seconds into overtime, Reign captain Brett Sutter scored the overtime winner for a 5-4 win over the Cuda, who gained a point regardless of the final result.

Notes
Tonight’s Matchup: On Sunday, the Barracuda and Reign collided for the seventh of eight matchups on the season. The Barracuda are 2-4-0-0 against the Reign this year and are coming off a 2-1 shootout win against the Reign in the last meeting on March 4 at SAP Center.

Century Mark: The Cuda earned franchise victory #100 with a 4-0 win over the Monsters on March 10. The Barracuda joined the Reign, Gulls and *Texas Stars (*play 76 game schedule) as Pacific Division teams to reach 100 wins since 2015-16.

Killing It: The Cuda have killed 17 straight on the PK after going 2-for-2 on Friday and have not given up a power-play goal since March 23 at Bakersfield. San Jose ranks first in the Pacific on the kill and seventh in the AHL.

Oh Captain: Cuda captain John McCarthy collected six points (three goals, three assists) in two games against the Monsters last weekend, culminating in his first CCM/AHL Player of the Week nomination. McCarthy helped lead San Jose to a 6-2 win on Saturday as he collected his first pro hat-trick (sixth in Cuda history) and his first four-point night. The Olympian ranks first on the Cuda in plus/minus (+7), first in power-play goals (6), T-second in goals (10), and third in points (23). McCarthy is riding a three-game point streak (three goals, four assists).

Hey Rudy: Among first-year AHL players, Rudolfs Balcers ranks eighth in points (40), T-10th in assists (22), and T-13th in goals (17). The Liepaja, Latvia native leads the Cuda in points, assists, goals, and is T-first in game-winning goals (4). Balcers is currently on a three-game point streak after collecting a goal and an assist on Friday.

Goalie Time: In his fourth professional season, and first within the Sharks’ organization, AHL All-Star Antoine Bibeau is 18-12-2 in 32 games played with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. The Victoriaville, Quebec, native is T-fourth in the AHL in shutouts (4), fifth in goals-against average, T-seventh in save percentage, and T-10th in wins.

Coach Knows Best: Cuda head coach and Bay Area native Roy Sommer collected the 700th AHL win of his career on December 3 at Bakersfield. Sommer is the first coach in the 82-year history of the AHL to reach 700 coaching wins. In 2015-16, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook as the AHL’s all-time leader in wins and collected his first A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL Coach of the Year in 2016-17. Sommer, who’s in his AHL record 20th season behind the bench for the top affiliate of the Sharks, coached his 1,500th game in the AHL on December 8 at SAP Center against Tucson.

Up Next
The Barracuda visit the Roadrunners for the first of a back-to-back set Tuesday night at 7:05 pm PST.

Barracuda’s win streak ends at four as Currie powers Condors’ explosive attack in 8-4 triumph

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

Josh Currie wished he could play every game against the San Jose Barracuda (26-23-3-3 as his fifth career hat trick powered the Bakersfield Condors (24-22-9-1) to a 8-4 victory on Friday evening at Rabobank Arena. The loss snapped the Cuda’s four-game winning streak.

For Currie, also known as the Cuda killer, it was his second hat trick of the season against San Jose, and third overall against his NorCal rival. It was also his 14th career goal versus the Cuda and eighth goal in eight games so far this season.

The Cuda got the start they wanted getting on the board just 33 seconds into the game as Adam Helewka sent a shot in on net that rebounded off Condors goalie Laurent Brossoit (9-6-4) right to the stick of rookie sensation Rudolfs Balcers, who banged the puck into an empty net for with his team leading 17th goal of the season. Cuda captain John McCarthy received the secondary assist on the goal.

The Condors were able to tie the game up late in the first period when David Gust was able to make a great back-door pass over to Greyson Downing for an easy tap-in goal past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (18-11-2) at the 14:10 mark. It was Downing’s fourth goal of the season.

The Cuda regained the lead with just under a minute left in the period when Helewka controlled the puck from left corner and circled around the zone before snapping home a shot over the left shoulder of Brossoit for a 2-1 lead. Helewka’s ninth goal of the season came on an almost impossible angle that surprised Brossoit at the 19:08 mark. Balcers received the lone assist on the goal.

The lead was short-lived. Just 35 seconds later, Currie scored his first of three consecutive goals and 17th goal of the season. Currie was able to make a move to skate around Sam Warning from the slot and fired a shot past Bibeau to complete a wild final minute of action.

Currie would give back the lead to Bakersfield with his second goal of the night just 19 seconds into the second period. Currie had a nice give-and-go with Joey LeLeggia, who dropped it back to Currie. Currie proceed to fire a one-timer past Bibeau for his team-leading 18th goal of the season.

The Cuda would fall victim to some bad luck when the Condors scored off a shot by Patrick Russell that hit off the back of Nick DeSimone and ricocheted into the net. The unassisted goal was Russell’s 10th goal of the season at the 5:19 mark of the second period.

Currie completed his hat trick against the Cuda when he was able to shoot the puck between his legs that snuck under the blocker of a surprised Bibeau. Zach O’Brien and Leleggia assisted on Curry’s 19th goal on the year at 13:37 mark of the second period.

The Cuda would get two goals 21 seconds apart in the first two minutes of the third period when Radim Simek put home a rebound off a Brandon Mashinter shot for his sixth goal of the season at the 1:33 mark. Then Colby McAuley would take advantage of a Condor turnover when he was able to roof a backhander top-shelf past Brossoit for his second career goal at the 1:54 mark to make it a one-goal game at 5-4.

However, Bakersfield regained their composure and scored the next three goals to squash any Cuda comeback attempt. Russell scored his second goal of the night after sending in an innocent-looking wrist shot that caught Bibeau by surprise as the puck cruised past his blocker for Russell’s 11th goal on the year at the 5:29 mark. Evan Polei had a puck ricochet off his jersey from a shot that hit the post for his third goal of the season at the 9:06 mark.

Polie would get his first multi-goal game when he completed the scoring for the Condors with an empty-netter at the 18:59 mark.

Brossoit made 23 saves on 27 shots to earn the victory, while Bibeau took the tough loss, making 23 saves on 30 shots.

GAMES NOTES: Both teams went 0/2 on their power plays, respectively.

Bakersfield was without their leading scorer, Ty Rattie, who was recalled up to the Edmonton Oilers. McCarthy is currently on a three-game point streak.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down the road to Ontario to take on the Reign on Sunday 3/18. Faceoff is at 3 pm PST.