Tag: San Jose Barracuda

Ontario Reign forward Nikita Pavlychev looks to set a screen in the crease while San Jose Barracuda goalie Georgi Romanov looks on at Toyota Arena on Tuesday FEB 27, 2024. (Ontario Reign)

by Marko Ukalovic

Samuel Fagemo is an official ‘Cuda killer.

The Ontario Reign forward recorded a hat trick as his team routed the San Jose Barracuda 8-2 on Tuesday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose has lost four games in a row as they anchor the bottom of the Pacific Division. Ontario has won three games in a row as it gained sole possession of sixth place in the division with 58 points.

Ontario (26-19-3-3) drew first blood in the first two minutes of the opening period with an even strength goal. A giveaway by San Jose inside its own zone led to Samuel Helenius finding Nikita Pavlychev who buried a quick wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov for his first goal in 21 games at the 2:13 mark.

The Reign doubled its lead on the power play just over five minutes later. Martin Chromiak centered a back door pass off the skate of Francesco Pinelli, who was all alone to the right of the crease, for his sixth goal of the season at the 7:48 mark.

Sam Fagemo scored Ontario’s third unanswered goal in the opening frame with 49 seconds left. A missed odd-man rush for San Jose (17-26-8-1) led to a breakaway opportunity the other way for Fagemo who beat Romanov with a wrist shot for his team leading 26th goal of the season.

The Barracuda out shot Ontario 8-7 but could not a get a puck past Reign rookie goalie Erik Portillo. ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy pulled Romanov at the end of the period and inserted Magnus Chrona to start the second period. Romanov (6-7-5) gave up three goals on just seven shots.

San Jose got on the board with an even strength goal early the middle frame. Oscar Lindblom found Jack Studnicka with a cross ice pass. Studnicka made a fore-hand to backhand move to beat Portillo through the five-hole for his sixth goal of the season at the 2:43 mark.

The Lindblom-Studnicka connection hooked up once again this time on the power play. Lindblom found Studnicka in front of the net and Studnicka batted in his own rebound past Portillo for his second goal of the game and seventh of the season at the 5:15 mark.

Joe Hicketts found himself at the right place at the right time to give Ontario another two-goal lead. Hicketts picked up a rebound from behind the net and wrapped around the puck into an empty net for his first goal in a Reign uniform. It was his first goal in 16 games.

The Reign regained their three-goal late in the period on the power play. T.J. Tynan sent a cross ice pass over to Fagemo who beat Chrona with a one-timer for his AHL leading 13th power play goal and 27th of the season at the 18:26 mark.

Charles Hudon scored the Reign’s third power play goal of the game with six seconds left in the second period. Hicketts set up Hudon who beat Chrona with a one-timer for his 18th goal of the season.

Kevin Connauton scored an empty netter from his own blue line for his second goal of the season at the 9:17 mark when the ‘Cuda pulled Chrona for an extra attacker.

Fagemo completed his trick when Tynan set him up for a one-timer at the 14:27 mark. Fagemo has two hat tricks against San Jose this season and has 11 goals in six games against the ‘Cuda.

Portillo (15-8-3-2) finished the game stopping 38 of the 40 shots he faced to earn his 15th victory of the season. Chrona made 19 saves on 23 shots in mop up duty.

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

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Fagemo 2) Tynan 3) Pavlychev.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its two-game road trip down in the desert when they take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday 2/28 at Acrisure Arena at 7:00pm.

San Jose Barracuda forward Thomas Bordeleau (#17) races for the puck alongside Abbotsford Canucks defenseman Nick Cicek (#59) during the Canucks 3-2 win over the Barracuda at Tech CU Arena on Saturday FEB 24, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Abbotsford Canucks scored three unanswered goals in the third period for a 5-2 victory to sweep the weekend series on Saturday afternoon at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost three games in a row. Abbotsford has won four games in a row.

Abbotsford (27-17-3-2) drew first blood early in the first period with a power play goal. Sheldon Dries picked the puck out of a scrum along the left boards. Dries poked the puck out to Linus Karlsson, who was wide open in front of the crease, and the left winger slipped the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona for his 12th goal of the season at the 1:38 mark.

The Canucks doubled its lead with a 4-on-4 goal just under five minutes later. Karlsson sent a shot from the left point and Dries redirected the puck past Chrona for his 16th goal of the season at the 6:29 mark.

San Jose (17-25-8-1) responded with a power play goal past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Cole Cassels shot from the left side of the crease was initially stopped by Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs but Thomas Bordeleau crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound for his 11th goal of the season at the 12:12 mark.

A scoreless second period was an entertaining one as the Canucks controlled play in the first half of the middle frame. The Barracuda had the Canucks on their heels in the final three minutes of the period with an extended period of offensive zone time but weren’t able to get a puck past Silovs despite a flurry of shots directed at the Canucks goaltender.

The ‘Cuda scored the equalizer early in the third period with its second power play goal of the game. Jacob Peterson whipped around from behind the net with a backhanded attempt. Scott Sabourin chipped in the rebound for his 13th goal of the season at the 2:14 mark.

Abbotsford regained the lead just over two minutes later thanks to a ‘Cuda turnover inside the Canucks zone. Aatu Raty skated into the Barracuda zone uncontested. Raty’s first shot attempt was block by Nathan Todd, but Raty beat Chrona with a wrist shot on his own rebound for his 11th goal of the season at the 4:36 mark.

Chase Wouters gave the Canucks an insurance goal when he redirected a shot from the point by Alex Kannok Leipert for his eighth goal of the season at the 14:20 mark.

Raty closed out the scoring with his second goal of the game, an empty netter, for his 12th goal of the season with 1:34 remaining in the game.

Silovs (14-10-5-3) finished the game stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faces to earn his 14th victory of the season. Chrona (5-13-4) made 23 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Raty 2) Dries 3 Sabourin.

UP NEXT: San Jose heads out on the road to take on the Ontario Reign on Tuesday 2/27 at 7:00pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda forward Kyle Rau (#91) battles for the puck against Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Cameron Hughes (#19) while goalie Chris Driedger (#60) looks on during the contest at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday FEB 21, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — There was no love lost between the two Pacific Division rivals.

The Coachella Valley Firebirds scored twice in the third period to break a 3-3 deadlock en route to a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

This was the second time in six days that both teams played each other and the chippiness began during the pre-game warmups as words were exchanged and then to pushing and shoving once the game was underway.

San Jose has lost two out of its past three games with both losses coming against the Firebirds and still have not beat the Seattle Kraken AHL affiliate at home in franchise history (0-6-1). Coachella Valley has points in seven straight games.

Coachella Valley (30-13-4-2) drew first blood early in the first period with a power play goal. Connor Carrick set up Andrew Poturalski along the right wing. Poturalski faked a slapshot before depositing a wrist shot to the far side past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona for his 11th goal of the season at the 3:28 mark.

The Barracuda looked like they were trying to settle a score or two against the Firebirds, which was a residual effect from last week’s 4-0 loss down in the desert, instead of establishing a forecheck to begin the game. Artem Guryev and John Hayden had a spirited fight off of a faceoff near center ice at the 7:44 mark.

“I think it was a physical game (on) both sides,” said ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy on the game’s extra physicality. “I don’t think it was necessarily something we were looking to bring to the game to that direction. These are huge points that we needed. Unfortunately, I thought we spent a little bit too much time in the penalty box and it bit us in the end.”

The Firebirds doubled their lead with an even strength goal just before the halfway mark of the opening frame. Ryan Winterton found Max McCormick down low in the crease and McCormick’s backhander beat Chrona to the short side for his team leading 24th goal of the season at the 8:04 mark.

San Jose (17-24-8-0) answered back 1:36 later on its second power play of the period. Jacob MacDonald’s shot from the point was cleaned up by Kyle Rau as he slid the puck past Firebirds goalie Chris Driedger near the right side of the crease for his sixth goal of the season at the 9:40 mark.

The Barracuda evened the game early in the second period with an even strength goal. Cole Cassels got the puck over to Nathan Todd in the right slot. Todd then slid a pass out to Scott Sabourin who buried a one-timer into the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season at the 2:21 mark.

San Jose gained its first lead with its second power play goal just over two minutes later. Cassels chipped the puck inside the Firebirds zone. Todd picked up the puck skated in from the right wing and snuck a wrist shot through the five-hole of Driedger for his team leading 16th goal of the season at the 4:41 mark.

The Firebirds scored the equalizer with its second power play goal of the game at the halfway mark of the middle frame. Poturalski sent a cross ice pass over to Logan Morrison along the right slot. Morrison skated in uncontested before beating Chrona to the short side with a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season at the 9:05 mark.

Morrison regained the lead for the Firebirds early in the third period with his second goal of the game and Coachella Valley’s third power play goal of the game. Kole Lind found Morrison with a backdoor pass through the crease and Morrison tapped home the puck for his 12th goal of the season at the 1:54 mark. Sabourin started the period in the sinbin with a cross-checking penalty at the end of the second period.

“The timing of goals is just as important sometimes as the amount of goals (that are scored). After first look, I gotta look at it (the game) again, after first look, I was happy with our compete,” McCarthy said.

Devin Shore scored an empty net goal at the 18:30 mark for his fifth goal of the season.

San Jose got one back when Jack Studnicka redirected a shot by Ethan Cardwell past Driedger for his fourth goal of the season with 60 seconds remaining in the game.

Driedger (14-6-3-4) finished the game stopping 30 of the 34 shots he faced in to earn his 14th victory of the season. Chrona (5-12-4) made 25 saves on 29 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-7 on the power play. Coachella Valley was 3-for-5.

San Jose’s is 1-8-2-2 all time versus Coachella Valley.

Todd’s three-point game gave him six goals and four assists in his past five games.

Defenseman Jacob MacDonald made his debut the ‘Cuda after clearing waivers earlier in the day. The San Jose Sharks placed MacDonald on waivers back on February 20th.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Morrison 2) Todd 3) Poturalski.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its three-game homestand with a weekend series against the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday 2/23 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Bakersfield Condors forward Drake Caggiula (#9) attempts a shot on goal against San Jose Barracuda goalie Magnus Chrona (#30) during the Barracuda’s 7-3 win at Mechanics Bank Arena on Saturday FEB 17, 2024. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda power play was a Saturday night special.

San Jose scored four power play goals, the most they have scored in a game this season, during a 7-3 route of the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose has won three of its past four games after dropping its first two after the All-Star break by scoring the most goals in a road game this season. Bakersfield has lost three out of its last four games.

It was a weird special team’s game,” said Condor’s head coach Colin Chaulk. “We felt like we had a good start but then we got into some penalty trouble, and they converted right away. And from there we were chasing the game.”

San Jose (17-23-8-0) drew first blood with its first power play goal, at the halfway mark of the first period. Thomas Bordeleau centered a pass over to Cole Cassels who buried a one-time past Condors goalie Olivier Rodrigue for his seventh goal of the season at the 10:29 mark. Newly appointed ‘Cuda captain Radim Simek picked up the secondary assist to snap an eight-game pointless streak.

The Barracuda doubled its lead with its second power play goal 69 seconds later. With Raphael Lavoie in the sinbin for roughing, Cassels funneled a pass over to a wide-open Nathan Todd, who slammed home a one-timer for his team leading 15th goal of the season.

Bakersfield (23-16-2-2) cut the deficit in half with a power play goal of their own. Former ‘Cuda forward Lane Pederson split through two Barracuda defenders before centering a pass over to Drake Caggiula who tapped home the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona for his ninth goal of the season at the 17:23 mark.

It only took 20 seconds for San Jose to regain its two-goal lead on its next shift. Greg McKegg giftwrapped the puck over to Scott Sabourin in the neutral zone. Sabourin beat Rodrigue to the short side with a wrist shot on the breakaway for his 11th goal of the season.

San Jose made Bakersfield pay when Markus Niemelainen went to the penalty box for a four-minute high sticking penalty in the second period with two more power play goals. Ethan Cardwell made it 4-1 with his co-team leading 15th goal of the season at the 8:40 mark after getting in all alone on the Condors defense and beat Rodrigue with a quick wrist shot.

Then just under two minutes later Kyle Rau scored his fifth goal of the season at the at the 10:37 mark when he cleaned up the rebound off of a Jacob Peterson shot where the puck was lying in the crease behind Rodrigue. That ended the night for Rodrigue (11-5-4-0) who was replaced by Jack Campbell after giving up five goals on 19 shots.

Caggiula registered his second goal of the game just 17 seconds later after tapping home a centering pass from Ty Tullio. Pederson picked up his second assist on the goal.

San Jose kept pouring it on third period with two even strength goals. Peterson tipped home a centering pass from Rau for his sixth goal of the season at the 7:42 mark.

Anthony Vincent, who was in the lineup for the first time since last October as he replaced the injured Brandon Coe, finished off the scoring for the ‘Cuda with his first career AHL goal when he redirected a shot from the point by Ethan Frisch at the 12:41 mark.

Dino Kambeitz concluded the scoring with his third goal of the season at the 13:19 mark when his shot from a tough angle trickled through the five-hole of Chrona.

Chrona (5-11-4-0) finished the game stopping 34 of the 37 shots he faced to snap a five-game losing streak and earn his fifth victory of the season. Campbell made seven saves on nine shots in mop up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the game 4-for-5 on the power play. Bakersfield went 1-for-7.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Cassels 2) Peterson 3) Rau.

San Jose finished the season series 4-3-1 against Bakersfield.

UP NEXT: San Jose return home to begin a three-game homestand when they host the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday 2/21 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.