Tag: San Jose Barracuda

Charlotte Checkers forward Patrick Giles (#36) get checked by San Jose Barracuda defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (#85) during the Checkers 5-4 OT win at Bojangles Coliseum on Tuesday JAN 16, 2024. (Charlotte Checkers)

by Marko Ukalovic

Justin Sourdif scored the game winning goal at the 2:34 mark of overtime as the Charlotte Checkers defeated the San Jose Barracuda 5-4 on Tuesday evening at Bojangles Coliseum.

San Jose has lost a season-worst six games in a row. Charlotte has won two games in a row.

Brendan Perlini set up Sourdif on a two-on-one odd man rush into the ‘Cuda zone. Sourdif beat goalie Magnus Chrona with a wrist shot top shelf for his second goal of the game and eighth goal of the season.

Charlotte (19-13-4-0) opened the game with two goals in the first two minutes of the game. First Justin Sourdif set up Mackie Samoskevich with a drop pass and Samoskevich beat starting ‘Cuda goalie Eetu Makiniemi with a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season at the 1:29 mark of the first period.

Santuu Kinnunen then scored his third goal of the season 46 seconds later when he beat Makiniemi with a wrist shot from the left slot as the Checkers used an odd man rush after a turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone.

That ended the evening for Makiniemi as he made just two saves on four shots as Chrona replaced him the rest of the game.

San Jose (11-8-6-0) cut the lead in half 26 seconds later. Brent Marek’s battle for the puck inside the Checkers zone bounced up in the air and over to Tristen Robins who collected the puck and beat Checkers goalie Ludovic Waeber with a wrist shot for his first goal of the season.

The Checkers regained their two-goal lead on the power play late in the opening frame. Uvis Balinskis found Wilmer Skoog at the point and the Charlotte defenseman’s wrist shot beat Chrona through a sea of traffic in front of the crease at the 18:43 mark.

The Barracuda made it a 3-2 game 46 seconds into the second period with a power play goal. Leon Gawanke’s shot from the point was tipped past Waeber by Oskar Lindblom for his first goal of the season.

Charlotte answered back its second power play goal of the game. Samoskevich found Sourdif up in the left slot. Sourdif waited before depositing a wrist shot to the short side for his seventh goal of the season at the 12:29 mark.

San Jose once again cut their deficit to one goal after winning a faceoff inside the Checkers zone. Ethan Frisch found Danil Gushchin along the right boards. Gushchin then fed a rink wide pass over to Ethan Cardwell who one-timed a wrist shot past Waeber for his 11th goal of the season at the 14:59 mark.

The ‘Cuda tied with just over two minutes left in the middle frame when Tanner Kaspick outbattled Waeber behind the net for the puck. Kaspick fed a wide open Lindblom who backhanded the puck into an empty net for his second goal of the game at the 17:57 mark.

Spencer Knight replaces Waeber to start the third period. Waeber finished with eight saves on 12 shots. Knight (12-7-4-2) stopped all seven shots he faced to earn his 12th victory of the season. Chrona (4-10-3-0) finished with 32 saves on 35 shots in the losing effort.

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

San Jose is 0-6 in games that have ended in overtime this season.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Sourdif 2) Lindblom 3) Samoskevich.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Charlotte conclude their two-game series on Wednesday 1/17 at 4:00pm at Bojangles Coliseum.

Bakersfield Condors Ben Malone (#17), Seth Griffith (#39), Drake Caggiula (#9) celebrate with Ben Gleason (#6) who scored a goal against the San Jose Barracuda at Mechanics Bank Arena on Saturday JAN 13, 2024. (Bakersfield Condors)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Bakersfield Condors scored two goals in the first period en route to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose has lost five games in a row and three straight against the Condors. Bakersfield has won four games in a row and have points in nine straight games (7-0-1-1).

Bakersfield (15-10-1-2) drew first blood with an even strength goal early in the first period. A shot from the point by Philip Broberg went off the skate of Nikolai Knyzhov and onto the stick of Alex Peters who beat ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona with a wrist shot for his third goal of the season at the 5:44 mark.

The Condors doubled its lead on the power play late in the opening frame. Lane Pederson sent a pass through a sea of traffic over to Raphael Lavoie who lasered in a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season at the 14:27 mark.

San Jose (11-18-5-0) registered 11 shots on net in the first 20 minutes of play but didn’t have anything to show for it on the scoreboard thanks to the play of Condor’s goalie Jack Campbell.

Ben Gleason kept his goal streak alive when he blasted a slapshot past a screened Chrona for his seventh goal of the season at the 17:51 mark of the second period. Gleason has scored a goal in his fifth straight game and has four of his seven goals have come against the ‘Cuda. Drake Caggiula picked up the primary assist on the goal.

The Barracuda’s best scoring chance in the middle frame came on a 3-on-1 short-handed chance led by Shakir Mukhamadullin. However, Ethan Cardwell’s shot from the slot was stoned away by Campbell.

San Jose ended Campbell’s shutout bid with a power play goal to begin the third period. On the back end of a double-minor to Matvey Petrov that occurred late in the second period, Jack Studnicka centered a pass through the crease and Dani Gushchin scored into an open net with a one-timer for his team leading 13th goal of the season at the 1:38 mark.

San Jose cut the deficit to a one-goal game late in the period. Nathan Todd sent a pass back up to the point where Leon Gawanke blasted a slapshot past Campbell for his eighth goal of the season at the 13:28 mark.

Campbell (6-6-0-1) finished the game stopping 33 of the 35 shots he faced to earn his sixth victory of the season. Chrona (4-9-3), who made back-to-back starts, made 28 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-5 on the power play. Bakersfield was 1-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gleason  2) Peters 3) Lavoie.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels back east to begin a two-game series with the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday 1/17 at 4:00pm at Bojangles Coliseum.

San Jose Barracuda forward Tanner Kaspick and Bakerfield Condors center Brad Malone battle for position during a 3-2 win by the Condors at Tech CU Arena on Friday evening JAN 12, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Bakersfield Condors three unanswered goals, including two early goals in the third period, and held on at the end to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 3-2 on Friday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has lost four games in a row. Bakersfield has won three games in a row and five of its past six games.

San Jose (11-17-5-0) drew first blood with an even strength goal just past the halfway mark of the first period. Kyle Ray centered a pass from the behind the net out to Ethan Cardwell who beat Condor’s goalie Olivier Rodrigue with a quick shot to the short side for his 10th goal of the season at the 12:12 mark.

Cardwell snapped a six-game goal draught after getting off to a hot start to the season.

Bakersfield (14-10-1-2) out shot San Jose 12-9 in the opening frame but were kept off the scoreboard thanks to ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona making key saves late in the period.

The Condors scored the equalizer with a power play goal near the halfway mark of the second period. Raphael Lavoie centered a pass out to an unmarked Seth Griffith and the veteran forward beat Chrona with a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season at the 7:47 mark.

Bakersfield gained its first lead of the game 66 seconds into the third period with a short-handed goal. Former ‘Cuda forward Lane Pederson collected a loose puck inside the Barracuda zone. Pederson centered a pass over to Ben Gleason who buried a wrist shot past Chrona for his sixth goal of the season.

That killed us, absolutely killed us,” said ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy on trailing while on the power play. “It comes down to details, we didn’t have…it was the short-handed goal against it was one guy (on the play). We had three back and lost it. That’s the type (of goal) that’s going to lose you games.”

Gleason is on a four-game goal streak in which he has scored five goals.

The Condors scored their third unanswered goal with its second power play goal of the game over two minutes later. Griffith set up Dylan Holloway, who made his season debut for Bakersfield, who tapped home the puck into an open net for his first goal of the season at the 3:15 mark.

“That’s always a key to our game is staying out of the (penalty) box. We’re not taking retaliation penalties. It’s something we’ve worked on year long. We gotta continue to clean up, we have to get our stick on the puck. We get our stick tied up on people’s feet. No one is going out there trying to trip somebody, but if you get your stick caught in someone feet, you’re playing with fire,” McCarthy said.

Nathan Todd made it a one-game with a 6-on-5 goal when the ‘Cuda pulled Chrona for an extra attacker with 37 seconds remaining in the game. Oskar Lindblom’s wraparound attempt leaked out to the left and Todd cleaned up the rebound for his eighth goal of the season.

Rodrigue (7-2-3) finished the game stopping 36 of the 38 shots he faced to earn his seventh victory of the season. Chrona (4-8-3) made 28 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-2 on the power play. Bakersfield was 2-for-4.

It was the second of the three Tigers Del Mar nights of the season as the Barracuda donned a specialty jersey that consisted of the color purple with orange trim and a tiger logo in the center. The first one was back on October 28, 2023.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gleason 2) Griffith 3) Cardwell.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Bakersfield conclude their home-and-home series on Saturday 1/13 at 7:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

Ontario Reign goalie Erik Portillo makes a save with San Jose Barracuda forward Tristen Robins fighting for position with Reign defenseman Jacob Moverare at Tech CU Arena on Tuesday JAN 9, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Ontario Reign scored every which way but loose in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose lost its third straight game to their division rival. Ontario has won three straight games against the ‘Cuda and have won all five meetings this season.

Ontario (19-10-3-1) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Sameul Fagemo continued to torment the Barracuda with his first goal of the contest. Wyatte Wylie set up Fagemo who guided a wrist shot underneath the glove of ‘Cuda goalie Eetu Makiniemi for his team leading 17th goal of the season at the 4:05 mark.

“That line as a whole, (T.J.) Tynan, (Samuel) Fagemo, and (Charles) Hudon. They got some talent, they score. Fagemo has a great shot. We can’t give them opportunities because they’ll make you pay,” ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy said.

The Reign doubled its lead early int he second period with a power play goal. Jacob Moverare found Charles Hudon along the right wing and Hudon blasted a one-timer past Makiniemi for his 13th goal of the season at the 2:25 mark.

Ontario scored its third unanswered goal while on the penalty kill. A turnover inside the ‘Cuda zone led to Akil Thomas picking up the puck, getting Makiniemi to go down before tucking in the puck into an open net for a short-handed goal, his 11th of the season at the 5:35 mark.

San Jose (11-16-5-0) out shot Ontario 14-12 in the middle frame but were denied getting on the scoreboard by Reign goalie Erik Portillo who made a few point-blank saves on ‘Cuda chances.

The Barracuda finally broke through late in the third period. Jack Studnicka made a drop pass to Danil Gushchin who beat Portillo with a wrist shot to the far side for his team leading 12th goal of the season at the 12:57 mark.

“Historically you don’t generate a ton (of chances against Ontario) and typically they don’t generate a ton either. So, it’s kind of a boring game. The neutral zone (defense) that they play, they kind of sit back and play a 1-3-1 (formation). So, when you get a chance to score, you really got to take advantage of it,” McCarthy said.

Fagemo sealed the deal for Ontario with an empty net goal, his second goal of the game with 52 seconds remaining in the game. Fagemo has scored five goals in the past two games against the Barracuda.

Portillo (10-4-1-2) finished the game stopping all 36 of the 37 shots he faced to earn his 10th victory on te season. Makiniemi (4-5-0-1) made 27 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Fagemo 2) Hudon 3) Gushchin.

UP NEXT: San Jose begin a home and home series with the Bakersfield Condors on Friday 1/12 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Ontario Reign’s TJ Tynan (#17) and Sameul Fagemo (#11) celebrate the game winning goal against the San Jose Barracuda at Toyota Arena on Saturday JAN 6, 2024. (Ontario Reign)

by Marko Ukalovic

Sameul Fagemo recorded a hat trick, including the game winning goal in overtime to give the Ontario Reign a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose has lost two in a row as they dropped both games of the weekend series. Ontario, with the sweep, has won three of its past four games.

T.J. Tynan set up Fagemo’s heroics with a drop pass in the right wing. Fagemo utilized a screen in front of ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona as he deposited a wrist shot to the short side at the 2:17 mark of the extra session to complete his hat trick and team leading 16th goal of the season to send the crowd of 8,329 home happy.

Ontario drew first blood with Fagemo’ first goal of the goal game 42 seconds into the first period. Charles Hudon sent a rink wide pass over to Fagemo along the right wing and the Reign winger sent a quick shot past Chrona for his 14th goal of the season.

The Reign doubled its lead late in the opening frame with an even strength goal. Wyatte Wylie set up Samuel Helenius up at the point and the Reign defenseman beat Chrona with a wrist shot through a sea of traffic in front of him for his fourth goal of the season at the 15:54 mark.

Akil Thomas scored Ontario’s third unanswered goal of the game on the power play near the halfway mark of the second period. Thomas cleaned up the rebound off of a Fagemo one-timer from the left wing for his 10th goal of the season at the 8:29 mark. Thomas has scored in back-to-back games against the ‘Cuda.

San Jose started their comeback early in what would be a four-goal third period with a goal on the man advantage. Jacob Peterson found Radim Simek up at the point. Simek held the puck before firing a seeing-eyed shot past Reign goalie Jaocb Ingham for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:47 mark.

Ontario regained its three-goal lead just past the halfway mark of the period. Fagemo scored his second goal of the contest when he redirected a Cody Haiskanen shot from the point past Chrona for his 15th goal of the season at the 11:20 mark.

The Barracuda answered back just over a minute and half later. Ethan Frisch skated down the right wing before centering a pass through the crease where Shakir Mukhamadullin tapped home the puck past Ingham for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:36 mark.

Scott Sabourin brought the ‘Cuda to within one goal with a power play goal three minutes later. Nathan Todd’s low shot from the point was tipped in by Sabourin, who was camped out in front of the crease, for his eighth goal of the season at the 15:54 mark.

Sabourin scored the equalizer, his second of the game with 2:05 remaining in the period with an even strength goal. Cole Cassels centered the puck over to Sabourin unmarked in front of the crease and the ‘Cuda winger banged home the puck into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the season.

Ingham (2-0-0) finished with 21 saves on 25 shots in winning his second start of the season. Chrona (4-7-3-0) made 22 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-3 on the power play. Ontario was 1-for-6.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Fagemo 2) Sabourin 3) Hudon.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host Ontario on Tuesday 1/9 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.

Ontario Reign forward Andre Lee (#26) crashes the crease in a sea of San Jose Barracuda players including goalie Eetu Makiniemi (#32) in the second period at Toyota Arena on Friday JAN 5, 2024. (Ontario Reign)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Ontario Reign scored two special teams’ goals in the second period to upend the San Jose Barracuda in a 2-0 shutout victory on Friday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose has lost three out of its last five games. Ontario has won two of its last three games is undefeated against the Barracuda in three games this season.

Ontario had the ice tilted in their favor in the scoreless first period as they outshot San Jose 11-6 in the opening frame. The Reign had the only power play opportunity but failed to capitalize on it.

The Reign (17-10-3-1) drew first blood late in the second period with a power play goal. TJ Tynan’s attempted pass was knocked out of the air by Shakir Mukhamadullin. The puck pinballed around in front of the net before Akil Thomas poked home the puck for his ninth goal of the season at the 13:19 mark.

Ontario doubled its lead with a short-handed goal late in the middle frame. Thomas battled Tristen Robins for a loose puck in the neutral zone. Taylor Ward, who trailed the play, picked up the puck and skated in a breakaway before depositing the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Eetu Makiniemi for his third goal of the season with 19 seconds remaining.

Ward’s goal snapped a five-game goal-less draught.

San Jose (11-15-4-0) weren’t able to generate any offense despite having three power play opportunities throughout the contest. The ‘Cuda pulled Makiniemi for an extra attacker with 2:37 remaining in the game to no avail as Ontario held down the fort in the final two and a half minutes.

Reign goalie Erik Portillo (9-4-1-1) stopped all 25 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the season to snap a four-game winless streak. Makiniemi (4-4-0-1) made 25 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Ontario was 1-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Porillo 2) Thomas 3) Ward.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Ontario conclude their two-games series on Saturday 1/6 at 6:00pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda forward Cole Cassles battles for the puck with Tucson Roadrunners forward Milos Kelemen at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday JAN 3, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Danil Gushchin scored his second goal late in the third period on the power play as the San Jose Barracuda defeated the Tucson Roadrunners 6-4 in a wild high scoring game on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

Cole Cassels set up Gushchin’s heroics with a pass out to Russian forward on the right wing who fired home a one-timer with 2:42 remaining in the third period for his team leading 11th goal of the season to break a 4-4 deadlock.

San Jose has won two of its pasts three games. Tucson had its five-game winning streak snapped.

San Jose (11-14-4-0) drew first blood with an even strength goal early in the first period. Nathan Todd led an odd man rush up the ice. Todd centered a pass over to Kyle Rau whose shot was initially saved by Roadrunners goalie Matthew Villalta, but a trailing Gushchin cleaned up the rebound for first goal of the game, his tenth at the time, at the 4:10 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead just past the halfway mark of the opening frame. Leon Gawanke’s wrist shot from the right slot hit off the post and landed in front of the crease. Todd punched the puck in with a backhander for his seventh goal of the season at the 12:18 mark.

“To get a win tonight against those guys (Tucscon) was huge,” said Todd on his team beating the Roadrunners for the first time this season. “We battled hard there. Chrones (Chrona) made some big saves there at the end. We owed them one, so it was nice.”

Tucson (19-9-1-1) cut the ‘Cuda lead in half with a power play goal late in the period. Max Szuber’s shot from the point was redirected past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona by Austin Poganski for his fourth goal of the season at the 17:44 mark.

San Jose regained its two-goal lead with 48 seconds remaining in the first period. A centering pass from Oskar Lindblom went to Cassels who controlled it first with his skate before depositing the puck into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.

However, Tucson answered back on its next shift. A defensive breakdown led to a two-on-one down low for the Roadrunners. Jan Jenik centered a pass over to Josh Doan who was all alone and beat Chrona with a wrist shot for his team leading 13th goal of the season 11 seconds later at the 19:23 mark.

The Roadrunners scored the equalizer with an even strength goal late in the second period. Ben McCartney set up Cameron Crotty at the right point and Crotty blasted a slapshot past Chrona for his first goal of the season at the 18:15 mark.

San Jose regained the lead on the power play to start the third period. Shakir Mukhamadullin’s wrist shot from the point was redirected underneath Villalta by Scott Sabourin for his seventh goal of the season at the 1:00 mark.

Sabourin’s power play goal snapped a four-game power play draught for the ‘Cuda.

Yeah it was huge, it won the game for us (tonight),” said ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy on their success with the man advantage. “We spent some time (practicing) on it over the week with some different things. Good to see them go in for us tonight. Guys start feeling good about it. Sometimes it’s very streaky, so hopefully we can ride that a little bit.”

Tucson scored the equalizer near the halfway mark of the third period. Victor Soderstrom skated into the ‘Cuda zone and from the left boards beat Chrona with a wrist shot through the five-hole for his seventh goal of the season at the 9:20 mark.

Artem Guryev completed the scoring with an empty net goal, his first of the season with 43 seconds remaining to seal the deal for the ‘Cuda.

Chrona (4-7-2) finished the game stopping 31 of the 35 shots he faced to earn his fourth victory of the season. Villalta made 32 saves on 37 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-4 on the power play. Tucson was 1-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gushchin 2) Todd 3) Sabourin.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels down to Ontario to take on the Reign in a two-game weekend series on Friday 1/5 at 7:00pm at Toyota Arena.