Tag: San Jose Barracuda

San Jose Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer hopes to guide the Barracuda out of their current three game losing streak against the Vegas Silver Knights in AHL action at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Wed Feb 2, 2022 (photo file from oursportscentral.com)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Jaret Anderson Dolan scored a hat trick as the Ontario Reign (23-7-3-2) scored a season high eight goals to defeat the San Jose Barracuda (14-22-1-0) 8-5 on Monday evening at Toyota Arena.

#2 San Jose has lost three games in a row and six of their last seven.

#3 Ontario has won five of their past six games, including three in a row over the Barracuda. 

#4 The game was rescheduled from the original date of November 27th, 2021 that postponed due to an ice machine malfunction at the Toyota Arena.

#5 San Jose continues its four-game road trip as the start a two-game series with the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday 2/2 at 7:00pm at Orleans Arena.

Join Marko for the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The San Jose Barracuda bow to the Ontario Reign in a three goal loss at the Toyota Center in Ontario for the Barracuda third loss in a row on Mon Jan 31, 2022 (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

ONTARIO, Calif. —Jaret Anderson Dolan scored a hat trick as the Ontario Reign scored a season high eight goals to defeat the San Jose Barracuda 8-5 on Monday evening at Toyota Arena.

San Jose has lost three games in a row and six of their last seven. Ontario has won five of their past six games, including three in a row over the Barracuda. The game was rescheduled from the original date of November 27th, 2021 that postponed due to an ice machine malfunction at the Toyota Arena.

San Jose (14-22-1-0) drew first blood in the early in the first minute of the first period. Joachim Blichfeld led an odd man rush up the ice with John Leonard. Blichfeld passed it over to Leonard who buried a wrist shot past Reign goalie Lukas Parik for his ninth goal of the season 40 seconds into the contest.

Ontario (23-7-3-2) answered back in half the time. Helge Grans sent a pass through the crease where Jaret Anderson-Dolan wasn’t successful on his first attempt but cleaned up his own rebound by slipping the puck underneath ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for his 12th goal of the season at the 1:00 mark.

The Reign gained the lead over two minutes later. Brett Sutter centered a pass into the middle and Austin Wagner tipped home the puck past Harvey for his ninth goal of the season at the 2:41 mark.

Wagner has scored in all four games against the Barracuda this season.

Ontario scored its third unanswered goal late in the opening frame. Markus Phillips sent a shot in from the left point and Alex Turcotte redirected the puck past Harvey from the slot for his fifth goal of the season at the 16:52 mark.

The first period was very physical that featured two fights off two separate clean hits by San Jose. Kenoi Texeira and Samuel Fagemo tussled with each other at the 13:35 mark. Then Artemi Kniazev and Wagner dropped the gloves at the 17:43 mark.

San Jose cut the lead to a one a goal game early in the second period. Cole Moberg’s slapshot was initially saved by Pirak, Jayden Halbgewachs cashed in the rebound into an open net for his ninth goal of the season at the 5:40 mark.

Halbgewachs snapped a 10-game goal less draught.

Ontario regained their two-goal lead over two minutes later. Anderson-Dolan had a nice give and go with Martin Frk inside the ‘Cuda zone. Dolan tapped home a wrist shot for his second goal of the game at the 7:36 mark.

Anderson-Dolan completed the hat trick 50 seconds later with a power play goal. Jordan Spence slapshot was redirected by Anderson-Dolan who was camped out near the crease for his 14th goal of the season at the 8:26 mark.

Ontario scored its third unanswered goal late in the middle frame. Aidan Dudas sent in a wrist shot from the right wing. Sutter, who was camped out on the right side of the crease, tipped the puck past Harvey for his sixth goal of the season at the 15:46 mark.

San Jose scored a power play goal near the halfway mark of the third period to cut Ontario’s lead in half. Nick Merkley found Halbgewachs open in the neutral zone. Halbgewachs was able to get behind the Reign defense and sniped home a wrist shot top shelf past Pirak for his second goal of the game and 10th of the season at the 9:10 mark.

Samuel Fagemo finished off an odd man rush with Gabriel Vilardi with his 12th goal of the season at the 15:15 mark.

Patrick Holway scored a wraparound goal for San Jose as he was falling down for his third goal of the season at the 16:28 mark.

San Jose made the score look respectable when Jake McGrew tipped in a slapshot from the point by Montana Onyebuchi with 51 seconds left in the game.

Ontario closed out the scoring when Fagemo scored his second goal of the game and 13th of the season with 38 seconds remaining.

Parik finished the evening stopping 19 of the 24 shots he faced to earn the victory. Harvey (2-5) made 22 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort and has four straight games. He is 0-2 versus Ontario this season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-9 versus the Reign on the season. Ontario was 1-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Anderson-Dolan 2) Wagner 3) Sutter

Ontario is 4-0 this season against San Jose this season.

San Jose went 3-9 in the month of January.

‘Cuda forward Sasha Chmelevski had two assists in his first game back in the lineup after missing the past seven games with an injury.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its four-game road trip as the start a two-game series with the Henderson Silver Knights on Wednesday 2/2 at 7:00pm at Orleans Arena.

The Ontario Reign swept a two game series on back to back nights on Thu Jan 27, 2022 for the second night a six goal win over the hosts San Jose Barracuda at SAP Center in San Jose (image by the San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — When a team is rolling, there’s nothing you can do about it.

The high-speed bullet train known as the Ontario Reign continued its remarkable season with a 7-1 onslaught over the San Jose Barracuda on Thursday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose has lost five of its past six games. Ontario is 8-0-1-1 in its past 10 games as they swept the two-game series at the Shark Tank.

Ontario (22-6-3-2) drew first blood in the first minute of the first period. T.J. Tynan made a drop pass to Martin Frk along the right wing and Frk fired a wrist shot to the far side past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his 19th goal of the season at the 1:05 mark. Frk is tied for first in goal in the AHL.

The Reign didn’t need much time to double its leads. 54 seconds later Sameul Fagemo centered a pass out to Gabriel Vilardi and the Los Angeles Kings former first round draft pick buried a wrist shot top shelf for his ninth goal of the season at the 1:59 mark.

Vilardi has scored a goal in all three games against San Jose this season.

San Jose (14-21-1-0) responded when Evan Weinger won a race to the puck near the goal line. Weinger centered a pass from the behind the end line out to Scott Reedy, who sniped home a wrist shot past Reign goalie Matthew Villalta to the short side for his team leading 18th goal of the season at the 12:26 mark.

The Barracuda had two-on-zero short-handed scoring chance in the opening minute of the second period. Weinger and John Leonard had a chance to even the game, but both of their attempts were stoned away by Villalta.

“We had our opportunities, they had theirs, they finished in the two games here,” said ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “They outscored us 11-2. We hit a couple of posts but it’s just not enough.”

Ontario regained their two-goal lead past the halfway mark of the second period. Aiden Dudas fired a shot a net that bounced out into the middle off a save by Melnichuk. Austin Wagner cleaned up the rebound for his eighth goal of the season at the 11:05 mark.

The Reign padded their lead early in the third period. Tyler Madden sent a pass to Helge Grans along the right wing. The 19-year-old defenseman rifled home a wrist shot past Melnichuk for his fourth goal of the season at the 3:45 mark.

Ontario scored its fifth goal of the game on the power play at the halfway mark of the period. Tynan set up Vilardi in the slot and Vilardi blasted a one-timer past Melnichuk for his second goal of the game and 10th of the season at the 10:50 mark.

The Reign kept their foot on the gas pedal with a two-goal scoring burst in a 50 second span. Tynan scored his eighth of the season at the 14:14 mark and then Fagemo got in on the scoring party with his 11th of the season at the 15:04 mark.

“In the third it was kind of like man…it was one of those things where they kept shooting and it was going in,” Sommer said.

Villata finished a brilliant performance stopping 39 of the 40 shots he faced. Melnichuk had a night (especially in the third period) he would like to forget as he made 21 saves on 28 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-5 on the power play. Ontario was 1-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Vilardi 2) Tynan 3) Fagemo

Veteran Reign forward Brett Sutter played in his 1000th professional hockey game. He recorded an assist on Tynan’s goal.

Ontario is 15-3-2-1 when they score the game’s first goal.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Ontario battled it on Monday 1/31 at 7:00pm at Toyota Arena.

San Jose Barracuda suffer a tough home ice loss at SAP Center in San Jose to cross state rival the Ontario Reign on Wed Jan 26, 2022 (image from San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The coffee was still percolating when the opening faceoff was dropped.

The Ontario Reign made the most out of a 10:00am start as they defeated the San Jose Barracuda 4-1 on Wednesday morning at SAP Center.

The early start was due in part to the first ‘Cuda Classroom Day promotion of the season despite no kids being allowed to attend due to the ongoing Covid protocols in Santa Clara County.

San Jose have lost four of its past five games. Ontario is 7-0-1-1 in its past nine games.

Ontario (21-6-3-2) drew first blood early into the first period. Marcus Phillips picked a perfect time to send a wrist shot through a sea of traffic in front ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey. Phillips’ shot sneaked into the back of the net for his first goal of the season at the 2:12 mark.

It was Phillips first goal in 26 games and his first point in 22 games.

San Jose (14-20-1-0) answered back over two minutes later. Jayden Halbgewachs sent a pass back up to the point over to Patrick Holway. The rookie defenseman sent a wrist shot that hit off the top off the net and then off of the back of Reign goalie Lukas Parik for his second goal of the season at the 4:23 mark.

“I was actually pretty surprised that it went in,” said Holway. I think Hobbsy (Halbgewachs) yell at me to shoot it and I shot it. It’s not how you draw it up, but you take what you can get. I guess I had some luck with me today”

The Reign regained the lead scoring on its first power play opportunity. T.J. Tynan set up Gabriel Vilardi in the slot and Vilardi blasted a one-timer past Harvey for his eighth goal of the season at the 7:12 mark.

Tynan, who leads the Reign in points and is second in the AHL, has 19 assists on the power play in just 26 games.

San Jose outshot Ontario 14-12 in the opening 20 minutes.

The second period was scoreless despite the Barracuda peppering 19 shots on goal against Parik. The Reign killed off a late penalty in the middle frame when Brayden Burke was called for tripping at the 15:36 mark.

“Honestly I thought we played pretty good,” said ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “We out chanced them I believe 24-20 for the (whole) game, which we haven’t had that many chances in a while. So, we generated some offense, we just didn’t have any finish.”

Ontario scored an insurance goal late in the third period. Christian Wolanin sent a home run pass up to center ice to Austin Wagner from his own zone. Wagner raced in from the left sideline and beat Harvey with a backhand shot for his seventh goal of the season at the 13:24 mark.

“They’re (Ontario) so explosive. You give them a little bit of space and they’re going to make you pay like on that last goal,” Sommer said.

Martin Frk scored an empty netter with 1:37 remaining in the game to seal the deal for Ontario.

Parik had a stellar game stopping 39 of the 40 shots he faced to earn the victory. Harvey made 28 saves on 31 shots in the losing effort.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Vilardi 2) Phillps 3) Holway

UP NEXT: San Jose and Ontario conclude its two-game series on Thursday 1/27 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.