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Gulls beat Barracuda 5-2 to win series 3-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Despite the best regular season start in the four years in Silicon Valley, the San Jose Barracuda weren’t able to do enough to force a Game 5 as their season came to an end in a 5-2 loss to the San Diego Gulls in Game 4 of their best of five series on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

A couple of bad turnovers resulted in San Diego capitalizing on their chances and were the difference in the game. San Diego awaits the winner of the Bakersfield-Colorado series while San Jose will have time to think about failing to get out of the first round, despite being the number two seed.

San Jose (1-3) got off to the quick start they desired 50 seconds into the game. Lukas Radil brought the puck into the Gulls zone and gave it off to Alexander True. The Danish forward skated around to the left circle and fired a wrist shot that sneaked under the five-hole of Gulls goalie Jeff Glass (3-1) for his first goal of the playoffs.

“I’ve been more comfortable this year going into my second year,” said True. “Everybody in the organization, all my teammates, everyone around here has done a good job letting me develop and I can’t thank everyone around here enough for that.”

San Diego (3-1) scored the equalizer late in the opening 20 minutes. Corey Tropp picked up a loose puck behind the net and quickly centered a pass out in front to a wide-open Sam Carrick, who one-timed the puck past Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (1-3) in a bang-bang play for his second goal of the playoffs at 15:46 mark.

San Jose had the ice tilted in their favor for the first 15 minutes as they had a 10-1 shot advantage at one point. However, San Diego gained momentum in the final five minutes and closed the gap to 11-10 heading into the first intermission.

The Gulls gained their first lead early on in the second period while on the power play. Sam Steel fed a pass over to Kalle Kossila, who found Andy Welinsky at the left point and fired a slap shot past the short side of Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 3:43 mark.

San Diego extended their lead to 3-1 after a failed clearing attempt by San Jose. Steel happened to be in the right place at the right time when Max Jones deflected the puck right to Steel in the middle of the circles and wired a wrist shot into the top left corner for his third goal of the playoffs at the 6:43 mark.

“It’s disappointing,” said Cuda captain John McCarthy on the early playoff exit. “I think it’s important to remember how this feels. To have the regular season like we had and then to fade in the playoff is disappointing for sure.”

San Jose cut the deficit to one goal on the power play. Dylan Gambrell back-handed a pass over to the left point where Nick DeSmone was waiting. DeSimone skated into the middle and fired a laser past Glass for his first goal of the playoffs at the 13:39 mark. McCarthy received the secondary assist.

San Diego controlled the play for most of the middle frame out shooting San Jose 13-9.

The Gulls opened the third period by doubling their lead thanks to another failed clearing attempt by the Cuda. Jack Kopacka intercepted a pass at the blue line, skated down the left wing and sent a cross-ice pass over to Matt Berry. Berry then sent a pass in front of the net that Adam Cracknell tipped in past Korenar for his second goal of the playoffs at the 5:12 mark.

“Had a really good regular season,” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “I thought we were solid, did a lot of good things. And then in the playoffs I didn’t think we had enough (to advance).”

Chase De Leo iced the game and the series for San Diego with an empty-net goal with 1:53 left in the game.

Glass made 30 saves on 32 shots to earn his 4th win of the series. Korenar finished with 25 saves on 29 shots in suffering the defeat in what was a stellar rookie season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/2 on the power play. San Diego was 1/3.

San Diego’s Max Jones suffered a lower body injury when with 2:39 left in the second period when he received a hard hit along the boards in front of his team’s bench.

The announced attendance was 3,175.

Gulls down Barracuda 4-2, take 2-1 series lead

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Despite getting two goals from forward Jon Martin, it wasn’t enough for the San Jose Barracuda as the San Diego Gulls held on for a 4-2 victory in Game 3 of their best of five series on Monday night at SAP Center.

It’s now a do-or-die situation for San Jose as they face their first elimination game on Wednesday night.

San Jose (1-2) drew first blood early in the first period. Matt Fonteyne led a three-on-two rush down the right lane. He fed a pass to an incoming Martin, who skated in and using the Gulls defender as a screen, and snapped a wrist shot past the five-hole of Gulls goalie Jeff Glass (2-1) for his second goal of the playoffs at the 2:48 mark.

San Diego (2-1) scored the equalizer right at the end of the opening 20 minutes. Sam Carrick carried the puck behind the net and fed a centering pass to a wide open Sam Steel, who one-timed the puck into the top left corner for his second goal of the playoffs at the 19:21 mark.

Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (1-2) was impressive in the first period, stopping 11 of the 12 shots he faced including two separate point-blank chances from Kalle Kossila in the first five minutes and Kiefer Sherwood in the last five minutes.

San Diego gained their first lead of the game on the power play early in the second period. A shot from the point bounced around a scrum in front of the net. Ben Street collected the puck skated out to the middle of the circles and fired a wrist shot into the top right corner, beating a screened Korenar for his first goal of the playoffs at the 3:41 mark. Max Jones and Carrick were credited with assists.

The Gulls extended their lead to 3-1 when Justin Kloos led a two-on-one odd man rush down the left wing. He found a wide open Chase De Leo, who skated in all alone and made a fore-hand to back-hand move sliding the puck just underneath the glove of Korenar, for his third goal of the playoffs at the 16:47 mark.

“It didn’t seem like a playoff game for some of em,” a disappointed head coach Roy Sommer said regarding his team’s performance. “I was kind of disappointed in half our forwards were engaged and half the defensemen.”

The Cuda cut the deficit to a goal when Jon Martin scored his second goal of the evening.  Jacob Middleton’s shot from the slot hit the post and the rebound caromed over to Maxim Letunov that bounced off his stick over to Martin, who was camped out just to the left of the net and he buried the puck top-shelf for his third goal of the playoffs at the 18:44 mark.

It’s always nice to contribute (offensively),” said Martin. “Our linemates Maxi (Letunov) and Matty (Fonteyne) were flying out, they made things nice and easy. It starts on our end. We’re getting the pucks out and getting on the fore-check.

Adam Cracknell sealed the deal with an empty-net goal after Steel won the race to a loose puck and centered it to a wide-open Cracknell.

“You know what our backs are against the wall now,” said Cuda captain John McCarthy. “We gotta worry about Wednesday, take a look at it (the video) tomorrow, figure out what we gotta fix (in our game) and go from there.”

Glass made 20 saves, including two back-to-back saves with three minutes left in regulation, on 22 shots to earn his second win of the playoffs. Korenar made 32 saves on 35 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/1 on the power play. San Diego was 1/4.

Evan Weinger snapped his two-game point streak. The rookie forward still leads the Cuda in points in the series with four.

The announced attendance was 5,848.

UP NEXT: Game 4 is on Wednesday, April 24 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda upend Griffins in OT 5-4

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By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a wild game that went back and forth between two teams looking ahead to the playoffs, the San Jose Barracuda came back from a two-goal deficit to win 5-4 in overtime over the Grand Rapids Griffins in the home season finale on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

With the win, San Jose now has 81 points on the season and not only are they four points ahead of San Diego for second place in the Pacific Division, but are also just two points behind Bakersfield for the top spot. If Colorado were to lose against Chicago later on tonight, San Jose would clinch its fourth consecutive playoff berth.

Antti Suomela led a three-on-one odd man rush after poking the puck away in the Cuda zone. He skated down to the left slot and sent a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Luaks Radil, who slammed a one-timer past Griffins goalie Pat Nagle (0-0-1), making his debut for Grand Rapids, for the game-winning goal and his fourth of the season at the 2:39 mark.

“It was really important for us to get the two wins (this weekend),” said Radil. “I feel like we have to keep going and keep working like that. (We have) three games left I think, then it’s (time for the) playoffs and we’ll see what happens.”

San Jose (36-21-3-4) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Ivan Chekhovich skated down the left boards and center a pass over to Dylan Gambrell, who chipped it in over Nagle for his 19th goal of the season at 10:56 mark. TJ Hensick received the secondary assist.

The Cuda line of Gambrell, Hensick and Chekhovich were the best offensive line this weekend as they were involved in three of the eight goals scored against Grand Rapids.

“I think tonight it really showed,” said Gambrell. “Just a lot of communication. We’re kind of finding each other, supporting each other really well. Hopefully we can continue to develop that chemistry.”

“They’ll bring you out on the ends of your seats,” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer. “They got a lot of offense. They all think the game so well. It’s a pretty line to watch and could be a new line for us come playoff time. That looks like a line to be reckoned with.”

Grand Rapids (38-24-6-4) evened up the game on the power play toward the end of the opening 20 minutes. Axle Holmstrom was able clean up a rebound with a backhander past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (14-13-5) on a shot by Colin Campbell for his 12th goal of the season at the 18:04 mark. Filip Zadina were credited with the secondary assist.

Shot were even at eight apiece between the two teams as they headed into the first intermission.

Grand Rapids took advantage of a five-on-three power play to take their first lead in the second period. Dennis Chowlowski sent a pass over to the left slot to Carter Camper who wristed a centering pass over to Chris Terry, who buried the puck past Bibeau for his team-leading 29th goal of the season at the 5:38 mark.

The Griffins went up 3-1 on a short-handed gift delivered by the Cuda. Zadina was able to chip the puck out of the their own zone that led to a breakaway opportunity for Campbell, who skated in and hit the crossbar with shot and . Defenseman Nick DeSimone tried to control the puck with his glove, but inadvertently knocked the puck into the net underneath Bibeau. Campbell was credited with an unassisted goal for his eighth of the season at the 12:54 mark.

The Cuda responded less than a minute later on the same power play. Cavan Fitzgerald sent a cross-ice pass from the right point over to the left, where Kyle Wood wired a shot off the pads of Nagle. Jayden Halbgewachs cashed in on the rebound just to the left of the crease for his 13th goal of the season at the 13:50 mark.

The Cuda scored the equalizer just over a minute to start the third period. Chekovich wont a battle along the right boards, fed a pass over to Gambrell who danced around back into the middle of the slot, and made a sweet back hand pass over to a wide-open Hensick who tapped in the puck into an empty net for his sixth goal of the season at the 1:10 mark.

Grand Rapids regained the lead on a delayed penalty call four minutes later. Giavani Smith sent a pass back to the point, where Libor Sulak rifled a shot top-shelf into the upper right corner past Bibeau for his fifth goal of the season at the 5:17 mark.

Once again, the Cuda would not go down gently. Captain John McCarthy won a battle behind the net, tipped a pass over to Halbgewachs, who centered the puck out in front of the crease, where Vladislav Kotkov was waiting and buried a point-blank shot past Nagle for his first-ever professional goal of his career at the 8:07 mark.

Bibeau finished the game with 25 saves on 29 shots to earn his 15th victory of the season. Nagle made 20 saves on 25 shots in his debut in suffering the defeat.

“The guys some character,” said Bibeau on how the team was able to come back and win. “(We) scored a power play goal. The third period was a wild period too but we found a way to stay on top so that’s all that matters.”

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/5 on the power play. It is the sixth straight game the Cuda have scored a power play goal. Grand Rapids was 2/4. It snapped a string of 24 consecutive penalty kills by San Jose over their past six games. San Jose’s penalty kill is now ranked 8th in the AHL.

San Jose went 3-0-1-0 against Grand Rapids this season and are 5-1-0-2 all time.

The announced attendance for the final home game of the regular season was 4,286.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda head down to San Diego on Wednesday, April 10 to take on the Gulls in a Pacific Division battle at 7:00 pm at Pechanga Arena.

Sharks Break Bad Streak, Beat Knights 4-3 in OT

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By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks ended their seven game losing streak Saturday, beating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime. It was a good preview of the playoffs, possibly even a playoff matchup if the standings remain as they are. Each team got credit for 40 hits. Between hits, a lot of goals were scored too. For San Jose, goals came from Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Brent Burns. Las Vegas goals came from William Karlsson, Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore. Martin Jones made 23 saves in the win while Vegas goaltender Malcolm Subban made 30 saves in the loss.

Vegas scored first at 3:54. The Sharks had just thwarted a nice play by Vegas, turning what could have easily been a goal into a puck behind the net. Unfortunately, Vegas had control of that puck and Jonathan Marchessault made a pass from below the goal line to the slot, where William Karlsson was open with a clear view of Martin Jones. It was Karlsson’s 24th of the season. Assists went to Marchessault and Reilly Smith.

The rest of the period was littered with matching penalties. An interference penalty to Marcus Sorensen was matched by an embellishment penalty to Colin Miller. Joe Thornton’s high-sticking penalty was matched by a roughing penalty to Ryan Reaves. Reaves also got a misconduct on that one.

The Sharks tied the game just under a minute into the second period. Tomas Hertl caught a stray rebound from a Joonas Donskoi shot. Hertl then wove his way around a defender and poked the puck between skaters and shot it past the Malcolm Subban. It was Hertl’s 35th goal of the season. Assists went to Donskoi and Timo Meier.

Just before a fight between Barclay Goodrow and William Carrier (at 3:01), Brenden Dillon was called for cross-checking, so the crowd was presented with the odd sight of a power play coming out of a fight. It did not change the score but took a little explaining.

That power play probably did set the Knights up to score at 5:30, moments after it expired. Cody Eakin was right in front of the blue paint when Deryk Engelland’s shot came in and dropped dead off of Jones’s pads. Eakin was able to gather it up and put it in the net. Assists went to Engelland and Ryan Carpenter.

The Sharks tied it again at 7:22 of the third. Tomas Hertl burst into the Vegas zone trailing one defender and slipping around another on his way to the net. He didn’t get a shot off but drew all the attention his way as he went behind the net and sent the puck forward for one of several Sharks to take a shot. Two couldn’t catch it but Evander Kane was coming in as the trailer and he found the rebound for a quick shot into an empty net. Subban was stuck in traffic to the side of the net, unable to get back for the save.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic gave the Sharks their first lead of the night at 11:26 with a slap shot off an offensive zone faceoff. Logan Couture got the assist. It was Vlasic’s third of the season.

That lead only lasted for 38 seconds. Shea Theodore did almost exactly what Vlasic did, taking a shot off an offensive zone faceoff win by William Karlsson. It was Theodore’s 12th of the season.

The end of the third was spent mostly in penalties. First, matching roughing penalties were assigned to Timo Meier and William Carrier at 16:10. At 10:05, almost a minute after the four-on-four ended, Colin Miller was called for hooking.

That power play carried over into the extra period, right up to Brent Burns’s game winner 22 seconds into overtime. That shot came off of Couture’s pass along the blue line. A secondary assist went to Kevin Labanc.

The Sharks next play on Sunday at 5:00 PM PT against the visiting Calgary Flames.

Barracuda dethrone the Reign in 5-0 shutout

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda fighting for their playoff lives, used the power play to their advantage and cruised their way to a 5-0 shutout win over their Pacific Division rival, the Ontario Reign, on Friday evening at SAP Center.

With the win coupled with San Diego’s loss to Bakersfield, San Jose is now in sole possession of second place in the division with 75 points, two points ahead of the Gulls with seven games left in the regular season.

San Jose (34-20-3-4) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Evan Weinger led a rush, where he sent a drop pass down to Jayden Halbgewachs, who threaded a pass over to John McCarthy at the left slot. The Cuda captain buried the puck past Reign goalie Cal Petersen (10-18-3) to the right side for a tic-tac-toe goal and his 12th of the season at the 10:39 mark.

The Cuda doubled their lead as they beat the buzzer at the end of the opening frame. Jacob Middleton sent in a shot from the point that was blocked. McCarthy seized the puck and snapped a back-hander past Petersen for his second goal of the evening and 13th on the season with 0.5 seconds left to give San Jose a 2-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.

The Cuda opened up the second period with a power play goal. TJ Hensick fed a pass over to Nick DeSimone, who fired a shot that ricochet off Reign defenseman Daniel Brickley that rattled into the back of the net for DeSimone’s 13th goal of the season at the 6:44 mark. Francis Perron was credited with the secondary assist.

The Reign (22-30-6-3) could not stay out of the sin-bin as San Jose continued their dominance on the power play just over two minutes later. It took them 16 seconds to score on the hooking penalty by Nikita Scherbak. Hensick found an open Jeffery Viel, who wasted no time beating Petersen with a wrist shot for his ninth goal of the season at the 9:10 mark.

Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (14-12-5) was sharp, despite the lack of shots he saw. He made two spectacular saves in the middle frame. First, he stoned an attempt by Sam Herr on a two-on-one odd man rush. Then, with a little over a minute left, he robbed Brett Sutter when he reached out along with his left arm to keep the puck out of the back of the net.

Anti Suomela completed the scoring with 22 seconds left in the game as fired a shot off the cross-bar and into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season at the 19:38 mark. Viel and Matt Fonteyne received assists on the goal.

Bibeau has won back-to-back games as he stopped all 21 shots he faced to earn his 14th win of the season and his first shutout of the season. Petersen made 24 saves on 29 shots in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2/4 on the power play. Ontario was 0/1.

McCarthy played in his 251st game in a Cuda uniform, a franchise record.

San Jose went 5-3 in the season series against Ontario.

DeSimone now has a current seven-game point streak, a career-best for the Cuda defenseman.

Bibeau has 16 career shutouts.

The announced attendance was 4,187.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Bakersfield to take on the Condors on Saturday, March 30 at 7:00 pm at Rabobank Arena.

Golden Knights continue late surge, defeat Sharks 7-3 at SAP

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, March 18, 2019

The surging Vegas Golden Knights continued their winning ways on Monday at SAP Center, upending the San Jose Sharks 7-3 in a possible NHL West playoff preview.

It was the Golden Knights’ ninth win in their last 10 games. Vegas (87 points) also moved within seven points of San Jose (94 points) for home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. The Sharks trail Pacific Division-leading Calgary (95 points) by one point.

San Jose lost its third consecutive home game in regulation for the first time in three seasons, failing in another opportunity to clinch a playoff berth.

Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault each earned four points in the victory for Vegas. Smith had three assists and added a goal in the third period. Marchessault had one goal and two assists in the first period and tacked on an empty-net tally in the third.

While William Karlsson, Mark Stone, Paul Stastny and Cody Eakin also scored for the Knights, goaltender Malcolm Subban stopped 36 San Jose shots while filling in for the injured Marc-Andre Fleury.

Logan Couture scored two goals and Joe Thornton added one tally for the Sharks. Martin Jones surrendered three goals on 11 shots before he was replaced by Aaron Dell in the opening period. Marchessault’s goal from a bad angle ended Jones’ night.

Couture’s first goal gave him 500 career points.

Though Evander Kane was back in the Sharks’ lineup, captain Joe Pavelski missed his first game with an injury since January of 2011. Pavelski took a hard hit in Saturday’s game against Nashville.

The Sharks visit Los Angeles on Thursday to face the Kings at 7:30 pm.

Barracuda set franchise record in 9-0 shutout win over Eagles

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By: Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda reversed their fortunes in thundering fashion. They scored three-unanswered goals in the first period and never took their foot off the gas in an explosive 9-0 shutout victory over the Colorado Eagles on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

The Barracuda set a franchise record with their nine-goal outburst. The loss snapped the Eagles nine-game winning streak and with the win, the Cuda are in a three-way tie with the Eagles and San Diego Gulls for second place in the Pacific Division at 70 points with 11 games left in the regular season.

San Jose (32-19-2-4) struck first and often in the first period. John McCarthy led a 2-on-1, fed a pass over to Jeffery Viel and rifled a shot past Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz (25-14-2) for his eighth goal of the season at the 2:10 mark.

The Cuda doubled their lead over five minutes later when Lukas Radil sent a pass over to Nick DeSimone whose wrist shot was stopped by Francouz. DeSimone collected his own rebound and cashed in for his 11th goal of the season at the 7:42 mark.

The Cuda defense continued the scoring when Cavan Fitzgerald found his way on a breakaway just before the end of the opening frame. As he skated in, he fumbled the puck, regained possession and then made a nice deke in the crease and put the pack over the glove of Francouz for his fifth goal of the season at the 18:20 mark.

San Jose completely dominated Colorado (33-23-3-1) in the first period as they out shot the Eagles 17-7 and had the ice tilted in their favor.

Things got chippy to start the second period. Matching roughing penalties were issued to Fitzgerald and AJ Greer just 10 seconds in. Then, Jon Martin and Mark Alt exchanged some pleasantries with one another three minutes later that also resulted in matching roughing penalties.

The Cuda extended their lead by four goals when they were pressuring in the Eagles’ zone. TJ Hensick’s shot was stopped but not controlled by Francouz. Radil was on the far side to collect the rebound and lifted it over his left pad of a sprawling Francouz for his third goal of the season and second in back to back to games at the 5:24 mark. Jacob Middleton was credited with the secondary assist.

San Jose put the game away less than nine minutes remaining in the middle frame. Thomas Gregoire ripped a shot from the point that Francis Perron, who was able to get his stick on the puck to redirect it past Francouz for his 17th goal of the season at the 11:42 mark. Fitzgerald was credited with the secondary assist.

That would be the end of the afternoon for Francouz as he replaced by Spencer Martin. Francouz gave up fives goals on 25 shots in suffering the loss for the first time in his last eight games.

TJ Hensick joined the scoring party with 1:49 left in the middle frame when he received a pass from Radil and he sneaked a wrist shot past the Martin for his fourth goal of the season at the 18:11 mark. Maxim Letunov received the secondary assist.

San Jose added the extra point half way through the third period. Letunov sent a shot on a goal where defenseman Thomas Gregoire crashed the net and jammed home the rebound for his first pro goal at the 10:16 mark. Hensick had the secondary assist.

Gregoire wasn’t satisfied with just one goal as he gave an encore just 59 seconds later. He sent a wicked wrister from the right point that found its way past Martin for his second goal of the game at the 11:15 mark. Jon Martin and Perron received assists on the play.

Jayden Halbgewachs completed the scoring as the eighth different goal scorer for San Jose. He weaved through the high slot and snapped home a wrist shot past Martin his 11th goal of the season at the 12:24 mark. The goal ended an 18 game scoreless drought. Middleton and captain John McCarthy were credited with assists.

Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (20-8-1) stopped all 31 shots for his 20th win and fourth shutout of the season. The win snapped Korenar’s three-game losing streak. Martin made 11 saves on 15 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/4 on the power play. Colorado was 0/6.

The Cuda are 6-1 when wearing a specialty/throwback jersey. They wore green jerseys in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

San Jose is 3-1-1-1 against Colorado this season.

The announced attendance was 4,051.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda go back on the road to start a three game road trip in Tuscon as the take on the Roadrunners on Saturday 3/23 at 7:05 pm at Tuscon Convention Center Arena.

Eagles edge out Barracuda in 3-2 win

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by Marko Ukalovic

The Colorado Eagles are playing like a team that can’t lose. They scored three unanswered goals in the second period and then held on to beat the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday afternoon at SAP Center.

Colorado (33-22-3-1) has won nine games in a row and have jumped both San Jose and San Diego for second place in the Pacific Division with 70 points. The Cuda have lost five of their past six games.

San Jose (31-19-2-4) drew first blood late in the first period on a 3-on-2 odd man rush. Maxim Letunov sent a pass over to Lukas Radil, who played in his first game since being sent down by the San Jose Sharks, and Radil lasered a wrist shot past Eagles goalie Pavel Francouz (25-13-2) on the far side for his second goal of the season at the 19:00 mark.

In the second period, Colorado took control of the game. Max McCormick sent over a cross-ice pass over to Logan O’Connor on a 2-on-1 opportunity and O’Connor buried a one-timer past Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (12-11-5) for his 15th goal of the season at the 3:42 mark.

The Eagles went ahead two goals toward the end of the middle frame when AJ Greer from below the goal line sent a pass over to Igor Shvyrev, who blasted a wrist show over the glove of Bibeau for his sixth goal of the season at the 16:12 mark.

Then, just over a minute later, another 2-on-1 odd man rush led to a mini breakaway for Sheldon Dries, who made a nice deke going forehand-to-backhand as he slid the puck past Bibeau for his third goal of the season at the 17:28 mark for a 3-1 lead.

The Cuda looked like they would have a consecutive game with a third period comeback. Jayden Halbgewachs sent a zone-wide pass over to John McCarthy and the Barracuda captain fired a wrist shot past Francouz for his 10th goal of the season at the 4:47 mark.

However San Jose was not able to get the equalizer late in the period when they pulled Bibeau for an extra attacker.

Francouz stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced to earn his 25th win of the season. Bibeau made 20 saves on 23 shots in suffering the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Colorado was 0/3.

The announced attendance was 3,353.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Eagles on Sunday 3/17 at 3:00 pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda snap losing skid with 5-4 shootout victory over Heat

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by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda had looked like the playing of a broken record in five straight games with the opposing team, scoring the first two goals in the first period to take control of the game. However, three unanswered goals in the third period paved the way for a 5-4 comeback shootout victory over the Stockton Heat on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

The Cuda desperately snapped their four-game losing skid and have won their third consecutive shootout (4-4). Francis Perron scored the only goal in the shootout as Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau was perfect stopping all three Stockton attempts.

Stockton (25-26-4-2) drew first blood while short-handed in the first period. Ryan Lomberg led a 2-on-1 odd man rush Dillon Dube. Lomberg connected with Dube who beat Bibeau (12-10-5) for his 13th goal of the season at the 6:11 mark. Juuso Valimaki received the secondary assist on Dube’s second short-handed goal in consecutive games. It was the 16th short-handed goal for Stockton this season, which leads the AHL.

The Heat doubled their lead after taking advantage of a failed Cuda clearing attempt. Spencer Foo kept the puck in, fed a pass over to Tyler Graovac, who found an open Dube, who put the puck past Bibeau for his second goal and 14th of the season at the 9:04 mark.

San Jose (31-18-2-1) cut the lead in half early in the second period. Francis Perron was able to tip home a shot from the point by Kyle Wood, who broke his stick on the shot, past Heat goalie Jon Gillies (13-15-5) for his 16th goal of the season at the 2:47 mark. The goal broke a 10-game goal-less drought for Perron.

Stockton regained their two-goal lead when Foo scored his 15th goal of the season on the power play at the 8:36 mark. Dube and Valimaki were credited with assists.

Graovac made it 4-1 when he scored his 20th goal of the season at the 17:47 mark. Foo and Dube, who was involved in the scoring of all four Stockton goals, received assists.

The third period belonged to San Jose as they scored three unanswered goals to tie the game and force overtime.

Evan Weinger jammed home his own rebound after his initial redirection of a shot from the point by Matt Fonteyne hit the right post. It was Weinger’s ninth goal of the season at the 10:11 mark of the third period. Nick DeSimone was credited with the secondary assist.

Alex True cut the deficit to a one-goal game. With Bibeau pulled for an extra attacker, True received the puck from Maxim Letunov, turned and fired the puck through a sea of traffic past Gillies for his team-leading 21st goal of the season at the 18:33. Jeremy Roy received the secondary assist.

TJ Hensick brought down the house with the game equalizer with 1:05 left in the game while the Cuda had a 6-on-4 advantage with Valimaki in the sin-bin for cross checking. DeSimone and Jayden Halbgewachs were credited assists on Hensick third goal of the season.

Stockton had a power play opportunity in the over time session but weren’t able to cash in, thanks to Bibeau making a few big saves to send the game to the shootout.

Bibeau made 16 saves on 20 to earn his 12th victory of the season. Gillies finished with 31 saves on 35 shots in suffering the defeat .

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/6 on the power play despite the Heat having the 30th ranked penalty kill in the league. Stockton was 1/5.

Jon Martin and Buddy Robinson exchanged fisticuffs late in the first period.

The announce attendance was 4,642. It was the second annual Pucks and Paws Day, where fans were able to bring their dogs to the game.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Colorado Eagles on Saturday 3/16 at 1:15 pm at SAP Center.

Condors thrash Barracuda 7-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

by Marko Ukalovic

A different game on a different day and time, but the same dominant result. For the third consecutive game, the San Jose Barracuda weren’t able to slow down the red-hot Bakersfield Condors in a 7-1 loss to the Pacific Division leaders on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

The Condors have won 20 of their last 21 games (and the last five straight versus San Jose), while the Barracuda have lost their fourth in a row for the first time all season and are winless in the month of March.

Bakersfield (36-17-2-1) drew first blood in the first period. Logan Day fed a pass that led to a breakaway for Tyler Benson. Benson skated in and beat Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (19-8-1) with a wrist shot on the far side for his 11th goal of the season at the 4:34 mark.

The Condors doubled their lead late in the opening frame when William Lagesson received the puck at the left point from Luke Esposito and his shot went past a body of traffic and trickled through the five-hole of Korenar for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:48 mark.

San Jose (30-18-2-4) had a chance to break the seal four minutes into the second period. A big hit by Cavan Fitzgerald on Joe Gambardella in the middle of the ice led to a breakaway for Jayden Halbgewachs, but Condors goalie Shane Starrett (23-4-3) stoned his attempt.

The Cuda cut the lead in half when a mad scramble in the front of the net led to Maxim Letunov being the last one to touch the puck that slid past Starrett for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:31 mark. Alex True and TJ Hensick were credited with assists.

Less than a minute later, Bakersfield shell shocked San Jose by scoring two goals in 21 seconds. Benson found Cooper Marody in the slot and his one-timer beat Korenar for his 14th goal of the season at the 6:20 mark.

Then, Patrick Russell picked up a loose puck from a shot from the point by Lagesson that hit off a body in front and was able to bury the puck past Korenar with a turnaround shot for his 16th goal of the season at the 6:41 mark for a 4-1 lead.

Bakersfield scored their third unanswered goal of the period when Braden Christopher cashed home a rebound in the slot off a Ryan Stanton shot from the point for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:45 mark. Marody received the secondary assist.

Russell scored his second goal of the evening and 17th of the season on the power play in the third period. Gambardella fed a pass over to Russell, whose one-timer beat Korenar at the 7:00 mark. Ethan Bear recorded the secondary assist.

Evan Polei fired a slap shot past Korenar for his eighth goal of the season at the 15:07 mark to complete the scoring for Bakersfield. Mitch Callahan and David Gust were credited with assists.

Starrett 27 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his 23rd victory of the season and 16 of his last 17 games. Korenar made 25 saves on 32 shots in suffering the defeat.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/3 on the power play. Bakersfield was 1/3.

Bakersfield is now 4-3-1-1 in the season series against San Jose with one more game left between the two teams on March 30th.

The announced attendance was 8,415 set a franchise record and was the highest attendance of the season for San Jose at SAP Center.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their five-game homestand as they host NorCal rival, the Stockton Heat, on Sunday 3/10 at 3:00 pm.