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2019 NHL All-Star Game Feature

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Photo credit: @NHL

By Pearl Allison Lo

SAN JOSE — The 2019 NHL All-Star Game, played on a Saturday for the first time in years, also debuted Parley Ocean Plastic™ jerseys and player tracking at home on TV and on the Jumbotron inside the arena.

Asked if it felt different having the game being played on a different day, Calgary Flames’ Johnny Gaudreau uttered, “It didn’t feel too different, just get out of here one day earlier. It was a fun weekend. Had a blast. Wish we could have kept playing here, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. The Central division has some pretty skilled players right there, so I think they played well.”

The game jerseys were the first-ever NHL jerseys featuring repurposed and upcycled materials developed in partnership with Parley for the Oceans. The white and black jerseys, matching the on-ice elements, also marked the first time team logos were used for NHL All-Star jerseys. An ad after the second game, showed players commenting about the joint initiative with Adidas, including “plastic doesn’t belong in the ocean,” and “turning threat into thread.”

After the first game, Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid asked if the jerseys felt any different and the idea behind them, replied, “I think the jerseys felt the same. I l love the idea behind it. It’s good for the environment. It’s pretty remarkable what they can do with turning plastic into those jerseys…”  

On the Jumbotron below the score, it showed the top three on-ice time for either side. Also shown on the screen was the puck speed and players’ names and numbers at times. The score and on-ice time glitched out during the Championship game, with the score returning eventually, but not the on-ice time stats.

“The San Jose boys turned it on for a bit. 10-5 is better than 10-1,” Edmonton’s Leo Draisaitl mentioned, as Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns and Eric Karlsson combined for three goals and two assists.

During the beginning of the game, “Let’s Go Sharks!” was chanted and when Karlsson scored the first goal for the Pacific with a clutch breakaway and every Pacific goal after, the hometown team’s goal song buzzed inside the building.

Asked the percent of how much that made it feel like home, versus an All-Star Game, Burns replied, “The chants were pretty cool. Making it 3-on-3 is a totally different atmosphere. The crowd was awesome. It was good energy. Terrible outcome,” interjected Karlsson to raucous laughter.

Draisaitl gave Anaheim Ducks’ goalie John Gibson a reassuring stick tap after the Central Division scored their sixth goal versus him. “Ducks Suck” chants were also heard from the crowd.

On the booing from the crowd perspective, Draisaitl offered, “At the end of the day, it’s all for fun, so I think those fans enjoyed watching the best players in the world. Obviously, if they can make a joke or little fun..it’s all good.”

For Gibson, Gaudreau commented, “well yeah, it’s not his fault. He’s got 12 superstars coming down on him, 2-on-1s, 3-on-2s, breakways, can’t blame him. That’s what happens when you put 10-12 guys who can shoot the puck and make plays like that, so it kind of got away from us there for a little.”

Gaudreau’s dad was behind the Pacific bench as a Special Assistant. On how he would describe his dad as a coach during the game, Gaudreau conveyed, “He was quiet, first, for a little bit, but he hates losing more than me, so he started off, just giving guys little pushes on the back, saying “Let’s go, let’s go…He had a lot of fun with it.”

Another great announcement by the NHL was made during the second game intermission: To celebrate the contributions of Renata Fast (Team Canada), Brianna Decker (Team USA), Kendall Coyne Schofield (Team USA) and Rebecca Johnston (Team Canada), the NHL will donate $25,000 in each of their names to charities or hockey programs of their choice.  

Sidney Crosby made his return to the All-Star celebration triumphantly, named the All-Star MVP by the fans with four goals and four assists, scoring two goals and one assist in Game Two and two goals and two assists in the Championship game.

On being able to play, Crosby remarked, “It was fun to be with the guys” and about his success here, “got some great memories here for sure.”

2019 NHL All-Star Game Final: Metropolitan Defeats Central 10-5

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Photo credit: @NHL

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE — In the 2019 NHL All-Star championship game, the Metropolitan Division defeated the Central Division 10-5 in front of a sell-out crowd at SAP Center. The teams started with goaltenders Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild and Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers. The fan-voted NHL All-Star MVP was Sidney Crosby, which won him a silver Honda SUV.

The Metropolitan Division struck first with a goal 22 seconds in from the Islanders’ Matthew Barzal. Assists went to Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.

Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux made it 2-0 at 1:53, assisted by Washington’s John Carlson.

It was 3-0 after Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang took a no-look shot at Dubnyk and fooled him. Crosby got an assist on that one.

Columbus’s Seth Jones was awarded a penalty shot at 5:51 after Chicago’s Patrick Kane tripped him on a breakaway. He did not score and it stayed 3-0.

Shortly thereafter, a Metropolitan goal was called back after review, again keeping the score 3-0 Metropolitan.

They finally broke through for the fourth goal when New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri scored at 8:16. Assists went to Seth Jones and Sebastian Aho.

Their fifth goal came with just over four seconds left in the first half. Crosby scored it, with an assist from Matthew Barzal.

For the second half, Braden Holtby stepped into the Metropolitan net, while Pekka Rinne came in for the Central Division.

The Central Division got their first goal of the game, which was Gabriel Landeskog’s fourth of the night, at 1:15 of the second half. Ryan O’Reilly got the assist.

Colorado added another goal for the Central Division at 3:25 when Mikko Rantanen scored his third of the night. An assist went to Roman Josi and Dallas’s Miro Heiskanen.

The Metropolitan team pushed back with their sixth of the game at 4:02 from Crosby. Barzal got another assist.

The third Central goal came from Ryan O’Reilly at 4:38, but his team gave it back at 5:35 when Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored against Dubnyk.

The Metropolitan team added their eight goal at 5:43 courtesy of Columbus’s Cam Atkinson. The ninth goal came from Matthew Barzal, assisted by Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

The Central got a fourth goal at 8:30 from Mikko Rantanen, and a fifth at 8:50 from Blake Wheeler.

Cam Atkinson got a tenth into an empty net for the Metropolitan, assisted by Seth Jones.

The regular season will resume on Monday, January 28. The Sharks will next play on Saturday, February 2, when they will host the Arizona Coyotes at 7:30 PM PT.

2019 NHL All-Star Game: Metropolitan Eliminates Atlantic Division 7-4

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Photo credit: @NHL

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The second game of the 2019 All-Star Game series was between the Metropolitan Division and the Atlantic Division. Though most of the game was close, the Metropolitan Division took the lead late and ran away with it for a 7-4 win. The Metropolitan team was coached by Washington’s Todd Reirden and the Atlantic team was coached by Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper. New York’s Henrik Lundqvist was in the Metropolitan Division net for the first half, with Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy defending the Atlantic Division net.

Fifteen seconds into the first half, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby gave the Metropolitan Division the lead. Cam Atkinson got an assist.

The Metropolitan team took a 2-0 lead at 1:56 with a goal from Seth Jones with assists to Kyle Palmieri and Cam Atkinson.

The Atlantic Division got a goal back from Buffalo’s Jack Eichel at 2:04, assisted by David Pasternak.

The Metro Division got a second goal from Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos at 3:13 with an assist to Toronto’s John Tavares.

The Atlantic Division got a second goal from Seth Jones in the final moments of the first half.

To start the second half, Washington’s Braden Holtby took the net for the Metropolitan Division and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard took the net for the Atlantic.

Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner scored for the Atlantic Division just 56 seconds into the second half, beating Washington goaltender Braden Holtby. Boston’s David Pastrnak got an assist. Holtby gave up another at 1:28 to Toronto’s John Tavares. Florida’s Keith Yandle got an assist there.

The Metropolitan Division tied it back up at four with another goal from Sidney Crosby at 3:57. An assist went to his Pittsburgh teammate, Kris Letang. Letang added a fifth Metropolitan goal at 6:22.

Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored a sixth goal for the Metropolitan team, with an assist to Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux. The lead grew to a 7-4 lead at 9:14 when Columbus’s Cam Atkinson scored, assisted by Sidney Crosby.

The Metropolitan Division moved on to the second round to face the Central Division team.

2019 NHL All-Star Game: Central Division Eliminates Pacific 10-4

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Photo credit: @NHL

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE- The First round of the All-Star Game was between the Central and the Pacific Divisions, with the Central Division winning 10-4. The Pacific Division was coached by Bill Peters from the Calgary Flames, while the Central Division squad was coached by Paul Maurice of the Winnipeg Jets. The coaches came from the teams with the best record up to the All-Star break.

The All-Star Game was broken into three parts, two Conference contests and a third between winners of those. The games were made up of two ten minute periods of three on three play.

The Central Division scored first, with goals from Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog against Anaheim’s John Gibson. Both were assisted by St. Louis’s Ryan O’Reilly.

San Jose’s Erik Karlsson got one back for the Pacific Division at 4:51 in a breakaway against Nashville’s Pekka Rinne. John Gibson got an assist on that one.

Nashville’s Roman Josi scored a third for Central, followed seconds later by a fourth goal from Chicago’s Patrick Kane. Kane assisted on Josi’s goal and Josi assisted on Kane’s.

A fifth goal came from Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele, assisted by O’Reilly. Gibson gave up a sixth goal to Rantanen, his second of the game. Patrick Kane also got a second goal, the Central’s 7th. That was 8:11 into the first period.

For the second period, the teams changed ends and goaltenders. Las Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury took over for the Pacific Division and Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk took the Central Division net.

Colorado’s Landeskog scored a second goal to start the second half, less than a minute into the period. He was assisted by Roman Josi. Fleury made a number of valiant saves before Ryan O’Reilly took the puck away from Brent Burns in the neutral zone. Fleury came way out of his net as if to steal the puck. He did not and O’Reilly went around him to score.

Yet another Central goal came from Landeskog, his third with about five and a half minutes left. Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler got an assist.

The Pacific Division got one back courtesy of Johnny Gaudreau with an assist to Connor McDavid at 4:47. They got another courtesy of two Sharks, Erik Karlsson assisted by Joe Pavelski. San Jose’s Brent Burns added a fourth goal for the Pacific Division at 5:52. Pavelski also got the assist on that one.

The Central Division squad went on to the second round.

2019 NHL All-Star Game News and Commentary

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Photo credit: @NHL

By Pearl Allison Lo

SAN JOSE — The “hub of innovation,” as proclaimed by Commissioner Gary Bettman earlier in the day to media, kicked off 2019 NHL All-Star weekend for the first time since 1997, with the Skills Competition Friday.

Players who did not make Media Day on Wednesday were made available to the press before the Skills showcase. These participants included Braden Holtby (WSH), John Carlson (WSH), Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK), Kris Letang (PIT), Drew Doughty (LAK) and Nathan MacKinnon (COL). Sidney Crosby was absent due to illness and did not play in the competition.

Doughty, set to play in Accuracy Shooting, on his chances, replied, “I doubt I’ll win. Yeah, I don’t know. I have a decent shot, but I can say I’ve never just stood in front of the net and shots pucks at targets before, so this’ll be my first time, and I’m sure the crowd will probably be booing me, so I’ll probably be super nervous, and embararssed a little bit…Hopefully the shoot goes well.” Doughty ended up in third out of eighth place with a time of 14.423 seconds.   

First time NHL All-Star Carlson’s game was the hardest shot. Before, he said, “I’m looking forward to giving it a try. I haven’t ever been registered before, so I think we all have a chance this year with some of the guys that are in here…I like watching all of them (the competitions). I think they all showcase the talent of these great players in the league and that’s what it’s about and I like seeing some of the ways that our guys can handle the puck.” Carlson was the $25,000 winner, finishing with the top two quickest shots at 102.8mph and 100.6mph.

MacKinnon, an All-Star Captain for the first time, was on the shelf as well for the contest. HE responded, “I was forced, but I love coming here. It’s still fun. I’m still the captain…It’s just a bruise on the inside of my foot…we know it’s not broken…I’ll be good to go against Vancouver (February 2). Regarding not participating in the fastest skater competition, McKinnon replied, “I get killed every year…Connor’s so fast…McDavid won his third straight fastest skater contest with a time of 13.378 seconds.

The replacement for MacKinnon was the first woman to ever compete in the Skills match. Kendall Coyne from the U.S. Women’s National Team skated first and beat out Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes. With chants of “USA,” Coyne gushed she was “super, super excited, super, super honored. Thanks for the NHL’s support.” Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames commented, “She was fast. I didn’t expect that…It’s pretty impressive, obviously…she’s American, which is even better.”

Going back to MacKinnon on his favorite skill, he said, “probably the shooting. I always have to do the skating, but I’d love to do the shooting one year for sure.”

Regarding his teammates’ chances in the skills competition, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, MacKinnon analyzed, “Gabe has to do puck handling, so I don’t know. I don’t like his chances. He’s more of a forechecker.” For Mikko, he verified, “He’s got over 50 assists, so I think he’ll do pretty good at passing.”  Landeskog finished fifth out of eighth in puck control with 33.425 seconds and Rantanen got second out of eighth with 2 minutes and 17.379 seconds.

Sharks’ defenseman Erik Karlsson did participate in the All-Star Skills, despite his status being questionable due to recent injury. On being able to participate, he replied, “It’s great, especially being here in San Jose, I think it’s a great thing for this fan base and for this organization and community, so I’m happy I can be here.”  He finished seventh out of eighth in Premier Passer with 1 minute and 58.824 seconds. Teammate Joe Pavelski described the event well, “It seems like one of those events where you need a little momentum going in, and if you get a couple early, that’s good, if not, it’s pretty tough.”

An especially great moment of the competition for the hometown crowd, was when Toronto Maple Leaf’s Auston Matthews, playing in the last event of Accuracy Shooting, removed his jersey to reveal that of his now teammate and former Sharks’ legend Patrick Marleau, which he wore while partaking in the event.” Afterwards, he, along with San Jose’s representative of Karlsson, Pavelski and Brent Burns, took a picture with Burns’ and Pavelski’s boys.

Barracuda messed with Texas and won 2-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda continued their dominance on home ice. They were able to hold on for a 2-1 victory over the Texas Stars on Friday evening at SAP Center. They swept the two-game series against Texas.

San Jose (23-8-1-13) drew first blood early in the first period. Matt Fonteyne skated in along the right boards and fought off a check. Maxim Letunov set a pick, freeing up Fonteyne to skate in from the right faceoff circle and wrist a shot top-shelf on Stars goalie Landon Bow (16-7-4) for his third goal of the season at the 3:59 mark. Manny Wiederer received the secondary assist.

“It’s alway nice to contribute,” said Fonteyne. “If you get pucks on net, the odd one is going to find the net. I’m really thankful for Maxim (Letunov) and Manny (Wiederer). They did a really good job to create space for me for my own shot.”

Texas (21-13-3-2) thought they had tied the game half way through the opening frame, but a last-minute save on a rolling puck heading into the net that was swept away at the last second by defenseman Keaton Middleton.

San Jose extended its lead on the power play with under three minutes remaining in the first period. Cavan Fitzgerald shot from the point caromed off the back of the boards past two players onto the stick of Jayden Halbgewachs, who made a move to the inside and sent in a shot through traffic as he was falling down that found its way into the back of the net. Halbgewachs’ 10th goal of the season came at the 17:12 mark. Kyle Wood received the secondary assists.

James Phelan had a short-handed breakaway opportunity with under a minute left, but  Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (14-3-1) came up with a huge save as the puck trickled underneath his pads to the left corner. Despite being outshot 20-9, San Jose headed into the first intermission with a commanding two-goal lead.

“I felt good after the first period,” said Korenar. “20 shots after one period is a lot of shots. But any goalie who gets 20 shots in a period is going to feel good.”

Texas cut the lead in half on the power play early in the second period. It only took eight seconds for Justin Dowling to send the puck back to the point where Gavin Bayreuther rifled in a shot past Korenar for his third goal of the season at the 4:49 mark.

Texas had the majority of the scoring chances, including a point-blank chance that was one-timed just wide, but weren’t able to tie the game up heading into the second intermission, despite out shooting the Cuda 12-7 in the middle frame.

“To be honest with you I thought it was the two worst periods we’ve played in a long while,” said head coach Roy Sommer. “I told them we played two really bad periods. If you win the third (period) you win a game. And that’s what they did. We found a way to win the game.”

In the third period, San Jose had the ice tilted in their favor out shooting the Stars 14-7 as the line of Alex True-Jon Martin-Francis Perron created the majority of the scoring chances only to have Bow frustrate them.

“I think we got lucky to come up 2-0 in the first period,” said Halbgewachs. “We started to find our game in the third period. We got two points and that’s all that matters.”

Korenar finished the game with 40 saves on 41 shots to earn his 14th win of the season. Bow, despite the strong game in net, suffered the loss stopping 29 of the 31 pucks he faced.

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

Forward Dylan Gambrell was recalled up by the San Jose Sharks.

Coming into the game, Korenar was second in the AHL in goals-against average (2.29) and tied for fifth with 13 wins.

The announced attendance was 3,064.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return to action on Monday, January 21 as they host the Bakersfield Condors at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Hertl’s First Hat Trick Since ’13 Helps Sharks Get Revenge on Pens in 5-2 Win

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Photo credit: @LetsGoSharks

By: Jerry Feitelberg

The San Jose Sharks rolled to their seventh straight win Tuesday night, romping the equally-as-hot Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 in a rematch of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Tomas Hertl scored his first hat trick since scoring 4 goals — yes, those four goals, on October 8th, 2013. Evander Kane picked up three assists and Joe Thornton scored the game-winner in his 1,000th game in Teal and Black. All-star Kris Letang and Derick Brassard scored for the Penguins. Martin Jones made 22 saves in net for the Sharks.

Tomas Hertl needed three goals to reach the 100-goal plateau and his empty-netter with 25 seconds left in regulation did the trick, icing the victory over a Penguins team that had won 10 of their last 12 games.

Pittsburgh got on the score sheet first after Letang netted his 11th goal of the season halfway through the first but a Sharks surge found team Teal up 2-1 after one. Marcus Sorensen tipped home his ninth goal of the season with eight minutes left in the period. Sorensen is fresh off signing a two-year contract extension. Hertl then scored his first of three after boxing out a defender on the boards before jamming to the net for his 17th goal of the season 14:05 into the first.

Joe Thornton continued to rack up the milestones, beating Matt Murray 3:39 into the middle period for his 10th goal of the season. Jumbo has now scored 10 goals or more in 18 seasons.

Hertl scored again 2:06 into the third period for the 4-1 lead, but Brassard netted his eighth of the year to pull the Pens within two with just under two minutes left. Hertl converted on the hat trick for his 19th goal of the season and a century mark in goals in his young career.

The Sharks will hit the road for four straight, facing the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night in the desert. After that, they’ll face the Tampa Bay Lightning after ending their lengthy winning streak earlier in the month. After that, they’ll face the Florida Panthers and Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals in a back-to-back before players disperse for the All-Star break.

Barracuda hold on for a 2-1 victory over Heat

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda were able to get back to their winning ways against their NorCal rival the Stockton Heat as they scored two unanswered goals and were able to hold on for a 2-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center.

San Jose (22-8-1-3) controlled the tempo in the first period as they doubled up the shots on Stockton (16-18-3-0) 10-5. However, both goalies, Antoine Bibeau (9-5-3) for the Cuda and Jon Gillies (5-11-3) held their ground and kept the game scoreless for the first 19 minutes of the opening frame.

The Cuda would break through 11 seconds before time expired as Antti Suomela deked out Gillies going backhand-to-forehand and beat the Heat goaltender top-shelf for his second goal of the season at the 19:49 mark. Dylan Gambrell and Manny Weiderer received assists.

In the second period, once again, the story would be the goaltending that stole the show. Stockton put on more of a push, but Bibeau was able to stop all 11 shots from the Heat attack. Despite good scoring chances from San Jose, Gillies equaled his counterpart,  stopping all 10 Cuda shots in the middle frame.

In the third period, San Jose doubled their lead on the power play. Alex True fed a pass over to Kyle Wood at the point and Wood fired a wrist shot past a screened Gillies, who never saw the puck go into the back of the net for his third goal of the season at the 9:49 mark. Francis Perron received the secondary assist.

Stockton cut the lead in half when Buddy Robinson cleaned up a rebound off a Kerby Rychel shot that Bibeau made a toe save on. Robinson’s sixth goal of the season came at the 11:34 mark.

Stockton pulled Gillies late in the game for an extra attacker, but weren’t able to get that equalizer as Bibeau and the Cuda held off their late push.

Bibeau finished with 22 saves on 23 shots to earn his ninth victory of the season. Gillies made 31 saves on 33 shots in suffering the defeat.

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

With the win San Jose improved to 12-4-0-1 at SAP Center and have the best mark in the Pacific Division.

The announced attendance was 5,740.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return to action on Friday 1/18 as they host the Texas Stars at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Reign finally take down Barracuda with 3-1 win

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — All good things must come to an end. For the San Jose Barracuda, they are no longer undefeated against the Ontario Reign this season, thanks to Ontario taking advantage of a mistake by a young goaltender in a 3-1 victory on Friday evening at SAP Center.

Brett Sutter received a gift from Cuda goalie Josef Korenar (13-3-1) when Korenar attempted a back-handed pass behind his own net to the corner that was intercepted by Sutter. Sutter skated around the net, where his initial backhander hit the outside of the net, but he was able to grab his own rebound and put it into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the season in what proved to be the game-winning goal with just under two minutes left in the game at the 18:22 mark of the third period.

“You know it’s funny, I think that was their (Ontario’s) only chance in the third (period),” said Cuda head coach Roy Sommer after the game. “Our goalie learned a lesson (tonight). You can’t reverse a puck if you don’t know where the forecheck is coming from. He won’t do it again I’m sure.”

The first period was scoreless as the Cuda outshot the Reign 11-9. The best scoring chances for both teams didn’t come until the final few minutes. Dylan Gambrell had a redirect chance just trickle to the right of the net with under three minutes remaining for San Jose. While Zack Mitchell’s buzzer beating one-timer hit the outside of the net for Ontario.

Ontario (11-17-3-2) drew first blood on the power play to start the second period. Matt Roy fed a cross-ice pass over to Matt Moulson on the left-wing and snapped home a wrist shot past Korenar top-shelf in the left corner for his 10th goal of the season at the 0:57 mark.

San Jose (21-8-1-3) evened the game up on the power play with a little over five minutes left in the middle frame. Nick DeSimone sent a pass over to the Rourke Chartier, who was back playing his first game with the Cuda since December 27th of last year, along the right boards. Chartier danced with the puck and from a tough angle snapped a beauty of a wrist shot top-shelf past Reign goalie Cal Petersen (3-6-3) for his third goal of the season at the 14:54 mark. Gambrell received the secondary assist.

“They kind gave some time on the half wall,’ said Chartier, regarding his goal. “I was looking for a pass first, but nothing really opened up and (I was) lucky enough that it goes in.”

The Barracuda out shot the Reign 13-7 in the second period and were able to kill off a late penalty to Jeffery Viel for tripping to head into the second intermission with momentum on their side.

“I liked our effort tonight,” said Cuda captain John McCarthy. “It was a tight defensive game where anything could have happened and it did.”

Moulson put the game on ice with an empty net with 69 seconds remaining for his second goal of the night and 11th on the season. Micheal Amadio and Sam Herr received assists on the goal.

Petersen had a busy night as he made 37 saves on 38 shots to earn his third victory of the season. Korenar finished the evening with 23 saves on 25 pucks he faced.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Ontario was 1/3.

McCarthy played in his 500th AHL game with the Sharks organization. He is the Barracuda’s all-time leader in games played (222), points (118), goals (52) and assists (66).

Defenseman Jacob Middleton was back in the line up since being sent back down by the San Jose Sharks.

Fight Fight Fight! San Jose’s Jon Martin tangoed with the Reign’s Chaz Reddekopp half way through the second period. Each received offsetting fighting majors.

The announced attendance was 3,141.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Stockton Heat on Sunday, January 13 at 3:00 pm at SAP Center.

Barracuda outlast Reign 3-1

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By: Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda didn’t make it look pretty, but they continued to stay undefeated against the Ontario Reign in a 3-1 victory on Monday evening at SAP Center.

For San Jose, it was their second win in a row and are currently 4-0 against Ontario this season. Ontario continued their downward spiral losing their sixth game in a row.

“They’ve had our number for years,” said head coach Roy Sommer regarding his team turning the tables against their Pacific Division rival. “From Manchester (Mass) into Ontario, it’s been a while since we’ve had a winning record against them. So finally the tide turns.”

San Jose (21-7-1-3) drew first blood five minutes into the opening period. Jon Martin found Jayden Halbgewachs at the right faceoff circle and he skated around over to the left-wing and he snapped a wrist shot that beat Reign goalie Cal Petersen (2-6-3) low to the stick side at 5:41 mark. The puck looked to have deflected off Reign defenseman Austin Strand’s skate for Halbgewachs’ eight goal of the season. Kyle Wood received the secondary assist.

I went through a dry spell for a bit,” said Halbgewachs. “I had to get back to finding my game, building up that confidence. (The goals) are a huge confidence booster and every player needs that when they’re in a slump.”

Ontario (10-17-3-2) outshot San Jose 11-8 in the first period, but Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau (8-5-3) held down the fort stonewalling the Reign from lighting the red lamp.

In the second period, both netminders put on a clinic out on the ice. Bibeau was aggressive on two penalty kills where he came out beyond the crease to cut off angles and did not give up any rebounds.

“I think in December I wasn’t playing as aggressive and as good as I could (have been),” said Bibeau. “When the guys had to block a shot, they blocked a shot. They boxed out and I saw the puck really well.”

Petersen was sharp late in the middle frame. Keaton Middleton fed a short-handed breakaway chance to Dylan Gambrell, but Petersen came out to challenge Gambrell and his shot sailed over the net with under four minutes left. Then with under a minute left, Vincent Praplan’s point-blank shot and captain John McCarthy’s follow-up rebound chance were turned away by Petersen.

Jon Martin single-handedly gave San Jose a big insurance goal to open up the third period. Coming in on a three-on-three rush he was able to muscle his way past Kurtis MacDermid, regain the puck and buried it under the left pad of Petersen on the short side for his sixth goal of the season at the 1:28 mark. Martin now has five points in his last three games.

“It’s been a long way for me these last three years,” said Martin. “So it’s nice to come in here and finally feel like I’m contributing a little bit on the board. I’m just trying to keep it going, helping out my linemates, they’ve been supporting me and it’s going well.”

Brett Sutter cut the lead in half on the penalty kill, thanks to a gift from Calvan Fitzgerald. He was pressured by Sam Herr in front of the Cuda net and turned over the puck right onto the stick of Sutter, who one-timed it from the slot into the upper right corner of the net. The unassisted short-handed goal was Sutter’s eight of the season and came at the 7:39 mark.

Halbgewachs sealed the game for the Cuda with his second goal of the evening with an empty-netter with exactly one minute left in the game for his ninth goal of the season.

Bibeau shined bright with a 32 save on 33 shot performance to earn his eight victory of the season. Petersen suffered his second straight loss, making 27 saves on 29 shots.

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

On Tuesday, the Cuda recalled defensemen Cody Donaghey and Mike Brodzinki from the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.

Coming into the game, San Jose were tied for first in the Western Conference with a home winning percentage of .750 (10-3-0-1). Their +20 point differential is the best in the Pacific Division.

Reign defenseman Daniel Brickley suffered a lower body injury in the second period when he was in a battle with Anti Suomela. His leg ended up being tied up and he fell awkwardly to the ice laying there for a while before being helped off the ice. He did not return to the game.

The announced attendance was 2,530.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda take on the Reign for a third consecutive time on Friday, January 11 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.