San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda suffers 4-0 shutout loss; Can’they capitalize

photo from sjbarracuda.com

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda got shutout for the first time this season, being a last place team that is struggling.

#2 To shutout the Barracuda the Stockton Heat’s goalie John Gillies stopped all of the Cuda’s shots for the shutout.

#3 The Barracuda failed to take advantage of four straight power play penalties issued to the Heat and still lost to the Heat.

#4 Austin Czarnik extended his goal streak to five games and point streak to six with a goal on Tuesday

#5 The Barracuda open a two game set with the Tucson Roadrunners starting Friday in Arizona.

Join Marko for all the Barracuda podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Short-handed Warriors lose in overtime to Spurs 117-113

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors, playing without D’Angelo Russell and Willie Cauley-Stein, forced the San Antonio Spurs into overtime. The Spurs won the overtime period 17-13 to defeat the W’s 117-113.

The Warriors used their 16th different starting lineup Tuesday night to take on San Antonio. The Warriors and Spurs are both having subpar seasons. The Warriors, as they have done in the last five games, played typical Warrior basketball. They moved the ball well as the recorded 31 assists. They had 5 steals and 6 blocks on defense. Coach Steve Kerr had to pleased with their effort. “We’re having a productive season; we’re just not having a winning season,” Kerr said. “I’ve enjoyed coaching this team, I just told them that. I enjoy coming in every day and working with these guys because they play hard, they play for each other, and they care about that game. So, I’m not too concerned about the record.”

The Warriors, as they did Saturday against Dallas, started well. They won the first period 32-25. The Spurs bounced back in the second quarter to outscore the W’s by five to finish the first half trailing 55-53.

The Warriors scored just 45 points in the second half. The Spurs were two points better, and the game ended in a tie. The game was up for grabs. The Spurs’ Dejounte Murray knocked down seven points in the 5-minute overtime to lead the Spurs to the win.

Game Notes and Stats. D’Angelo Russell, who suffered a right shoulder contusion on Saturday when he slammed into Luka Doncic’s hip, was not available and will be evaluated on Wednesday. Willie Cauley-Stein missed the game with an undisclosed illness. Willie will also be assessed on Wednesday.

Alec Burks led the team with 28 points, 4 assists, and 4 rebounds. Burks made 4 threes in 5 attempts. Glenn Robinson 3rd had 25 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and connected on 3 threes. Damion Lee continued to play well. He had 20 points, 7 boards, and 2 assists. Draymond Green had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had 9 assists.

DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 24. LaMarcus Aldridge had 15, Patty Mills 18, DeJounte Murray 15, and Bryn Forbes 14.

The Warriors dropped their second in a row and are now 9-26 for the season. The Spurs improved to 14-18. It was the first time since 1996 that the Spurs finished the year (2019) with a record below .500.

The Warriors meet the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night in Minneapolis. The game will start at 5 pm PT.

 

Sacramento Kings Tuesday game wrap: Clippers hand Kings 8th straight loss 105-87

@LAClippers photo: The Los Angeles Clippers dressed up in Buffalo Braves jerseys on throw back uniform night Tuesday at Golden One Center against the Sacramento Kings as Derrick Walton Jr (10) left congratulates Landry Shamet (20)

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–It was a David and Goliath matchup at Golden One Center on Tuesday at 2 PM PST. The struggling Sacramento Kings who are 12-21 on the year, went up against the mighty LA Clippers who were 23-11 on the season. The vibes were nervous, to say the least at Golden One Center as the Kings prepared to take on the Clippers and try and snap the teams seven-game losing streak.

In the first quarter, the Kings came out a bit flat. They only managed 23 points on 41.2% shooting from the field. Buddy Hield was the lone bright spot for the Kings offense in the first who scored 12 points on 4-5 shooting. The Clippers also seemed a bit flat coming out for the 2 PM contest. The Clippers managed to score 28 points on 47.8% shooting with Kawhi Leonard leading the way with 5 points.

In the second quarter, the Clippers began to extend the lead. Paul George began hitting his shots to end the half with 11 points. The Clippers scored 29 in the second to take a 57-40 lead into halftime. The Kings, led by Buddy Hield who had 12 points, managed to score 40 points in the second.

The rest of the offense with the exclusion of Richuan Holmes struggled. Holmes dropped 14 points in the first half, but the rest of the Kings were all under four points. The Kings had a lot of work in front of them to come back from a 57-40 deficit in the second half.

In the third, the Kings bounced back. They outscored the Clippers 33-31 in the quarter to slightly cut into the deficit. The Kings played fast and were able to get some easy buckets against a great defensive team. Kawhi Leonard carried the Clippers in the third scoring 14 points. The Kings continued to get stellar play from Richuan Holmes. Holmes scored 6 more points in the third to lead the Kings.

In the fourth, the Clippers put the game away. Sacramento’s shot just would not fall in the last quarter. They had a number of good looks but were unable to convert. Both teams shot 41% from the field but the Clippers shot 33% from three compared to the Kings 29%.

The Kings shot a disappointing 68% from the free-throw line compared to the Clippers 95%. That right there was your game. The Kings dropped their eighth consecutive game and to 12-22 on the year. The leading scorers for the victorious Clippers were Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with 24 and 21 points respectively. Leading the Kings in defeat was Richaun Holmes who was spectacular. Holmes scored 22 points on 8-13 shooting.

In what has been a rough season so far for the Kings, we flip the calendar to 2020. Kings players and coaches inferred to that fact postgame. Head coach Luke Walton said postgame, “It’s going to be a better year, 2020.” Shooting guard Buddy Hield echoed those sentiments in the locker room saying, “It’s go time – it’s a new year.

Were [34] games in so we have about [48] left – it’s go time. We can’t wait anymore.” For Kings fans, they hope that is true. Kings fans hope that same urgency will carry over into the new year. 2019 turned out to be a very disappointing year for Kings. Unfortunately, Kings fans have been disappointed for all of the 2010s. Here’s to a more successful decade in Sacramento for Kings fans!

Up Next: Kings stay home to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday at 7 PM PST

Heat turn out the lights on Barracuda in 4-0 shutout win; Cuda on three game losing streak

sjbarracuda.com photo:

by Marko Ukalovic

STOCKTON, Calif- It’s not the way the San Jose Barracuda wanted to end the calendar year. The Stockton Heat continued their dominance over their NorCal rival in a 4-0  shutout victory on New Year’s Eve at Stockton Arena.

The Heat have won all six meetings against the Barracuda and currently sit second in the Pacific Division with 43 points. San Jose has lost three in a row and anchor the bottom of the division with 22 points.

Stockton (19-6-2-3) drew first blood just past the halfway mark of the first period. Rob Hamilton sent a home run pass up the ice from his own blue line that sprung Glenn Gawdin for a breakway. Gawdin skated in from left to the right before depositing the puck past Barracuda goalie Josef Korenar for his 11th goal of the season at the 9:41 mark.

The Heat outshot the ‘Cuda 13-9 in the opening 20 minutes as they had the ice tilted in their favor for most of the period.

San Jose (10-17-0-2) had its chance to get back into the game with four straight power plays in the second period. Despite getting plenty of shots on net, Heat goalie Jon Gillies and the Heat penalty kill kept the ‘Cuda off the board. Despite outshooting Stockton 15-2, San Jose found itself trailing 1-0 at the second intermisson.

Stockton put the game away with three goals in the first five minutes of the third period. With San Jose on the power play, Gawdin fed a pass over to Buddy Robinson from the neutral zone. The former ‘Cuda foward skated in and buried the puck past Korenar for a short-handed goal, his 14th of the season 31 seconds into the period.

Austin Czarnik scored his fifth goal of the season at the 4:22 mark. Luke Philp and Byron Froese received assists on the goal.

The Heat completed the scoring when Eetu Tuulola received the puck at the Heat blueline and made a move around Trevor Carrick before firing a wrist shot to the far side past Korenar for his sixth goal of the season at 5:14 mark.

San Jose had three more opportunities on the power play in the final frame but ended up frustrated on the night thanks to work of Gillies.

Gillies stopped all 29 shots he faced for the shutout win, his eighth of the season, and is 4-0 against San Jose this season. Korenar made 22 saves on 26 shots in suffering the loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-7 on the power play. Stockton was 0-for-3.

  • Thomas Gregoire and Dylan Gambrell each put a team-high three shots on net.
  • Czarnik extended his goal streak to five games and point streak to six with a goal on Tuesday.
  • Robinson’s shorthanded goal was the sixth shorty against for San Jose this season.
  • Gawdin picked up a goal and an assist and is now third in the AHL in points with 33.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their three-game roadtrip down to Tucscon to start a two-game weekend series with the Roadrunners on Friday 1/3 at 6:05pm at Tucson Convention Center Arena.

Sharks Lose 2-0 to Red Wings, First Shut Out of Season

sfgate.com photo: San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28), of Switzerland, looses his footing against Detroit Red Wings defenseman Madison Bowey (74) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019, in Detroit.

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 2-0 to the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday, ending 2019 much the way they started this season. In December, they had two wins and 11 losses. The 2-0 loss to the NHL’s last ranked Red Wings had some disappointing firsts in it, for Sharks fans.

It was Detroit’s first shut out of the season and also the Sharks’ first time being shut out. It also ended a nearly three year stretch during which the Sharks got points in games where they allowed two or fewer goals. The goals were scored by Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek. Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves in the win while Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made 21 saves for the Sharks.

If there is anything good to take away from this game, it might be that the team only gave up two goals. That is an improvement over some of San Jose’s more spectacular losses this season. They also did fairly well in the face-off circle, winning 52% of them.

Those facts are not very encouraging, though, considering the opponent in Tuesday’s match. The Red Wings are not the worst face-off team in the NHL, just the ninth worst. They are the worst in the goal scoring department.

Sharks captain Logan Couture was asked to find some positives in the game: “Well, Joner was great, that’s a positive. Um, I’m trying to think of other things we can take from this one. But Joner played well, PK had some stops, power play needs to be better, offensively we need to be better. I thought for the most part, five on five we didn’t give them too much.”

Sharks interim head coach Bob Boughner also identified the goaltender as one of the only good parts of the game:

There were some bright spots to our game. I think the maybe power play generating a goal would have been nice. I think that Jonesy played well. It’s one of those games, we didn’t give up much on the road. Defensively we’ve been tightening it up in that area. You know, we just didn’t get our bounce early and the longer the game went I thought Bernier looked more comfortable. I thought we could’ve got more bodies in front of him. But, you know, we just didn’t capitalize, didn’t execute offensively.

The first goal came at 3:15 of the second period. Tyler Bertuzzi deflected Madison Bowey’s shot from the point, after bringing the puck into the zone, then rushing into position in front of the Sharks net. A second assist went to Dylan Larkin. It was Bertuzzi’s 15th of the season.

The second goal went into an empty net at 19:11 of the third period. Brent Burns’ shot was blocked and then went to Filip Hronek, who shot it all the way down the ice into the net. An assist went to Luke Glendening.

The Sharks had three power play chances to the Red Wings’ two. No power play goals were scored. The Sharks out-shot the Red Wings in the game and 14-4 in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins at 4:00 PM PT.

Headline Sports podcast with Barbara Mason: The advantage Cal had playing in Santa Clara for the Red Box Bowl; Have Sharks snapped out of it?; plus more

photo from sfgate.com: California quarterback Chase Garbers (7) scrabbles away from Illinois defensive lineman Ayo Shogbonyo (52) during the first half of the Redbox Bowl NCAA college football game Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif

On Headline Sports with Barbara:

#1 How important, how big was it for Cal to get to the Red Box Bowl and get to stay in the Bay Area and play the game against the Illinois Illini as the Bears defeated the Illini 35-20.

#2 It has to be a relief for the San Jose Sharks to win a game after losing ten of their last 11 on Saturday they got to break the glass ceiling or ice below with a five goal 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers

#3 Talk about the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks in a game that was built and called “The NFC West Championship” played on Sunday afternoon

#4 The Oakland Raiders on Sunday had to beat the Broncos, then the Texans needed to beat the Titans and the Ravens needed to beat the Steelers, and the Colts needed to beat the Jaguars, and a victory by at least one of these teams Bears, Lions, Chiefs or Patriots in order to make the AFC Wild Card Playoffs it was quite a bit to ask for wasn’t of the Raiders?

#5 The Sacramento Kings last two loses were narrow in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves they lost by just one in overtime but coughed up a lead in the 105-104 loss, then on Saturday they dropped another game at home by two 112-110 to the Phoenix Suns. The Kings have lost six straight games.

Join Barbara each Tuesday for Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Golden Bears upend the Fighting Illini in the Redbox Bowl 35-20

sfgate.com photo: California quarterback Chase Garbers (7) scrabbles away from Illinois defensive lineman Ayo Shogbonyo (52) during the first half of the Redbox Bowl NCAA college football game Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, in Santa Clara, Calif

By Jeremy Kahn

SANTA CLARA-With a chance to finish the season with a winning record, the Illinois Fighting Illini could not overcome a fantastic performance by California Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers.

The CAL quarterback threw four touchdowns and ran for another, as the Golden Bears defeated the Fighting Illini 35-20 in the Redbox Bowl before a crowd of 34,177 at Levis Stadium, the home of the NFC Western Division Champion San Francisco 49ers.

Garbers was not the only star for the Golden Bears, as Christopher Brown Jr. carried the ball 20 times for 120 yards and Makai Polk hauled in five catches for a season-high 105 yards, helping the Golden Bears to their first win in the post season since the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl.

After missing the season finale against rival Northwestern due to a concussion, Michigan graduate transfer Brandon Peters returned to the starting lineup and passed for 273 yards on the afternoon. Peters also led the team in rushing, as he gained 68 yards on the ground.

Peters went 22-for-37 before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter, as he flew through the air trying extend the Fighting Iliinis chances in the game. Unfortunately, Peters came up a yard short, giving the ball back to the Golden Bears on downs.

Garbers threw touchdowns of 4,3, 2 and 6 and also added a one-yard scamper, helping the Golden Bears to their highest scoring performance of the season.

Despite being sacked three times, Garbers went 22-for-31 for 272 yards, as he was named the Offensive Most Valuable Player.

Nikko Remigio, who came up huge in the Golden Bears Big Game win against the Stanford Cardinal on November 23 caught four passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.

Donny Navarro was the leading receiver for the Fighting Illini, as he caught six passes for 77 yards. Daniel Barker hauled in three passes for 55 yards and the lone touchdown for the Fighting Illini.

Lombardi Award finalist Evan Weaver led the Golden Bears in tackles with nine, while both Nate Hobbs and Khalan Tolson led the Fighting Illini with eight tackles.

The defensive player of the game was Zeandae Johnson, as he picked up three tackles, a sack, two tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.

James McCourt got the Fighting Illini on the board, as he kicked a 25-yard field goal to give them a 3-0 lead.

On the Golden Bears ensuing possession, Garbers found Collin Moore for a four-yard touchdown pass to give them their first lead of the afternoon.

The two teams began to exchange punches on the scoreboard, as Peters gave the Fighting Illini the lead once again, as he found Barker from five yards out.

Garbers then gave the Golden Bears the lead for good, as he scored on a one-yard run on their next series.

The duo of Garbers and Brown extended the Golden Bears lead up to 21-10 with 25 seconds remaining in the first half, as Brown caught a four-yard touchdown pass.

McCourt cut the lead down to eight at the half, as he nailed a 30-yard field goal as time expired at the end of the first half.

Gavin Reinwald got into the act, as he caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Garbers for the only scoring of the third quarter.

The Golden Bears put the finish touches on their scoring, as Remigio caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Garbers.

Reggie Corbin closed out the scoring for both teams, as he scored on a six-yard run with just over eight minutes to go in the game.

NOTES: This was the Fighting Illinis second trip to the Redbox Bowl, and their record falls to 1-1 overall. They defeated the UCLA Bruins in the 2011 game held at AT&T Park by the final score of 20-14.

As for the Golden Bears, this was also their second appearance and both times they came away with a victory, as behind Jahvid Bests bowl game record 186 yards rushing and two touchdowns, the Golden Bears defeated the Miami Hurricanes 24-17.

UP NEXT: With the season over, the Fighting Illini will begin the fifth season under Lovie Smith against the Illinois State Redbirds on September 4, 2020 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

Justin Wilcox will begin his fourth season in Berkeley on August 29 against the UNLV Rebels at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the new home of the Rebels and the Las Vegas Raiders.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Taking a look at number one seed 49ers with home field

photo from sfgate.com: The San Francisco 49ers Nick Bosa (54) silences the Seattle Seahawks crowd on Sunday at Century Link Field

On the 49ers podcast with David:

#1 The 49ers Dan Greenlaw and Fred Warner made a crucial stop on the Seattle Seahawks Jacob Hollister within inches of scoring a touchdown that would have taken the 49ers in a whole different direction.

#2 What the 49ers NFC title means for a home field advantage and how close the game in Seattle really was.

David Zizmor does the 49ers podcasts each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Will Walton hit the panic button as loses mount for Kings

photo from sacbee.com: The Phoenix Suns Dario Saric pins the Sacramento Kings Yogi Ferrell in the second quarter of Saturday night’s game at Golden One Center in Sacramento

On the Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 The Kings have lost six straight games where does it reach the point that Luke Walton hits that panic button and the juggling of the line up starts?

#2 The one player whose been playing consistent and that’s the Kings De’Aaron Fox but he’s suffered injuries how much has his absence impacted the Kings?

#3 Just taking the first quarter of Saturday’s game alone the Kings The Kings managed to put up 30 points on 48% shooting from the floor. Having struggled in his last few contests, Buddy Hield put up a team-leading 8 points in the first quarter. Do the Kings need to take more shots, distribute the ball, try to get in the paint more often where do the Kings from here.

#4 The Suns on Saturday were led by Kelly Oubre Jr. who had 15 points followed by Devin Booker who had 14 on defense is Oubre and Booker just difficult to defend for the Kings?

#5 You had a chance to cover the Kings in Denver on Sunday tell us if you saw anything different in this game compared to the say the last six games.

Charlie O is a Kings beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Condors offense too much for Barracuda in 7-5 victory

sjbarracuda.com photo: The score says it all as the Barracuda lose another one on home ice on Sunday night to the Bakersfield Condors 7-5

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif- The Bakersfield Condors jumped out to a big lead and then hung on for dear life at the end in a 7-5 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday evening at SAP Center.

Bakersfield have won two games in a row and increased their cushion over San Jose to six points as they currently sit fifth in the Pacific Divison with 28 points. The ‘Cuda have lost two in a row and went 0-2 on this weekend’s homestand.

The Condors (12-13-3-1) jumped out early scoring two goals, two minutes apart in the first six minutes of the games. Colby Cave had possession of the puck near the blue line when he made two nifty moves around two Barracuda forwards and snapped a wrist from the middle of the faceoff circles shot past ‘Cuda goalie Andrew Shortridge for his sixth goal of the season at the 4:03 mark. Luke Esposito, who screened Shortridge on the shot, received the only assist.

Bakersfield doubled their lead on the power play at the 6:07 mark when Joel Persson centered a pass over to Brad Malone at the left slot. Malone turned around and fired a shot that pinballed off a two Barracuda defenders in front and into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Ryan McLeod received the secondary assist.

San Jose (10-16-0-2) cut the decifit to one when Dylan Gambrell won a race to the puck behind the goal-line. He made a drop pass back to a trailing Jayden Halbgewachs, who buried home a one-timer past Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his ninth goal of the season at the 8:34 mark.

Just when the ‘Cuda had the momentum on their side during a power play with under five minutes left, Nick DeSimone turned the puck over in his own zone to Esposito, who skated in a sent a wrist shot past the 5-hole of Shortridge for an unassisted short-handed goal. Esposito’s fourth goal of the season came at the 16:02 mark.

Bakersfield scored three goals on only six shots in the opening 20 minutes. San Jose registered only five shots on goal.

The Condors took control of the game early in the second period as they scored two goals in the first six minutes to jump out to a 5-1 lead. ‘Cuda killer Josh Currie lead a 3-on-2 rush into San Jose’s zone and he cleaned up the rebound off a Cooper Marody shot for his team leading 13th goal of the season at the 3:31 mark.

Then just over two minutes later Dmitri Samorukov sent a long pass up to center ice where Joe Gambardella quickly passed it over to Miles Koules at the ‘Cuda blue line. Koules skated in and snapped a wrist shot top-shelf into the upper left corner for his first goal of the season at the 5:39 mark.

That ended the night for Shortridge who gave up five goals on just 10 shots. Josef Korenar replaced him in between the pipes.

San Jose came back with two goals of their own in a wild middle frame that saw five goals scored in it. Sasha Chmelevski was a man possessed as he kept pressure inside the Condors zone. After a shot by Lean Bergmann went behind the net, Chmelevski skated around and threw the puck out in front where it banked off a Condors’ defender skate into the net for the Southern California native’s fifth goal of the season at the 9:00 mark.

The ‘Cuda cut the lead to 5-3 on the power play late in the second period. Chmelevski centered a pass over to Noah Gregor from the right boards. Gregor made two strides forward before launching a wrist shot top-shelf past Skinner for his third goal of the season at the 17:47 mark.

Bakersfield regained the momentum and their three-goal lead less than two minutes later when Cave led a 3-on-1 rush up the ice. A pretty give-and-go between Currie and Evan Bouchard led to Bouchard scoring his fouth goal of the season with 41 seconds left in the period.

San Jose didn’t go down quietly in the third period as they scored next two goals to make the game close. Halfway through the final frame, Jonny Brodzinski lit up the red light when he scored his sixth goal of the season at the 10:39 mark. Alex True and Jeffery Viel received assists on the goal.

The ‘Cuda once again made it a one-goal deficit on the power play. Maxim Letunov carried the puck into the Condors zone and made a nice backhand pass to the right point over to DeSimone. The ‘Cuda defenseman snapped a wrist shot toward the net where Gregor deflected it home past Skinner for his fourth goal of the season at the 18:41 mark.

That would be as close as their comeback attempt would get as Tyler Benson fed a pass up to Malone who skated in all the way to the net before tapping it home for an empty net goal, his seventh goal of the season with 36 seconds left in the game.

Skinner made 34 saves on 39 shots to earn his ninth victory of the season. Korenar suffered the tough luck loss as he stopped six of the seven shots he faced in mop-up duty.

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

Brodzinski’s two-point night snapped a five-game scoreless streak for the forward.

Gregor’s two goals were the first points he scored since being reassigned back down to the Barracuda.

The announced attendance was 4,227 in the fourth annual Pucks and Paws Night. Fans were able to bring their dogs to the game for $5.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda end the calendar year traveling up to Stockton on Tuesday 12/31 to take on the Heat at 5:00pm at Stockton Arena.