Photo credit: San Jose Barracuda Twitter (@sjbarracuda)
STOCKTON — The San Jose Barracuda lost 5-3 to the Stockton Heat in Game 4 at Stockton Arena on Sunday.
By: Ana Kieu
The Barracuda didn’t waste any time getting on the board as Danny O’Regan fired a shot past David Rittich short-side just 58 seconds into the opening period. Kevin Labanc and Nick DeSimone were credited with the assists on O’Regan’s second goal of the playoffs.
The Heat’s defense was superb in the period. Rittich made three notable saves, blocking two shots from Rourke Chartier and one shot from Timo Meier.
The Barracuda outshot the Heat 10-6 and led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The Barracuda’s defense remained solid in the second period. Both teams exchanged chances and Andrew Mangiapane almost scored the game-tying goal, but Grosenick made an incredible left pad save to hold onto a 1-0 lead. However, Stockton made it a game after Hunter Shinkaruk picked up a loose puck on Matt Frattin’s turnover for the equalizer and his second goal of the playoffs.
The Heat grabbed their first lead of the game at 12:05 when Garnet Hathaway knocked in the puck for the go-ahead goal, his second of the playoffs.
Doetzel bodyslammed Timo Meier, who received a roughing penalty at 11:07. The officials also assessed a roughing penalty to Frattin at the same time. The game went into a four-on-four.
The Barracuda were back on the power play shortly after Michael Kostka got out of the box. Hathaway took a tripping call with 5:45 left in the period.
Buddy Robinson got a lucky bounce that found the back of the net for his third goal of the playoffs, tying the game 2-2 with 2:05 left.
Both teams were tied at two apiece after 40 minutes. Shots were 23-22 in favor of the Barracuda.
The Barracuda retook the lead when Tim Heed fired a long-range shot from the right point that went top-shelf to beat Rittich at 15:22 of the third period. Meier and Chartier notched the assists on Heed’s second goal of the playoffs.
Mangiapane scored his first goal of the playoffs on a shot that went top-shelf to beat Troy Grosenick on the far side, tying the game 3-3 with 5:05 left in the period.
The Heat went ahead with 2:56 left in regulation. Linden Vey picked up a pass from Shinkaruk and put it into the net for his third goal of the playoffs. Vey added an empty-net goal to seal the scoring.
The Heat forced a Game 5 with a 5-3 victory over the Barracuda. Rittich finished with 34 saves for Stockton. Grosenick made 28 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.
Notes
The Barracuda finished the 2016-17 AHL regular season with a 43-16-4-5 record. They won both the Bud Poile Trophy and John Chick Trophy. They went on a 14-game winning streak from January 21 to March 1.
Ryan Carpenter netted his third goal of the series last Friday. In his three-year career, Carpenter has 11 points in 11 postseason games along with a plus-12 rating.
After leading the Barracuda with 25 goals during the regular season, Barclay Goodrow netted his first playoff goal on Friday. In his three-year career, Goodrow has five points in 11 postseason games.
After finishing fifth in the AHL regular season with 49 points among defensemen, fifth with 39 assists and fourth with a plus-27 rating, Joakim Ryan recorded two goals, one assist and a plus-four rating in his two-year career. He has six points in seven postseason games.
Zack Stortini played in 61 postseason games over his 12-year playoff career. He won a Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2007.
Up Next
The best-of-five series will shift to San Jose for Game 5 on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.
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