Photo credit: @sjbarracuda
By Marko Ukalovic
The San Jose Barracuda (12-11-0-2) showed a flare for the dramatics when Joakim Ryan tied the game with just eight seconds left in the 3rd period. While the Barracuda earned a point, it wasn’t enough as the Bakersfield Condors (11-12-3-0) won the game in the shootout 4-3 at Rabobank Arena Thursday night.
Ryan’s late heroics allowed San Jose to overcome Josh Currie’s first hat trick of the season. Currie, who can be officially called the “Cuda Killer,” gave the Condors a 3-2 lead with his third goal of the contest on the power play with 2:37 left in the third period. In 25 games against San Jose, Currie now has scored 10 goals vs. the Cuda.
Rudolfs Balcers continued his hot streak when he scored on a 5-on-3 power play goal with 1:06 left in the 1st period. Balcers was able to jam home a rebound past Condors goalie Nick Ellis (7-6-1) after an initial save off of Ryan’s shot from the point. Calvan Fitzgerald got the secondary assist. San Jose didn’t allow a shot on goal in the first period as they outshot Bakersfield 12-0.
In the second period, the Condors were able to get momentum off their 5-on-3 penalty kill that resulted in a shorthanded chance only to be turned away by Cuda goalie Troy Grosenick. It was the second consecutive start for the goaltender after returning from an injury.
Currie got the Condors on the board when his first goal of the night came early in the second period when he beat Grosenick (4-4-2) after getting the rebound off a Iiro Pakarinen shot and his backhander was able to sneak just past on the short side of the left post at the 2:06 mark.
Bakersfield’s Dillion Simpson was denied by Grosenick twice on consecutive shots, with the second one a sprawling save on a point blank chance rebound with five minutes left in the second period, keeping the score tied heading into the second intermission. The Condors outshot the Barracuda 17-4.
This would be the third time in four games this season the teams would entered the third period deadlocked. However it didn’t take Currie long to give the Condors the lead as he scored his second goal of the night after a bad turnover by Grosenick in his own zone led to Joey LeLeggia feeding a pass to Currie, who buried it past the Cuda goaltender.
San Jose evened the score when Alexander True scored his fifth goal of the season at the 7:18 mark by snapping a wrist shot past Ellis that was a result of a tic-tac-toe, bang-bang play from Manny Wiederer and Brandon Mashinter. Mashinter’s big hit along the board was the catalyst that created the scoring chance.
Currie completed the hat trick on the power play for his eighth goal of the season after San Jose was in the sin bin for delay of game. Grayson Downing and Caleb Jones assisted on what the Condors thought was the game winning goal with just under three minutes left.
The Cuda had a chance to end the game in overtime when they had a power play opportunity with 1:31 left in overtime, but were unable to cash in. Ty Rattie and LeLeggia scored in the shootout and Ellis stoned the two Cuda shots to earn the 4-3 victory. Both Ellis and Grosenick finished the night with 25 saves on 28 shots.
GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1 for 5 on the power play while Baskersfield was 1 for 3. Adam Helewka got his 10th assist on the season on Ryan’s tying game at the end of the third period.
UP NEXT: San Jose returns home Friday night to host Texas Stars at SAP Center at 7 pm. It will be the Cuda’s last game before the Christmas break.
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