Viel’s first career hat trick powers Barracuda in 4-0 shutout win over Condors

San Jose goalie Aaron had an easy night between the pipes in his team’s 4-0 win over the Bakersfield Condors on Friday MAR 10, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

Jeffery Viel picked a great time to record his first ever career hat trick.

Viel’s three goals, a natural hat trick, helped the San Jose Barracuda dominate the Bakersfield Condors in a 4-0 shutout victory on Friday night at Mechanics Bank Arena.

With the win, San Jose inched closer to Bakersfield for the seventh place and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division to just three points with its third win in four games. Bakersfield had its two-game winning streak snapped.

San Jose (24-27-1-4-53 points) drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Jacob Peterson sent a cross rink pass over to Artemi Kniazev who buried the puck into an open net for his fourth goal of the season at the 5:49 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead on the power play in the second half of the opening frame. Peterson picked up his second assist of the game when he found Viel in front of the crease with another rink wide pass that Viel tapped home into an open net for his 12th goal of the season at the 12:12 mark.

Viel has scored in three consecutive games and has an eight-game scoring streak.

San Jose had the iced tilted in its favor for the majority of the first period as they outshot Bakersfield 14-2.

Bakersfield (26-26-2-2-56 points) went to the sin bin three times, including Dino Kambeitz’s four-minute minor for high sticking, in the opening 20 minutes.

Viel scored his second goal of the game when he finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe play set up by Ozzy Wiesblatt and Patrick Sieloff inside the Condor’s zone. Viel beat Condor’s goalie Olivier Rodrigue with a wrist shot for his 13th goal of the season, a single career best, at the 7:05 mark of the second period.

Viel finished off the hat trick just over four minutes later with the ‘Cuda on the man advantage. Brandon Coe found Viel with a backdoor pass as Viel tapped home the puck into the open net and 14th goal of the season at the 11:15 mark.

‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell (10-11-2) stopped all 23 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the season, his 10th of his career, and third straight win. Rodrigue (10-12-1) made 21 saves on 25 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-6 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0-for-3.

San Jose shutout Bakersfield on the road for the first time in franchise history.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Viel 2) Peterson 3) Kniazev

UP NEXT: San Jose and Bakersfield conclude their two-game series on Saturday 3/11 at 7:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

Barracuda’s second period blitz buries Reign 6-2

The San Jose Barracuda began their road trip off with a bang in their 6-2 win over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday MAR 8, 2022. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda scored three goals in the second period en route to a 6-2 victory over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday evening at Toyota Center.

San Jose has won two out of its last three games and two in a row over the Reign. The ‘Cuda remain five points behind the Bakersfield Condors for the seventh place and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Ontario has lost five games in a row and six out of their last seven.

Ontario (30-21-4-1) drew first blood 66 seconds into the first period on its first shot on goal. ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell misplayed the puck from behind the net. Alan Quine thanked Dell for the gift as he wrapped around the puck into an empty net for his eight goal of the season.

San Jose (23-27-1-4) evened the score just over two minutes later with its first shot on net. Adam Raska fed a pass over to Will Riedell who skated in front of Reign goalie Cal Petersen and deposited the puck to the left side of the net for his second goal of the season at the 3:23 mark.

Wiedell has scored both goals of his career against the Reign.

The Barracuda gained its first lead of the game at the 5:04 mark. Off of a faceoff draw inside the Reign zone, Jeffery Viel beat Petersen with a wrist shot for his 11th goal of the season. Viel has scored goals in back-to-back games and extended his point streak to seven.

Ontario scored the equalizer just past the halfway point of the opening frame. Tyrell Goulbourne gathered the puck at the left faceoff circle and snapped home a wrist shot past Dell for his second goal of the season at the 10:06 mark.

San Jose changed the momentum of the game with three unanswered goals in the middle frame.

Kyle Kriscuolo intercepted a pass inside at the Reign blueline and skated in on a breakaway and slid a backhander past Petersen for an unassisted goal, his 13th of the season at the 6:02 mark.

Luke Johnson cleaned up a rebound off a Danil Gushchin shot from the right wing for his 10th goal of the season at the 8:40 mark to give the ‘Cuda an insurance goal after the Reign turned the puck over in the neutral zone that led to the odd man rush for San Jose.

‘Cuda captain Andrew Agozzino put the game away late in the second period with his team leading 21st goal of the season when he finished off a rink wide pass from Riedell with a tap in from the back door. Agozzino extended his point-scoring streak to nine games, one shy of the Barracuda record held by Marcus Sorensen.

Criscuolo concluded the scoring with his second goal of the game, and 14th of the season, with 1:46 remaining in the third period when he banged home a puck in front of the crease from a pass by Thomas Bordeleau.

Dell (9-11-2) finished the evening stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the victory and is 3-0 against the Reign this season. Petersen (13-11-4) made 16 saves on 22 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Ontario was 0-for-5.

San Jose finished the season series with a 5-3 record against Ontario.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Riedell 2) Lee 3) Goulbourne.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to Bakersfield for a two-game weekend series with the Condors on Friday 3/10 at 7:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda try to rebound from loses against Reign Wed night

San Jose Barracuda lost another tough contest to the Coachella Valley Firebirds

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 On their second of back-to-backs San Jose Barracuda (22-27-1-4) dropped the game late in the third against the Coachella Valley Firebirds (35-10-4-2) by a final of 5-4.

#2 Similar to their last game the Barracuda found themselves down early as Kyle Criscuolo got a penalty for hooking just 1:47 in. San Jose’s PK unit came up big and killed it off keeping the Firebirds off the scoreboard.

#3 Coachella Valley continued their momentum as Alexander True scored getting his ninth goal of the season and making it 3-2. At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose 16-13.

#4 Late in the period the Firebirds pushed for a goal and got one as Tye Kartye scored his 17th goal of the season to break the tie. San Jose pulled their goalie but could not find a response as the Firebirds held on to win 5-4.

#5 San Jose’s next game will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Ontario Reign on the road.

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

Late collapse by Barracuda gives Coachella Valley the victory 5-4

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Adam Raska battles with a player on Coachella Valley on March 4th 2023.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

On their second of back-to-backs San Jose dropped the game late in the third against the Firebirds by a final of 5-4.

Similar to their last game the Barracuda found themselves down early as Kyle Criscuolo got a penalty for hooking just 1:47 in. San Jose’s PK unit came up big and killed it off keeping the Firebirds off the scoreboard.

Later in the first Coachella Valley broke the ice as Kole Lind scored his 22nd goal of the season assisted by Max McCormick and Ryker Evans.

San Jose was given a chance to score on the power play and converted as Andrew Agozzino stuffed home his 20th goal of the season. That goal ended up being Agozzino’s 500th career point in the AHL.

The Barracuda wasted no time in extending their lead as just 13 seconds later Ozzy Wiesblatt scored on a rebound to make it 2-1.

Danil Gushchin took a high-sticking penalty 15:32 into the first and the Firebirds converted as Jeremy McKenna got his first goal of the season.

Coachella Valley continued their momentum as Alexander True scored getting his ninth goal of the season and making it 3-2.

At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose 16-13.

The second period saw a lot less offense with Coachella Valley taking two penalties and San Jose taking one.

On the one penalty that San Jose took Jeffrey Viel scored shorthanded on a beautiful play on the rush.

That goal ended up being the only goal of the period with the shots finishing in favor of San Jose at 35-24.

The third period saw a quick strike from San Jose’s offense as only 3:29 in Martin Kaut tipped home a shot from Artemi Kniazev making it 4-3.

The Firebirds found a response after the goal as Jimmy Schuldt scored his eight goal of the season to tie the game back up.

Late in the period the Firebirds pushed for a goal and got one as Tye Kartye scored his 17th goal of the season to break the tie.

San Jose pulled their goalie but could not find a response as the Firebirds held on to win 5-4.

The shots at the end of the game favored San Jose at 41-38.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Tye Kartye 2nd: Andrew Agozzino 3rd: Ryker Evans

San Jose’s next game will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the Ontario Reign on the road.

Barracuda kick off two game home stand with win over Reign 4-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Andrew Agozzino celebrates a goal against the Reign on March 3rd 2023.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE–At Tech Cu arena the Barracuda walked away with a win against a conference rival the Ontario Reign by a final of 4-2.

In between the pipes for San Jose was Aaron Dell while Ontario had Matthew Villalta starting for them.

Just a minute into this game San Jose’s penalty kill unit had to get to work as Jeffrey Viel took a penalty for high-sticking.

The pk unit was effective for the Barracuda though and killed off the penalty.

Later in the period Ontario took a penalty as well but San Jose’s power play unit could not convert.

In the first there was no scoring with the shots finishing in favor of the Barracuda at 8-7.

The second period saw much more offense as just 2:32 into the period Luke Johnson scored a goal short handed to make it 1-0.

A little later in the period Derrick Pouliot fead a pass right across the slot to Danil Gushchin who finished off the play to get his 13th goal of the season.

Ontario found a response a few minutes later as Tyler Madden scored his 14th goal of the season to make it 2-1.

Despite the Reign cutting San Jose’s lead in half Agozzino responded with a one-time goal out front that bounced in scoring his 18th goal of the season.

At the end of the second the shots favored San Jose at 18-13.

In the third period San Jose kicked things off in a similar fashion as Agozzino got his second goal of the game shorthanded.

Four minutes later Ontario responded with a power play goal as Madden also got his second goal of the game.

The Reign continued to push to tie but were unable to as Barracuda held on to win 4-2.

The shots at the end of the game favored Ontario at 27-22.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Andrew Agozzino 2nd: Derrick Pouliot 3rd: Tyler Madden

San Jose’s next game will be tomorrow against the Coachella Valley Firebirds at home at 6 p.m.

Back-and-forth affair ends with Barracuda losing in overtime 4-3

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Nikolai Knyzhov battles out front with a Firebirds player.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

San Jose and Coachella Valley played a tightly contested game that went all the way to overtime but ended with the Firebirds on top 4-3.

In net for San Jose was Aaron Dell while Chris Driedger started for the Firebirds.

The Barracuda got off to a quick start in this one as Alexander True took a high-sticking penalty putting San Jose on the power play.

On the man-advantage Kyle Criscuolo got a feed from Andrew Agozzino that he buried in the slot to make it 1-0.

The rest of the period was quiet offensively as neither team got on the board.

Despite no goals there were three other penalties handed out in the period one against San Jose and two against Coachella Valley.

At the end of the first the shots favored San Jose at 11-9.

The second period was a little quieter with neither team getting on the board till later in the period.

That goal came from Carsen Twarynski who buried his 10th goal of the season to tie the game up at one.

The second period finished with the shots now favoring the Firebirds at 28-18.

In the third Coachella Valley struck fast as just 1:35 in Luke Henman scored fifth marker on the year to make it 2-1.

San Jose had a quick response though as just a couple minutes later Thomas Bordeleau sniped one past Driedger to tie the game back up.

The offensive frenzy continued this time Ozzy Wiesblatt fead a beautiful pass on up to Jeffrey Viel who finished on the breakaway putting his point streak up to four games.

However, Coachllea Valley was not out of it quiet yet as 8:59 into the period Cameron Hughes responded tying the game right back up.

Neither team could find any more offense pushing the game to overtime.

In overtime it didn’t take long to find out who would win as Kole Lind put the game away in front of the home crowd handing San Jose their first overtime defeat of the season.

The three stars of the game were: 1st: Kole Lind 2nd: Luke Henman 3rd: Austin Poganski

San Jose’s next game will be on Friday against the Ontario Reign at home at 7 p.m.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda hope to get off from bad loss face Coachella Valley tonight

The San Jose Barracuda were clobbered by the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Center on Fri Feb 24, 2023 in Ontario. The Barracuda hope to put that loss behind them as they face the Coachella Valley Firebirds (tonight) Mon Feb 27, 2023 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 San Jose Barracuda (21-26-0) went to battle against the Ontario Reign (30-18-3) on the road and had a rough game defensively losing by a final of 6-1 on Friday night.

#2 Marko the Reign made things difficult for the Barracuda shutting out the Barracuda in the first period and getting two goals from Jordan Spence and Alan Quine.

#3 The Reign attacked again scoring four goals in the third period from Samuel Fagemo, Jacob Moverare, Tyler Madden, and Kim Nousianinen.

#4 The Barracuda avoided being shutout when forward Jeffery Viel scored at 2:42 in the third period. The Barracuda just couldn’t get any offense going and Reign goaltender Matthew Villalta stopped 34 out of 35 shots to hold San Jose to only one goal.

#5 The Barracuda face off against a tough customer the Coachella Valley Firebirds (33-9-4) this one on the road tonight at 7:00pm. Talk about how you see this match up.

Join Marko Ukalovic for the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Monday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Barracuda defense lets down against the Reign 6-1

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda. Tristen Robins shoots on goaltender Cal Petersen.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

San Jose went to battle against Ontario on the road and had a rough game defensively losing by a final of 6-1.

For the Barracuda Strauss Mann got the start while Matthew Villalta started for the Reign.

Goal scoring in this game took a minute to get going but Jordan Spence got the opening goal at the 9:50 mark for the Reign making it 1-0.

Scott Reedy took an interference penalty at the 11:13 mark giving Ontario a chance to expand their lead.

On the power play they did just that as Alan Quine scored netting his sixth goal of the season and extending their lead to two.

At the end of the first the shots favored Ontario at 13-7.

The second period was a lot quieter than the first as there was no scoring between the two teams.

The shots at the end of the second favored San Jose now at 25-20.

Scoring in the third came a lot quicker as just 2:42 in Jeffrey Viel scored shorthanded on a rebound cutting Ontario’s lead in half.

The Reign dug deep though and found a response as Samuel Fagemo scored his 17th goal of the season to make the lead two again.

Feeling the momentum Jacob Moverare scored his fourth goal of his campaign making the score now 4-1.

San Jose pulled their goalie to try and come back but Tyler Madden scored on the empty net to put it away.

Thomas Bordeleau took a penalty for high-sticking after the goal and once again Ontario punished San Jose with a goal. This time Kim Nousiainen scored his second goal of the season putting their lead up to 6-1.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Matthew Villalta 2nd: Jacob Moverare 3rd: Martin Chromiak

The Barracuda’s next game will be against Coachella Valley on Monday at 7 p.m. on the road.

Barracuda blow out Canucks on the road 7-2

Photo courtesy of San Jose Barracuda Twitter. Barracuda players celebrate a goal against the Canucks on February 20th.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The second game in a row against the Canucks ended up being a blow out for the Barracuda on the road by a final score of 7-2.

For San Jose Strauss Mann got the start in goal while Spencer Martin started for the Canucks.

Barracuda’s offense got off to a hot start in this game as less than six minutes in William Eklund on a breakaway scored his 16th goal of the season.

Not long after the goal Abbotsford took a tripping penalty that lead to Eklund one-timing home his second geno of the night.

The offensive out pouring continued in the first as Artemi Kniazev sniped on blocker side taking San Jose’s lead to 3-0.

Yushiroh Hirano took a penalty once again putting San Jose on the power play and Kyle Criscuolo one-timed a pass home from Eklund stretching the Barracuda’s lead to four.

Eklund ended up finishing the first period with three points truly putting a highlight reel 20 minutes together.

Scoring in the second period didn’t take long to get going as just 2:56 into the period C.J. Suess scored on a beautiful feed from Tristen Robins.

A little after Suess’s goal the Canucks finally got a response from Tristen Nielsen who scored his 13th goal of the season.

Later in the second on a scramble out front Robins tucked it in tallying his 11th of the season.

That ended up being all of the scoring in the period with the shots finishing in favor of the Canucks at 25-22.

In the third period Abbotsford kicked things off as Kyle Rau banged home his 13th of the campaign.

Danil Gushchin responded making it 7-2 on a great effort as he wrapped the puck around and sniped it over Martin.

That ended up being the final goal of the game with the shots finishing in favor of the Canucks 39-34.

The three stars of the game were 1st: William Eklund 2nd: Strauss Mann 3rd: Tristen Robins

San Jose’s next game will be against the Ontario Reign on Friday at 7 p.m. on the road.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to sweep Canucks today in Abbotsford

Strauss Mann was the man for the San Jose Barracuda by keeping shots out of the net just enough for the Barracuda to get by the Abbotsford Canucks in Abbotsford BC on Sat Feb 18, 2023 (photo by the San Jose Barracuda)

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda played the Canucks on the road and got a solid win after a great third period performance by a final of 4-3.

#2 In this one Abbotsford opened the scoring as Wyatt Kalynuk scored his 4th goal of the season. San Jose responded as Andrew Agozzino scored his 17th goal of the season. The second period had no scoring as the score remained at 1-1.

#3 Less than two minutes into the third period Nils Hoglander scored his eight goal of the season on the power play. The Barracuda responded quickly with William Eklund scoring his 15th goal of the season on the power play.

#4 The Canucks did not go away though as Danila Klimovich scored his 11th goal of the season. San Jose would end up holding on and winning 4-3.

#5 The Barracuda face the Canucks once again this afternoon at 2pm in Abbotsford Marko how do you see this match up?

Join Marko Ukalovic for San Jose Barracuda podcasts Mondays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com