Barracuda shoot down Condors 5-2 snap 8-game losing streak

photo from sjbarracuda.com

by Marko Ukalovic

BAKERSFIELD, Calif- The San Jose Barracuda scored five unanswered goals to snap a season high eight-game losing steak in a 5-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose hadn’t won since January 17th when they beat Iowa 3-1 on the road. They have points in three consecutive games and now have 35 points. Bakersfield have lost five games in a row as they have fallen to sixth place in the Pacific Division during their slide.

Bakersfield (20-24-4-2) drew first blood in the first period. Jakob Stukel scored his fifth goal of the season at the 8:12 mark. Luke Esposito and and Keegan Lowe assisted on the goal.

San Jose (15-25-3-2) scored the equalizer just under three minutes later in what started a streak of five unanswered goals. Danil Yurtaykin led a 2-on-2 rush up the ice. He made a move around a Condors defender before firing a wrist shot that Condors goalie Shane Starrett kicked out to the middle where Manny Weiderer deposited the rebound into the back of the net for his second goal of the season at the 10:59 mark.

The Barracuda gained the lead at the end of the opening frame when Ivan Chekhovich won a battle along the boards and fed the puck over to Sasha Chmelevski. Chmelevski quickly threw it down to a wide open Jayden Halbgewachs along the right side of the net. Halbgewachs got Starrett to go down before skating around him and tapping home the puck past Starrett for his co-team leading 15th goal of the season at the 17:04 mark.

San Jose scored the only goal in the second period when Yutaykin centered a pass from behind the net out to Weiderer. His shot deflected off Dmitri Samorukov’s skate out to the left of the net where Jeremy Roy, who played up at forward for the first time in his pro career, cleaned up the rebound for his first goal of the season at the 12:57 mark. Roy’s first goal in 26 games this season was his first since March 2, 2019 at Bakersfield, totaling a 37 game goal-less draught.

The ‘Cuda out shot the Condors 22-15 through the first 40 minutes as they controlled the majority of the zone time.

San Jose put the game away with two goals within the first five minutes of the third period to squash any hopes of a Bakersfield comeback attempt.

Chmelevski used his speed to up the left wing and gave a drop pass to a pinching Thomas Gregoire in between the faceoff circles. The ‘Cuda defenseman hopped the puck over the stick of Brandon Manning and wired a wrist shot past Starrett on the shortside for his fourth goal of the season 53 seconds into the third period.

San Jose scored their fifth unanswered goal on the power play when Gregoire sent in a slap shot from the point that Lean Bergmann redirected past Starrett for his seventh goal of the season at the 5:02 mark. Halbgewachs received the secondary assist.

Nolan Vesey completed the scoring 43 seconds later when he scored his first goal of the season. Beau Starrett and Evan Bouchard received assists.

Zachary Sawchenko snapped a three-game losing streak by making 22 saves on 24 shots to earn his fourth win of the season. Starrett suffered his fourth-straight loss after allowing five goals on 36 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1-for-3 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0-for-3.

Wiederer earned first-star honors with his goal and an assist, his third multi-point game of his career.

Bergmann has scored a goal in a back-to-back games.

Yurtaykin recorded his first multi-point effort of his AHL career with his two assists.

The announced attendance was 3,384.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Tucson Roadrunners on Monday 2/17 at 6:00pm at SAP Center.

 

Condors take down Barracuda in 5-0 shutout win

by Marko Ukalovic

BAKERSFIELD, Calif- The Bakersfield Condors used five different goal scorers and received excellent goaltending from Stuart Skinner in a dominating 5-0 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

Skinner stopped all 35 shots he faced to record his first career AHL shutout. The loss snapped San Jose’s three-game point streak. Bakersfield is now eight points ahead of the ‘Cuda with 38 and currently sit in sixth place in the Pacific Divison.

Bakersfield (17-18-4-1) opened up the scoring in the first half of the first period. Brad Malone sent a cross ice pass from the left boards down to Cameron Hebig, who beat two Barracuda defenders, and lifted the puck over the pad of ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 7:23 mark.

Korenar suffered an injury at the end of the first period and never returned to the game. Zachary Sawchenko replaced Korenar to start the second period.

The Condors doubled their lead in the second period. Josh Currie received a pass along the right boards. He dropped it back to Matt Benning who snapped a shot on goal that Tyler Benson redirected past Sawchenko for his ninth goal of the season at the 11:54 mark.

Benson now has nine points in six games against San Jose this season.

San Jose (14-21-1-2) had two power play opportunities in the second period but the Condors penalty killing led by Skinner kept the ‘Cuda off the board after 40 minutes.

Bakersfield sealed the game in the third period with three third period goals.

Anthony Peluso led a 2-on-1 rush up the ice with Joe Gambardella. Peluso fed a pass over to the left to Gambardella who skated all alone on Sawchenko and snapped a wrist shot top-shelf into the left corner for his eighth goal of the season at the 8:14 mark.

Bakersfield scored an empty net goal when San Jose lifted Sawchenko for an extra attacker with over three minutes remaining. Kirill Maksimov received a pass from Luke Esposito and tapped it into the net for his fourth goal of the season at the 16:59 mark.

The Condors completed the scoring with 28 seconds left in the game when Jakob Stukel sent a pass behind the net where Peluso sent in a wrist shot from a tough angle that went past Sawchenko for his second goal of the season.

Sawchenko finished with 23 saves on 26 shots in relief duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-3 on the power play. Bakersfield also went 0-for-3.

Benson snapped his eight-game goalless drought and now has four goals against the Barracuda on the season after his tally on Wednesday.

Noah Gregor led all Barracuda skaters with five shots on net.

Joachim Blichfeld returned to the Barracuda lineup after missing the last three games on recall with the Sharks and recorded two shots on net and a pair of penalty minutes.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to take on the Ontario Reign on Saturday 1/25 at 7:00pm at SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda looking for another road win take on Condors tonight in Bakersfield

sjbarracuda.com photo

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (14-20-1) earned a point in their overtime loss to the Iowa Wild (24-14-3) on Jan 18th just one positive thing to come out of the trip with the Wild.

#2 Can the Barracuda hold onto leads they have, they had an early lead in the game Saturday but the Wild took the lead and the Cuda tied it and lost in overtime 4-3

#3 Barracuda goalie Zachary Sawchenko had a great game in front of the net despite giving up four goals he faced 41 shots and stopped 37

#4 Iowa goalie Matt Robson has a point in his last five games while stopping 23 out of 26 shots against the Barracuda

#5 The Barracuda continue their road trip they’ll be in Bakersfield (16-18-4) tonight for a 6:30 pm face off

Marko Ukalovic does the San Jose Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday 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.

Carrick’s first career hat trick helps Barracuda down Condors 6-2

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On an eventful day that saw changes made within the parent club, the San Jose Barracuda took care of business with the help of Trevor Carrick’s first career hat trick in a 6-2 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on an emotional Friday evening at SAP Center.

This was the last ‘Cuda game with head coach Roy Sommer behind the bench as there was a big shakeup within the San Jose Sharks organization with the firing of Peter DeBoer earlier in the afternoon. Sommer has been promoted to as Sharks interim head coach and Bob Boughner as an associate coach. Assistant coaches Michael Chiasson and Jimmy Bonneau will share the ‘Cuda head coaching duties.

“It was kind of a shock really,” said Sommer about learning of his promotion to the Sharks. “But hey that’s what you wait around 23 years for. I’m gonna miss these guys. I’ll be at a lot of games. I mean we’re right next door.”

San Jose is now 3-2 against the Bakersfield in the season series and snapped a two-game losing streak against the Condors. With the win, the ‘Cuda have 20 points and jumped ahead into sixth place past San Diego in the Pacific Division. They are only one point behind the Condors for fifth place.

Bakersfield (9-11-2-1) jumped on San Jose right out of the gate. A clearing attempt by Jacob Middleton was knocked down by Joe Gambardella, The Condor left winger then quickly centered a pass through the crease over to Kailer Yamamoto and his one-timer beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his sixth goal of the season 13 seconds into the game. It was the second fastest goal to be scored against San Jose in franchise history.

San Jose (9-11-0-2) responded over three minutes later. Joachim Blichfeld led a 2-on-1 odd man rush with Jonny Brodzinski. Blichfeld crossed it over to Brodzinski and the Minnesota native delayed before wiring a wrist shot through the five-hole of Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:56 mark.

The line of Brodzinski, Blichfeld and Kellman have quickly become the top scoring line for San Jose and the three teammates have created quite the chemistry with one another.

“You know really clicking with the linemates. We’ve been feeding off each other. I feel like we’re very similar players. When you get guys on a line like that, special things can happen. It pays off on the scoresheet,” said Brodzinski.

Korenar settled down as he was tested often in the opening 20 minutes. He made two huge saves eight minutes in when he stoned Brad Malone’s breakaway chance and the subsequent rebound chance by Gambardella.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead on an identical 2-on-1 odd man rush. Sasha Chmelevski led the rush with Lean Bergmann, who played in his first game since being reassigned to the ‘Cuda. The Hunington Beach native looked Bergmann’s way before firing a wrist shot top-shelf on the short side for his third goal of the season at the 11:37 mark.

Despite outshooting San Jose 15-12, Bakersfield found themselves down by a goal at the first intermission.

San Jose carried the momentum of the first period right into the beginning of the middle frame as they scored two goals in a 45 second span during the first five minutes.

Jeffery Viel centered a pass in between the faceoff circles over to Carrick. Carrick skated in and lifted a backhander underneath the arm on the stick side of Skinner for his third goal of the season at the 3:58 mark.

“It’s fun! This is my first one since minor hockey,” said Carrick regarding the last time he scored a hat trick. “I kind of forgot what it felt like. It felt good and it was good to see the boys pretty fired up for me.”

The third unanswered goal chased Skinner from the contest. He was replaced by back up goalie Dylan Wells. Skinner gave up three goals on just 13 shots.

Then, Keaton Middleton fired a wrist shot on Wells, his first shot he faced, and he couldn’t corral the rebound as Jayden Halbegwachs crashed the net and cashed in the rebound top-shelf past Wells for his seventh goal of the season at the 4:43 mark.

The Condors cut its deficit to a two-goal game when a shot from the point by Jake Kulevich deflected off a body in front of the crease. Gambardella picked up the loose puck, turned around and snapped a wrist shot through a sea of traffic past Korenar for his fifth goal of the season at the 8:43 mark.

The ‘Cuda regained their three-goal lead under five minutes later. Blichfeld made a turn around wing-to-wing pass over to Brodzinski, who immediately found Carrick at the left point, and Carrick blasted a one-time past Wells for his second goal of the period and fourth of the season at the 13:03 mark. It was the first multi-goal game for the defenseman out of Stouffville, Ontario.

San Jose dominated the second period as they outshot Bakersfield 14-9.

Carrick earned the hat trick while San Jose was short-handed. An error, a drop pass by Joel Persson was turned over to Alex True who skated into the Condor zone and dropped it back to Carrick, who fired a wrist shot far side in the upper left corner for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:26 mark. This was the first hat trick for the ‘Cuda this season.

“It was one of those weird games. I think I had three shots on net and all three went in. The puck was going in my favor there,” said Carrick.

It’s been literally an up and down season for Carrick, who has spent time with the Sharks this season after coming over in a trade from the Charlotte Checkers on August 9th.

“It was kind of a different start for me being up and down with the injuries (to the Sharks blueline). It’s always tough coming to a new organization, new coaching staff, new personnel and stuff like that. I’m definitely feeling a lot more comfortable,” said Carrick.

Korenar finished the night with 37 saves on 39 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Wells made 19 saves on 22 shots in mop-up duty.

As great as Carrick’s game was, this night belonged to Sommer, coaching in his last AHL game.

“It was a special night for him (Sommer). He’s a great coach. It’s sad to see him go, but it’s a great opportunity for him and he deserves it,” said Brodzinski.

GAME NOTES:San Jose was 0/1 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/2.

Brodzinski with his goal has a six-game point streak.

Halbgewachs has scored a goal in three straight games and five in his last six.

Carrick’s hat trick was the first one by a defenseman in franchise history. The last ‘Cuda hat trick was back on March 9, 2018 when captain John McCarthy scored three goals against the Cleveland Monsters at SAP Center.

The announced attendance was 3,186.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Stockton Heat on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 1:15 pm at SAP Center in the first game of a two-game weekend series.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda need to find a way to stop unanswered goals, face Bakersfield tonight at SAP Center

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the SJ Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic:

#1 The San Jose Barracuda (8-11-0-2) couldn’t hold the lead in their last game against the Ontario Reign (11-11-2-0), scoring four unanswered goals

#2 This is not the typical way that Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer wants to lose a game. The loss marks the fourth time in seven games the Cuda have lost.

#3 Cuda goaltender Josef Korenar stopped 42 shots, but lost the game. It was his highest total of saves this season.

#4 The Barracuda’s Jonny Brodzenski has been a bright spot. He has a five-game point streak going along with two goals and five assists.

#5 The Cuda host the Bakersfield Condors (9-10-2-1) tonight at SAP Center. It’s going to be a barnburner. The Condors have won three straight and the Cuda have won one game in their last three games.

Marko is a Barracuda beat writer and joins Sports Talk every Wednesday for the Cuda podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to bounce back from loss with game on Friday in Ontario

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Cuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda held the lead in last Friday’s game for much of the way until the Bakersfield Condors came back with two goals in the third period.

#2 In the 4-3 loss, the Barracuda snapped their two-game win streak.

#3 Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease.

#4 Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said the game went south when the Condors were able to score twice after the Cuda had a 2-0 lead they saw evaporate.

#5 The Barracuda try to get back in the win column on Friday, Dec. 6th in Ontario.

Marko is a San Jose Barracuda beat writer and does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Condors’ two-goal third period sinks Barracuda 4-3

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda are becoming a broken record. Get off to a fast start, but allow the opposition to come back. This bad habit once again reared its ugly head as the Bakersfield Condors scored the final two goals of the game en route to a 4-3 victory on Friday evening at SAP Center.

San Jose had their two-game winning streak snapped. With the victory, Bakersfield also snapped their four-game losing streak.

Condors forward Cooper Marody scored what proved to be the game winning goal at the 7:33 mark of the third period when William Lagesson centered a pass over to Marody, who was camped out in front of the crease. After a battle with ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar, Marody took possession of the puck and slammed it home for his fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (7-10-0-1) drew first blood at the end of the first period. Lean Bergmann fed a pass over to Sasha Chmelevski then showed off his skating skills coming down the right wing and into the crease where his backhander sneaked past a confused Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 17:11 mark. Thomas Gregoire received the secondary assist.

“I feel like I’m a different player since my injury,” said Chmelevski. “I feel like I’ve been playing with confidence, been playing hard and just want to contribute to the team anyway I can.”

Bakersfield (7-9-2-1) had a golden opportunity to break through earlier when they have a 5-on-3 power play for 1:41 of ice time when Nick DeSimone went off for a delay of game penalty. Maxim Letunov was already in the sinbin for interference 19 seconds earlier.

However, thanks to some key saves by Korenar and some luck from his best friend in the goal post, San Jose killed off both power plays gaining momentum off the kill.

San Jose dominated play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Bakersfield 13-6.

The ‘Cuda doubled their lead on the power play less than five minutes into the second period. Jonny Brodzinski fired a shot behind the net where Joel Kellman received the puck. After a bit of a delay, he banked the puck off Skinner for his second goal of the season at the 4:27 mark. The goal snapped a 15 game goalless drought for the Swedish forward.

It didn’t take the Condors to cut the lead in half. Kirill Maksimov fed a pass over to the Dmitri Samorukov at the right point. The Russian defenseman skated into the slot and wired a quick wrist shot beating Korenar to the short side in the lower right corner for his first professional goal of his career just 27 seconds later at the 4:54 mark.

“It went south was right when we make it 2-0 and they scored on their next shift to make it 2-1,” said Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer. “Then with 50 seconds left in the second period, they win the draw and the puck bounces over our head and goes in the net, 2-2.

Just when it looked like the San Jose was going to head into the second intermission with a lead, an innocent looking wrist shot from the point by Evan Bouchard hit off the arm of Korenar and floated up in the air behind him where Ryan McLeod cashed in the rebound for his third goal of the season with 50 seconds left in the middle frame.

“You work for your breaks and I thought the compete was there but I don’t know how many pucks we turned over through the neutral zone…at least 15 where we could have had it in behind him and maybe created something and that’s something we’ve got to look at,” said Sommer.

The ‘Cuda regained the lead in the opening minutes of the third period when Letunov had control of the puck near the right board. He made some nifty puck-handling moves around two Condors defenders before firing a shot on net that was initially saved by Skinner. The puck jumped out to Evan Weinger just to the left of the crease and he tapped home his sixth goal of the season at the 1:57 mark.

However, as we have seen of late, San Jose once again weren’t able to hold on to their lead and close out the game. Just under two minutes later Brad Malone centered a pass out in to the left faceoff circle where Lagesson’s shot was stopped by Korenar, but couldn’t control the rebound. Lagesson was able to get the puck back on his stick and fired it past Korenar, who was out of position, for the equalizer, his second goal of the season, at the 3:28 mark.

“We had a great first period, we got the lead,” said Kellman. “We’re up 2-0 and then something happened when they scored the first goal, I don’t know what, it was 2-2.  Our second period was not that good but I don’t think we got the momentum back in the third. We got up 3-2 and then I don’t know what happened.”

Skinner finished the evening 34 saves on 37 shots to earn his seventh victory of the season. Korenar allowed four goals on 31 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/4 on the power play. Bakersfield was 0/3.

FISTICUFFS! Jeffery Viel and Joe Gambardella squared off in a spirited fight 63 seconds into the third period. Each player successfully landed haymakers on one another.

Letunov extended his points streak to six games with the assist on Weinger’s goal.

San Jose is now 6-6-0-0 on home ice. They lead the all-time series against Bakersfield 25-17-2-4.

Three stars of the game:
1. Marody
2. Lagesson
3. Weinger

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel down to Ontario for a weekend series with the Reign starting on Friday, December 7 at 7:00 pm at Toyota Arena.

Condors power past the Barracuda 6-3

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda were frequent visitors to the sin-bin and the Bakersfield Condors took full advantage, scoring three power play goals in route to a 6-3 victory on Saturday evening at Mechanics Bank Arena.

San Jose have now lost three games in a row after back-to-back to shutouts to close out the month of October. The win snapped a five game losing streak at home for Bakersfield.

San Jose (4-5-0-1) drew first blood on the power play early in the first period. Jayden Halbgewachs tried to center a pass from behind the net that Thomas Gregoire picked up and he sent a pass over Trevor Carrick. The defenseman, playing in his 350th AHL game,  fired a shot past Condors goalie Stuart Skinner for his first career goal at the 2:50 mark.

Bakersfield (6-6-1-0) scored the equalizer with a power play goal of their own. A shot from ‘Cuda killer Josh Currie was initially saved by San Jose goaltender Josef Korenar but Tyler Benson cleaned up the rebound for his third goal of the season at the 9:24 mark. Brad Malone was credited with the secondary assist.

John McCarthy received an early Christmas present from Skinner to pick up his first goal of the season. Skinner tried clearing the puck in front of a crashing McCarthy. However he turned it over right on to McCarthy’s stick, where it ricochet off the post and into the back of the net at the 14:49 mark. The unassisted goal was the 300th point of the ‘Cuda captain’s career.

Despite outshooting San Jose 9-5 in the period, Bakersfield found themselves down 2-1 at the first intermission.

The Condors evened the scored when Currie scored his sixth goal of the season at the 7:04 mark of the second period. On the play ‘Cuda defenseman Nick DeSimone was injured when he fell awkwardly into the boards in a battle with Malone. DeSimone was able to stay in the game. Benson received the primary assist on the goal.

Bakersfield gained their first lead of the game on a four-on-three power play. Tomas Jurco found Malone on a back door pass all alone and he tapped the puck into an empty net for his fourth goal of the season at the 11:40 mark. Malone ended the evening with a four-point game.

Benson scored his second of the night on another power play goal for Bakersfield. Caleb Jones sent a pass over to Benson and his shot rang off the post and into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season at the 15:06 mark.

The Condors out shot the ‘Cuda 10-7 in the middle frame as they scored three unanswered goals.

Bakersfield iced the game early in the period when a ‘Cuda turnover led to Kailer Yamamoto feeding Colby Cave, who wristed a shot past Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 3:18 mark.

Maxim Letunov stuffed home a rebound from a shot by Antti Suomela shot between the five-hole of Skinner for his team-leading fourth goal of the season at the 9:37 mark.

Benson completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with 37 seconds left in the game.

Skinner finished the game with 18 saves on 21 shots to earn his fifth victory of the season. Korenar made 20 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/6 on the power play. Bakersfield was 3/7. It was the second straight game San Jose has given up three power play goals.

Artem Ivanyuzhenkov made his debut for San Jose.

Johnny Brodzinki suffered an upper body injury early mid-way through the second period and did not return to the game.

Fisticuffs! Keaton Middleton and Anthony Peluso had a extended spirited fight late in the first period. DeSimone and Miles Koules also dropped the gloves in the third period.

The San Jose Sharks reassigned forward Lean Bergmann back to the Barracuda. He is expected to play tomorrow against San Diego.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the San Diego Gulls on Sunday, November 10 at 5:00 pm in SAP Center.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda looking to bury Condors again in Bakersfield Saturday night

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 What’s scary about the Barracuda is they can’t hold a lead past the third period. What does head coach Roy Sommer need to do to correct that?

#2 A four-goal period can really do a lot of damage and Tucson has in the postseason and now in the regular season put an offensive flurry on the Barracuda.

#3 To start the game, the Barracuda’s Joel Kellman sent a pass over to Thomas Gregoire, whose shot was initially saved by Roadrunners goalie Adin Hill. Joachim Blichfeld grabbed the puck on a rebound and scored the Cuda’s first goal of the game.

#4 Sommer said after the game: “Unfortunately, the game is 60 minutes and we only played 40 of it.” There have been some games where time just ran out for San Jose.

#5 The Barracuda take on the Bakersfield Condors who they last played on Wednesday, Oct. 30th in a day game and shut them out 5-0. This game is on the road, could the Cuda expect the same kind of offense in this one Saturday night?

Catch Marko talking Barracuda hockey each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com