A dream come true for Team USA Olympian John McCarthy

Photo credit: @SJP_Hockey

By Marko Ukalovic

The 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics is the first since 1994 that the NHL did not send their players to participate in at the Winter Olympics. For Team USA it is a group made up of college and minor league players that will compete in South Korea with the hopes of winning a gold medal for the first time since the Miracle on Ice team accomplished that feat back in 1980 in Lake Placid, New York.One of the members of Team USA is John McCarthy, captain of the San Jose Barracuda. McCarthy was picked among 24 other players to represent the red, white and blue by head coach, and former San Jose Shark, Tony Granato. For McCarthy this is a chance of a lifetime for him.

   “I’m really excited about it”, said the Boston, Mass native before he heading out to South Korea last Wednesday. “It’s going to be a fun experience.”

McCarthy described what the emotion was like when he received the call that he was going to be one of the 25 to represent Team USA at the Olympics.

“Yeah it was awesome, it’s really exciting. You know you dream that as a kid, so to get that phone call was awesome. Being able to tell my family, they were over the top excited for me too. So it was a very cool moment.”McCarthy didn’t get too specific on what activities he will do away from the hockey rink during his time in Pyeongchang.

“It’s going to be an awesome experience,” said McCarthy. “It’s going to be important to see everything and just take everything in.”

When asked if he expected to be on the team, McCarthy responded by saying, “No I was surprised for sure. They (the coaches) kinda let me they were looking at me and watching my games and everything. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I just took the attitude of just playing my game. If it works out, it works out and it worked out. It was a really good feeling.”

While he didn’t know what his exact role would be on the team he has had conversations with the coaches of what they expect out of him. “I think it will become a little bit clearer when we get started. I’m just really excited to be on the team.”

Team USA begins group play today at 4:10 am PST as they take on Slovenia in their first matchup in Group B. Good luck to John and the rest of Team USA as they try to bring home gold for the first time in 38 years.

Barracuda capture Roadrunners and overthrow them with a 5-2 win

Photo: sanjosebarracuda.com

By Alexandra Evans

One win over the Tucson Roadrunners this week was clearly not enough for the San Jose Barracuda as they chased them down Wile E. Coyote style, earning a 5-2 victory at the Tuscon Convention Center.

San Jose put up two goals in the first period less than one minute apart. Julius Bergman sniped the first one on the power play at 12:45, and John McCarthy, who assisted Bergman’s goal, collected Paul Martin’s rebound off of Tucson goalie Hunter Miska and shot the puck, backhanded, past him. The Cuda ended the first period with a 2-0 lead; each team had eight shots on goal.

The scoring action translated into the second period as Brandon Mashinter received a pass from Jacob Middleton, putting the puck in the net just before the four minute mark. Emerson Clark notched his first goal with the Cuda at the five minute mark when he circled around Miska and located the low slot. Down 4-0, the Roadrunners tried to retaliate later in the period as Michael Bunting got a helper from Mario Kempe and sniped the puck past Cuda goalie Parker Gahagen at 9:10. Three minutes later, Trevor cheek scored one unassisted (and shorthanded) on a breakaway. The Cuda’s lead was cut in half, 4-2, at the end of the second.

Gahagen, who earned his first professional win tonight in the desert, and San Jose’s defense did not allow any additional goals in the third period. Brandon Bollig earned the team a 5-2 victory with an empty netter two minutes before the match ended.

The Cuda, now 11-10, return to action at home this weekend for a double header against the Bakersfield Condors: Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:15 p.m.

Gulls fly over San Jose, but Barracuda blows them out of the park with a 5-3 comeback

Photo: @sjbarracuda

By Alexandra Evans

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Barracuda players, their families, staff, crowd members, and press were surrounded by canines as the Barracuda (8-8) took on the San Diego Gulls (7-10) this afternoon at SAP Center. Tonight’s crowd, which consisted of both humans and pooches, was the largest the Cuda has had since the season commenced.

Roster update: Forward Spencer Asuchuk was recalled from the Allen Americans and made his first 2017-18 appearance with the Cuda this afternoon. Asuchuk played with the Cuda in last year’s Calder Cup playoffs run. Marc-Olivier “Marco” Roy made his second appearance with the Cuda along with his first win.

After a 4-1 loss the day after Thanksgiving, the Cuda were determined to make a comeback. Since the start of the season, they have shown strength in doing so, coming back to beat the Ontario Reign, Texas Stars, San Antonio Rampage, Cleveland Monsters, and Manitoba Moose in matches following losses.

Offense and defense were strong on both ends in the first 20 minutes. The Cuda outshot the Gulls 10-5, with John McCarthy scoring the first goal just before the 12-minute mark, courtesy of Marcus Sorensen and Rudolfs Balcers. San Jose held San Diego scoreless for the remainder of the period.

Antoine Bibeau stepped in the net for Troy Grosenick at the start of the second period. San Diego amped up their offense. Despite the fact that San Jose exceeded them in shots on goal, San Diego notched three goals within the first five minutes. Julius Nattinen nailed the first one 51 seconds in, followed by Austin Ortega at 3:47 and then Giovanni Fiore at 4:11. The Cuda prevented the Gulls from scoring additional goals, ending the period on a power play, trailing 3-1. 

And then the momentum arose. The Cuda made two comeback goals in under 30 seconds to tie the score 3-3. Rudolfs Balcers notched a power-play goal at 3:57 and Adam Helewka, with his stellar hand-eye coordination, joined in on the action to score his second goal of the season at 4:20. Helewka sniped another one past Gulls goaltender Reto Berra at 10:38, breaking the tie and providing his team and the crowd with some relief. Two minutes later, Olivier Archambault posted an unassisted, game-winning goal. The final score was 5-3.

Bibeau made 14 saves on 17 shots to get the big win, while San Diego netminder Reto Berra had 34 saves on 39 shots.

Both Balcers and Helewka have been known to put up numbers–specifically scoring goals–throughout their careers, but tonight was the first time both of them scored since the season opener.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Helewka, glowing with satisfaction, said of his goals. “[My linemates, Spencer Asuchuk, Jon Martin, and I] had chemistry almost right away. [Instant chemistry] is rare, especially how hard it is to play nowadays, creating offense.”

Balcers proved himself to be a numbers guy last season with the Kamloops Blazers with 40 goals and 37 assists for a total of 67 points. So why did it take 15 games for him to find the back of the net?

“It’s about being patient,” Balcers, who leads the Cuda in assists with 11, contended in a post-game scrum. “I knew goals were going to come, but I didn’t know when… I haven’t had those barriers in my career, where you are right there [beside the net], but the puck doesn’t go in, but you can’t really do anything. Just work hard and be patient.”

One could attribute his goal-scoring hiatus to growing pains, which was discussed amongst Cuda staff and media profusely at the start of the season. Balcers, a rookie, has been improving with each game, and now that he has the monkey off his back, his scoring game should pick up as the season progresses.

Archambault inked a Player Tryout Agreement (PTO) with the Cuda on October 20. He said that he earned his second goal of the season tonight by just sticking and working in tandem with his line-mates, Marc-Olivier Roy and Brandon Bollig.

The Cuda head to Bakersfield for their next match on December 3 to face the Condors, affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers.

Also, Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic made an appearance with his pups tonight, and had the honor of making the first puck drop.

Barracuda Captain John McCarthy – Profile

Photo: @sjbarracuda

By Alexandra Evans

SAN JOSE—“When you play hockey for a living, obviously you need to treat it professionally, but also have fun with it, too,” John McCarthy, Captain of the San Jose Barracuda, remarked at practice on Tuesday morning.

McCarthy, 31, hails from just outside Boston. His father played hockey for College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and his older brother played up until high school. The siblings grew up playing hockey together, though John was the only one who went on to play at the college level (for Boston University) and, now, the professional leagues.

McCarthy grew up a Bruins fan, and he particularly looked up to Cam Neely, a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee. McCarthy did not know it at the time, but in his early 20s, he would be playing alongside a familiar face from watching television and live games at TD Garden: Joe Thornton.

“He was the guy when I was growing up with the Bruins,” McCarthy recalled, also noting that when he was first called up to the NHL eight years ago (2009-2010 season), he roomed with Thornton on his first road trip with the Sharks.

McCarthy attributes his professionalism in the AHL and NHL to his veteran teammates with whom he played his first few seasons in the big league (beginning in 2009-2010).

“[My older teammates] taught me how to approach the game. Come to the rink every day ready to work, get better every day,” he said.

Now, as the Barracuda captain and one of the team’s oldest players, McCarthy has become an influence for his younger teammates, guiding them as they work toward an NHL career.

“[Establishing an NHL career] is about not being overbearing… if [my younger teammates] want my insight on something, they can feel free to ask me. There’s plenty of situations where [questions] come up,” he stated. “In order for us to succeed, we have to outwork the other team. Our team has a completely different landscape than last year.”

McCarthy then referred to Barclay Goodrow, Ryan Carpenter, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, Tim Heed, and Joakim Ryan, all of whom were called up to the Sharks as regulars this season. Their call-ups impacted the Cuda as, McCarthy noted, they were all key players.

“Our game is more of a working game, more of a forechecking game, more of a ‘playing on the inside’ game. We can’t depend on the power play to get us wins like last year.”

Keeping this mentality through every game, McCarthy said, is one of the keys to success for both the Barracuda as a team and for each of the up-and-coming players individually.

Entering his third year as a Bay Area resident (during the season), McCarthy appreciates the snowless, seldom rainy Northern California weather, the cities surrounding San Jose (San Francisco, Santa Cruz, to name a few), and the staunch, passionate Sharks fans all around.

Texas Stars Outshine Cuda 3-2 In Shootout

Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Alexandra Evans

CEDAR PARK, TX—The Cuda held on tight for an entire 60 minutes and an overtime period, but could not outshoot the Texas Stars, who took home a 3-2 win in a shootout. Close, but no cigar.

John McCarthy, Filip Sandberg, and Oliver Archambault started in the forward position; Jacob Middleton and Nick DeSimone started on defense; Troy Grosenick started in goal (though he ended up allowing two goals on 26 shots, and one in the shootout). The first period remained silent, ending with no score.

Sandberg has been working on getting faster since arriving in San Jose for his United States hockey debut. The Stockholm, Sweden native’s hard work translated on the ice tonight as he notched San Jose’s first goal of the game fifteen seconds into the second period (assisted by Archambault and Middleton), evening out the score 1-1. Later on in the period, Texas came back when Matt Mangene snaked his way passed San Jose’s defensive zone and scored at 8:25. San Jose held up until the 18:58 mark when Roope Hintz’s shot struck the left post before entering the net.

McCarthy scored his first goal of the season on the power play, tying the game 2-2 at 6:42 into the third period. Rudolfs Balcers and Adam Helewka assisted McCarthy’s goal. Helewka, who has been playing very much in sync with Danny O’Regan the past few games, recently shared that he feels his playing style works in sound with McCarthy in addition. It most certainly appears so.

The score remained 2-2 after 60 minutes, leading both teams into an overtime match. It was still 2-2 after the OT interval, and so the shootout began.

O’Regan, Balcers, and Mike Brodzinski were all given chances to score during the shootout, though they were unable to make it past Texas goaltender Mike McKenna (who made a total of 26 saves out of 28 shots). The Stars took home the 3-2 win after Travis Morin notched the only goal of the shootout.

This may have been San Jose’s second consecutive loss in two days, but it’s not over yet! The Cuda (now 3-4) will travel to Southern California to face the Ontario Reign (the AHL affiliate of the Sharks’ cross-state rivals, the Los Angeles Kings) on November 1.

Random fact: Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon played for the Texas Stars from 2010-2012. He also made his NHL debut with Dallas during this stint.

Barracuda drop 4-3 overtime decision to Roadrunners in final regular season home game

Photo credit: San Jose Barracuda Twitter (@sjbarracuda)

San Jose — The San Jose Barracuda lost to the Tuscon Roadrunners 4-3 in overtime at SAP Center on Thursday night.

The Barracuda and Roadrunners competed against each other for the final time in the 2016-17 AHL regular season. The Barracuda players sported their alternate orange jerseys in the final regular season home game. The game included fan pack giveaways, season ticket holder tribute videos and a huge “thank you” to the fans who have supported the Barracuda throughout the season.

The Roadrunners took a 1-0 lead at 11:08 of the first period. Tyler Gaudet picked up a pass from Conor Garland and put it into the net, beating Troy Grosenick for his fifth goal of the season.

Jeremy Morin was called for cross-checking at 10:24. John McCarthy then tipped in a Joakim Ryan shot to notch his 19th goal of the season, a power-play goal, tying the game 1-1 just 20 seconds later.

Both teams skated to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes. The Barracuda outshot the Roadrunners 12-5.

The Barracuda went ahead 2-1 just 4:30 into the second period. Buddy Robinson fired a bullet type shot past Adin Hill’s left ear for his 16th goal of the season.

The Barracuda outshot the Roadrunners 20-10 and brought a 2-1 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes.

Things started to get chippy with 9:34 left in the third period. Julius Bergman and Joe Whitney dropped the gloves for an action-packed fight.

The Barracuda made it a 3-1 game with 6:37 left in the period. Dan Kelly tried to take shots at Eric Selleck and Jarred Tinordi. After reviewing the play, the officials told Selleck to sit in the box. Danny O’Regan scored his 23rd goal of the season on the power play.

The Roadrunners pulled within one as Morin scored his 14th goal of the season against his former team. Jamie McBain followed with a game-tying goal, his eighth of the season, with 40 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

Things got even more heated in the extra period. Chris Mueller wristed a shot into the net, but Grosenick collided in the crease and the puck seemed to have crossed the goal line. Despite the alleged violation, the officials ruled it as a good goal. Mueller’s game-winner, his 19th of the season, lifted the Roadrunners (28-31-8-0) to a 4-3 overtime victory over the Barracuda (43-16-3-5). Hill finished with 24 saves for Tuscon.

Grosenick made 21 saves in a losing effort for San Jose.

“We live and learn,” Grosenick said. “So I did and we’ll move on and I’m not too worried about it.”

“We got to learn how to close these games,” McCarthy said. “It’s disappointing.”

“Yeah,” Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer said when asked about the “weird” ending. “Not the one we wanted, that’s for sure…The whole thing was about details and we forgot about them…We got caught deep on the tying goal and had a turnover on the second goal…We were going pretty good, but you lose a game, and you learn a lesson, hopefully.”

In preparation for the playoffs, Sommer shared a couple of thoughts on the Barracuda.

Sommer said: “We’re a skating team so we can’t get mixed up in there. They’ve got seven or eight guys and we got a couple of them…The other night, we outshot them 52-25 or something so I think once the playoffs come around, we’ll be better.”

Notes 
Sommer was voted the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach for the 2016-17 season.

Sommer thanked the media members after they congratulated him on winning the award.

Grosenick was voted the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender for 2016-17.

Barracuda forward Danny O’Regan was voted the winner of the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as an outstanding rookie for 2016-17.

“It was definitely a great honor to win the award,” O’Regan said. “I think it was a really cool award…It’s a good test to me and my team and what we did this year as a team.”

Despite receiving the award, O’Regan told the media that he’s not sure if he’ll have a better chance in getting called up by the Sharks again and staying with the team.

“It’s always tough getting in the zone with that team,” O’Regan said when asked about the Barracuda’s power play. “We just need to work hard to get some pucks back in the other unit.”

Up Next
The Barracuda conclude the regular season against the Bakersfield Condors (32-28-5-1) at Rabobank Arena on Saturday night. The action starts at 6:00 p.m. PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.

San Jose Barracuda Saturday post game wrap: Barracuda offense chips away at Moose to take two game set 6-3

sjbarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda forward John McCarthy (17) puts some follow through into his swing against the Manitoba Moose on Saturday night at SAP in AHL action

by Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda swept the back-to-back series with a 6-3 victory over the Manitoba Moose at SAP Center Saturday.

The Barracuda and Moose wrapped up their four-game season series this weekend. San Jose entered the second game of a back-to-back with the AHL’s best home winning percentage (.776) while Manitoba ranks 21st in road winning percentage (.429).

The Barracuda controlled the tempo for a little over half of the opening period as they had the first eight shots until the 9:06 mark. The Moose committed two penalties when Brian Strait went to the box for tripping at 13:38 and Kevin Czuczman was called for delay of game less than two minutes later. San Jose then broke a scoreless deadlock as Buddy Robinson cleaned up the rebound of Adam Helewka’s shot and put it into the net, beating Jamie Phillips for his 14th goal of the season.

“Absolutely,” Robinson said when asked about his thoughts on home-ice advantage. “Home-ice advantage is important in the playoffs and I think anyone who you talk to is going to say the same thing…The (Barracuda) fans out here have been great and this team has been hot so the fans have been coming out to show their support and we love it…It’s easier to play at home (SAP Center) because you have the same routine everyday…The more home ice we get, the more better we’ll be.”

Ryan Carpenter made it a 2-0 game with just six seconds left in the period. Carpenter collected a pass from John McCarthy and stuffed the puck through traffic, which went over Phillips’ pads for his 13th goal of the season.

The time on the clock winded down and the Barracuda held a 2-0 lead over the Moose after 20 minutes. Shots were 21-6 in favor of San Jose.

The Moose cut the Barracuda’s lead in half early in the second period. Patrice Cormier’s shot from the point deflected off of Jacob Middleton. Czuczman tipped in the deflection to beat Clarke Saunders top-shelf for his eighth goal of the season.

Peter Stoykewych was called for tripping at 13:52. The Barracuda went on the power play and capitalized with the man advantage. Joakim Ryan collected a pass from Tim Heed and fired it into the net for his 10th goal of the season, giving his team a 3-1 lead 21 seconds later.

The Moose scored another power-play goal to pull within one at the 14-minute mark. Mirco Mueller was called for cross-checking. Dan DeSalvo then collected a pass from Scott Kosmachuk and beat Saunders for his 16th of the season.

The Barracuda outshot the Moose 31-23 and brought a 3-2 lead to the locker room after 40 minutes.

Zach Stortini scored his third goal of the season early in the third period, expanding the Barracuda’s lead to 4-2. Stortini’s scoring attempt worked despite crashing the net for a goal and then crashing into the net himself. However, San Jose’s comfortable cushion was short-lived as the Moose went on the power play after Barclay Goodrow was assessed a slashing penalty at 15:59. Kyle Connor put home the rebound to make it a one-goal game 16 seconds later.

The Barracuda scored an insurance goal for a 5-3 lead over the Moose with a little over three minutes left in regulation. Helewka sent a pass to Rourke Chartier, who fired a long-range shot past Phillips short-side for his 17th of the season. McCarthy capped off the scoring with an empty-net goal — his 18th of the season — with 51.7 seconds left in regulation.

“We’re all kind of on the same page,” McCarthy said. “It’s a nice feeling.”

The Barracuda (41-14-2-5) beat the Moose (25-36-4-5) by a score of 6-3. Saunders stopped 32 of 35 shots in his first appearance in San Jose. Phillips made 36 saves in a losing effort for Manitoba.

“It was an unbelievable way to start,” Saunders gushed. “And it kind of let me ease my way into it. I just want to thank them (Barracuda) for working their butts off tonight.”

The Barracuda are 4-0 against the Moose and won seven straight games against Central Division teams.

“It’s kind of unusual,” Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer recalled. “But they (Moose) had 3-for-5 or something like that. We were pretty much right on, but we had some rebounds and stuff like that. Overall, the game we had was alright.”

Notes
Carpenter played in his 200th AHL game.

Up Next
The Barracuda host the Ontario Reign (33-19-10-0) Wednesday to conclude a three-game homestand. You can tune into the game on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW.

Barracuda Fall to Reign Again

By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda lost by a score of 4-1 to the Ontario Reign on Sunday. In ten games already played against Ontario, San Jose has just two wins and two overtime points. The teams will play two more times, on March 16 and March 30, both at SAP Center.

Ontario’s Peter Budaj stopped 18 of 19 shots, while Troy Grosenick made 19 saves on 23 shots for San Jose. Neither team scored on the power play, though the Reign only had one chance while the Barracuda had four. Micheal Haley and Kurtis MacDermid had the only fight in the game, though MacDermid also went to the box two other times, once for diving and once for delay of game.

The first goal of the game was scored by Brett Sutter, acquired near the trade deadline by the LA Kings from the Minnesota Wild. It was his first goal for Ontario, in his fourth game with them. Andrew Crescenzi picked up the assist.

The second period saw more goals for the Reign. At 1:09, Michael Mersch, the team’s leading goal scorer gave Ontario a two goal lead. Assists went to Nic Dowd and Sean Backman, the team’ points leader. The Reign added a third goal at 13:15, this time from Dowd, with assists going to Mersch and Backman.

The Barracuda finally got on the board in the third, with a goal from John McCarthy. It was his 14th of the season, and the only point earned by a Barracuda player in the game.

Ontario extended their lead to three again, at 14:58. While Ontario defenseman Andrew Forbot sat in the box for tripping, Justin Auger scored shorthanded. Crescenzi picked up an assist.

San Jose is not out of playoff contention yet, they are getting close. They sit fourth place in the Pacific Division, five points behind the third place San Diego Gulls. The new AHL playoff format allows the fourth place team in the Pacific into the playoffs if they have more points than the fifth place team in the Central division. The Barracuda would need even more points to catch the Charlotte Checkers.

The Barracuda next play on Wednesday at 7:30 PT. As mentioned above, they will face the Reign again at home.

Barracuda Down Condors 4-2

By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Barracuda climbed a little closer to a playoff spot with a 4-2 win over the Bakersfield Condors. Petter Emanuelsson scored two goals for San Jose, while John McCarthy scored the game winner and Jeremy Morin added an insurance goal into an empty net. Joel Rumpel made 24 saves for the Barracuda in his first AHL game. After the win, he said that he was “a little bit nervous before the game. But the guys let me feel the first couple from the outside, so it was easy from there.”

The teams took ten penalties in the first two periods alone, not counting fighting majors. The only goal scored during any of those penalties was a short-handed goal by Bakersfield’s Jujhar Khaira. After the game, John McCarthy explained how that takes a toll on a team, even when the penalty kill is successful:

It kind of gets in way of the flow of the game. We’re not really rolling our lines when that happens so that’s something we’ve got to work on going forward. I think even last game, first period we took too any penalties. There’s a lot of guys who aren’t killing penalties then they’re kind of out of the flow of the game.

Some players, though, thrive on the penalty kill. After the game, assistant coach Ryan Mougenel said of McCarthy:

One of Mac’s biggest strengths is the penalty kill. I think it’s really kind of translated into his offense. Sometimes it’s little things, like some guys at practice have to watch pucks go in the net to have success, to score, like Goldobin. He [McCarthy] builds his confidence through the pk and he’s one of our most consistent guys.

The penalties started early and came often after that. The first was a cross-checking penalty to Bakersfield’s Rob Klinkhammer at 4:18. San Jose had a couple of shots and the Condors only cleared the puck once, but the Barracuda could not get a puck past goaltender Eetu Laurikainen.

That came a few seconds after the penalty expired. It was not a beautiful zone entry, but the Condors fumbled an interception at their blue line, putting the puck in front of Petter Emanualsson. He got moving quickly and before the defenders could get after him, he had taken his shot and scored.

Half way through the first period, the shots were 9-5 Barracuda. The shots stayed that way even when the Condors scored the tying goal. A strange bounce sent the puck into the blue paint, off of a body and into the net, surprising even the Bakersfield player who was on his way behind the net to collect the puck. The goal went to Mitch Moroz, with an assist to Dillon Simpson.

Fighting majors took Gus Young and Kale Kessy out of the game for five at 12:04. Karl Stollery and Andrew Miller joined their teammates in the box with coincidental minors for slashing and roughing respectively.

Bakersfield’s Jujhar Khaira thought had scored the go-ahead goal, but he had done so over the prone body of the Barracuda goalie. Rumpel was thus prone only because Dillon Simpson had skated into and fallen over him seconds earlier. The goal was disallowed for goaltender interference and the Barracuda got a power play. The final 30 seconds of that power play were amplified into a five on three when Matthew Ford also went to the box, this time for cross-checking.

The Barracuda found themselves on the other end of a five on three early in the second period. At 1:43, Nikolay Goldobin went to the box for tripping. Just under 90 seconds later, Stollery joined him after being called for interference. San Jose escaped the penalties unscathed, and drove the play to the other end to rebuild their shot lead.

By the middle of the second period, the Barracuda again had the shot lead at 22-18, and again took the lead on the scoreboard. A good rush from Ryan Carpenter on the wing and Petter Emanuelsson up the middle beat the Condors to the punch. Assists went to Carpenter and Gus Young.

The Condors responded by taking an interference penalty. Kessy had been in the box for less than a minute when Khaira won a race to the puck and went all the way down the ice to tie the game again. Kessy got out of the box just long enough to take two more penalties and sit for four minutes, called for high-sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct.

With 2:30 left in the four minute power play, the Barracuda lost Jevpalovs to a penalty. With less than two minutes left in the Bakersfield penalty, Jeremy Langlois went to the box for kneeing, putting the Barracuda down 3-4. San Jose weathered that too, but had squandered a perfectly good power play.

The Barracuda were back on the penalty kill less than two minutes into the third period. Julius Bergman went to the box for holding at 1:06.

Eventually, the penalties burned themselves out and with just over four minutes left, John McCarthy won the race to a puck as it exited the Barracuda zone: “I think somebody was catching up to me on my inside so I didn’t have time to move it to my forehand and shoot. So I just got it to the net and hopefully if it didn’t go in maybe we would have got a second whack at it. But it went in.” It squeaked by on the short side, bouncing off of the goaltender’s back. Assists went to Parkes and Stollery.

The Condors pulled their goaltender withe less than 90 seconds remaining and Morin scored the empty netter with six seconds to go.

The Barracuda next play on Wednesday at 7:00 PT against the Heat in Stockton.

Barracuda Beat the Heat 4-1

By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda–The Barracuda get a split with a win against the Stockton Heat 4-1 on Sunday

The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Stockton Heat by a score of 4-1 Sunday. The loss ended the Heat’s 10 game home win streak and moved the Barracuda back into third place in the AHL’s Pacific Division.

In stark contrast to Saturday’s meeting, Sunday’s game started out as a low-scoring affair, with just one goal in the first two periods. The game opened up in the third, mostly for San Jose. Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell deserves much of the credit for the win. His team was outshot 26-16 through the first two periods but he stopped them all until the third period. In all, he made 39 saves on 40 shots. John McCarthy scored two goals in the game, with goals also scored by Nikita Jevpalovs and Trevor Parkes. Freddie Hamilton scored the lone goal for the Heat and Stockton goaltender Kevin Poulin made 25 saves on 28 shots faced.

Nikita Jevpalovs opened the scoring Sunday, giving the Barracuda a first period lead. Nikolay Goldobin’s shot from the left side created a rebound for Jevpalovs to pick up and put away. Assists went to Goldobin and Mirco Mueller. Goldobin is currently working on point streak of six games, a season high for the team.

The second period did not start out as well as the first, with the Barracuda being outshot 7-1 in the first half. The rest of the period did not go much better for them, and Aaron Dell stopped 12 shots while his team only took 6. Still, Stockton had not scored and the Barracuda held on to their 1-0 lead.

The Barracuda started the third much better, taking a lead on the shot clock early, but at 5:16, the Heat tied the game with a goal from Freddie Hamilton. Assists went to Kenny Agostino and Garnet Hathway. It was Hamilton’s 14th goal of the season.

Gus Young was called for slashing at 6:18 of the third, and half way through the Stockton power play, Mirco Mueller was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as well. Stockton took their time out to prepare for the five on three.

The Barracuda held on through the five on three and then, during the abbreviated five on four, John McCarthy escaped with the puck through the neutral zone and beat Poulin to give San Jose the lead back. The goal was unassisted.

Parkes was tripped at 9:53 by Gabriel Verpaelst, giving the Barracuda their first power play of the game. It was just their second power play of the weekend.

McCarthy scored again at 14:25, after Micheal Haley got the puck in while taking a hard hit. Trevor Parkes controlled the puck behind the net and got it to McCarthy who came in late to get to the net. Assists went to Parkes and Haley.

Parkes got the empty net goal at 17:40, with an assist to Joakim Ryan.

Raffi Torres played on Saturday but not Sunday, which was consistent with the team’s expectation that he would play in just one of the weekend games. Barclay Goodrow was also out of the lineup, possibly in case the Sharks had to call him up for Monday’s game. Mirco Mueller was in the lineup, having returned from his call up last week.

The Barracuda next play on Friday in Bakersfield at 7:00 PST.