Gulls sweep Barracuda in 6-2 win

image from @ sjbarracuda

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif-The San Diego Gulls received balances scoring with six different goal scorers in a 6-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

San Diego have won two games in a row and swept the two-game series. The Barracuda remain in fifth place in the Pacific Division with its second straight loss.

The Gulls (21-13-0-0) drew first blood early in the first period. A two-on-one odd man rush led to a nice and give and go play between Hunter Drew and Axle Andersson. The Gulls defenseman finished off the play with a wrist shot past ‘Cuda goalie Sam Harvey for his second goal in as many nights at the 3:34 mark.

San Jose (12-11-4-2) answered back late in the opening 20 minutes. Sustained pressure inside the Gulls zone led to Zachary Gallant feeding Joachim Blichfeld in the right slot and Blichfeld fired home a wrist shot top-shelf past Gulls goalie Olle Eriksson Ek for his team leading 12th goal of the season at the 17:59 mark.

San Diego gained control of the game with two minutes in a 1:26 span early in the second period.

Tevor Zegras started a tic-tac-toe of a play when he skated into the Cuda zone. He fed a pass over to the right to Chase De Leo and he centered a pass to Vinni Lettieri who tipped home the puck past Harvey for his 10th goal of the season at the 5:14 mark.

San Diego increased its lead to 3-1 after a faceoff win inside the ‘Cuda zone led to a Simon Benoit blasting a slap shot from the point past Harvey for his first goal of the season at the 6:40 mark.

San Jose cut the lead to one goal when Jayden Halbgewachs led a two-on-one rush with Alex True. Halbgewachs threaded a pass to True who buried a one-timer past Eriksson Ek for his ninth goal of the season at the 13:09 mark.

The Gulls regained its two-goal lead with two seconds left in the middle frame. Two failed clearing attempts by the Barracuda kept the puck inside its own zone. Andrew Agozzino centered a pass to the crease where it knuckleballed off Harvey into the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season.

San Diego iced the game with two late goals in the third period to turn a close game into a blowout. Sam Carrick scored an empty net goal when the ‘Cuda pulled Harvey for an extra attacker at the 17:23 mark. It was Carrick’s 14th goal of the season.

Zegras finished off the scoring with his ninth goal of the season when he snapped home a wrist shot past Harvey top-shelf at the 18:39 mark.

Eriksson Ek (7-4) made 35 saves on 37 shots to earn the victory. Eriksson Ek snapped a three-game losing streak and is now 3-0 versus San Jose. Harvey (2-3-0) stopped 31 saves on 36 shots in the losing cause.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play. San Diego went 0-for-1.

San Jose went 2-3-1 against San Diego in the season series.

San Jose has two consecutive losses at home for the first time this season.

San Diego is 12-3 in its past 15 games.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Benoit 2) Eriksson Ek 3) Andrew Poturalski

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel to El Segundo to take on the Ontario Reign on Sunday 4/25 at 3:00pm at the Toyota Performance Center.

Gulls power past Barracuda 5-1

San Jose Barracuda forward Zach Gallant (60) tries to put one past San Diego Gull goaltender Lukas Dostal (1) during Tue Apr 20, 2021 game at SAP Center in San Jose (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif—The San Diego Gull scored three unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Tuesday evening at SAP Center.

The loss snapped San Jose’s three game winning streak, its longest of the season. San Diego have won three out of its past four games. The Gulls sit in third place in the Pacific Division with 40 points. The Barracuda fall to fifth place with a winning percentage of .536.

Alexander Barbanov made his debut for the ‘Cuda. The San Jose Sharks traded for the Russian forward back on April 12 in exchange for Anti Suomela with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He finished with just one shot on net and a plus-minus of -1.

San Diego (20-13-0-0) only needed 18 seconds to draw first blood for the game’s opening goal. Sam Carrick threaded a pass between two ‘Cuda defenders to Anderw Poturalski who wired a wrist shot past Barracuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk to the far corner for his eighth goal of the season.

The Gulls doubled its lead less than five minutes later. A battle along the ‘Cuda bench resulted in a two-on-one odd man rush where Alex Limoges skated in and snapped home a wrist shot top-shelf past Melnichuk for his second goal of the season at the 4:50 mark. Limoges ended a six-game goal less draught.

San Jose (12-10-4-2) had a power play opportunity late in the opening 20 minutes when Jamie Devane went to the sinbin for tripping. However they weren’t able to get a puck past Gulls goalie Lukas Dostal.

San Diego started the second period just as they did the first period by scoring an early goal. Once again the Gulls capitalized on odd man rush. Sam Carrick led a two-on-one with Limoges and after a give and go, Carrick beat Melnichuk through the five hole with a wrist shot for his 13th goal of the season at the 1:40 mark.

Carrick now has scored 19 goals against the Barracuda in his career.

The Barracuda responded just 36 seconds into the third period to get on the scoreboard. Lean Bergmann chased down a loose puck inside the Gulls zone. He swindled by two defenders before beating Dostal with a backhander for his second goal of the season. It his second goal in three games.

San Diego regained its three-goal lead on the power play just past the half way point of the final period. Nikolas Brouillard fired a shot from the right point that Limoges redirected from the slot past Melnichuk for his second goal of the evening and third of the season at the 10:45 mark.

Limoges finished with a three-point game (2G, A) as he had a hand in three of the Gulls five goals.

The Gulls put the game away with another power play goal three minutes later. Josh Mahura sent a rink wide pass over to Axel Andersson and he rifled a wrist shot through a screened Melnichuk for his first career AHL goal at the 13:42 mark.

Dostal finished the evening with 39 saves on 40 shots to earn his sixth straight victory and 11th on the season. Melnichuk (4-6-3) made 17 saves on 22 shots in the losing cause.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play. San Diego went 2-for-3.

This was the Barracuda’s first regulation loss on SAP Center ice this season.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Limoges 2) Carrick 3) Melnichuk

UP NEXT: Both teams are back at it again on Wednesday 4/21 at 6:00pm at SAP Center.

Gulls beat down Barracuda 7-3

The San Jose Barracuda and San Diego Gulls battled it out on the ice at FivePoint Arena in Irvine and it wasn’t even close as the Barracuda lose it 7-3 on Sat Apr 3, 2021 (@ sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

IRVINE, Calif—The San Diego Gulls scored four goals in the third period to break open a tight game in a 7-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at FivePoint Arena.

The win was the first one in regulation for the Gulls over the Barracuda this season. They have won six games in a row and went undefeated on its four-game homestand. The ‘Cuda have lost four of its past five games.

San Jose (7-7-4-1) drew first blood halfway through the first period. Brinson Pasichnuk’s shot from the left point was initially saved by Gulls goaile Olle Eriksson-Ek but the puck leaked out to the right and Maxim Letunov cleaned up the rebound for his third goal of the season at the 9:26 mark.

It was Pasichnuk’s first assist in his last 11 games.

San Diego (15-10-0-0) tied it at 1-1 late in the opening 20 minutes. ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar made a stop on a point blank shot from Matt Lorito. The rebound found its way behind the net where Hunter Drew centered the puck back out front to Lorito, who made good on his second attempt with a wrist shot into an empty net for his third goal of the season at the 17:29 mark.

San Jose regained the lead in the second period while short-handed. Alex True created a two-on-one odd man rush when he stripped the puck off of Kodie Curran at the Gulls blue line. True gave it up to Lean Bergmann who skated in all alone on Eriksson before backhanding a cross ice pass back to True for an easy tap in into the back of the net. True’s seventh goal of the season came at the 7:49 mark.

Bergmann, who has yet to score a goal for San Jose this season, finished with a two-point game.

The Gulls scored the equalizer after a miscue by three ‘Cuda players in its own zone. The puck leaked out to a wide open Sam Carrick who quickly made a deke before sliding the puck underneath Korenar for his 12th goal of the season at the 12:15 mark.

San Diego gained its first lead of the game late in the middle frame on the power play. Vinni Lettieri sent a cross ice pass over to Chase De Leo who buried a one-timer from close range past Korenar for his ninth goal of the season at the 19:38 mark.

The Gulls scored an insurance goal early to start the third period. Benoit-Oliver Groulx sent a pass back up to the point where Keegan Lowe fired a slapshot off the glove of Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 1:39 mark.

San Diego put the game away with two power play goals in under four minutes as San Jose was called for three minor penalties in a six minute span.

Curran redeemed himself when he snapped home a wrist shot top-shelf past Korenar for his fouth goal of the season and second power play goal for San Diego at the 11:54 mark.

Then Jacob Perreault found Andrew Agozzino camped out all alone along the right post with a backdoor pass and Agozzino tapped it home for San Diego’s third power play goal of the game and his seventh of the season at the 15:38 mark.

Perreault finished off the scoring for the Gulls when his backhander from a tough angle hit off the post past Korenar for his second goal of the season at the 18:35 mark.

San Jose scored the game’s final goal with 24 seconds left when Sasha Chmelevski found Joel Kellman backdoor at the left post for an easy tap in goal, Kellman’s third goal of the season.

Eriksson-Ek finished the game with 31 saves on 34 shots to earn the vicotry. Korenar made 21 saves on 28 shots in suffering his first regulation loss of the season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play. San Diego was 3-for-6.

San Diego have scored seven goals in back-to-back games.

De Leo and Andrew Poturalski each had two assists on the night.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) De Leo 2) Perreault 3) Lowe

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home to host the Henderson Silver Knights for a two-games series on Tuesday 4/6 at 5:00pm at Solar4America Ice.

Barracuda up end Gulls 4-2

San Jose Barracuda forward Sasha Chmelevski (55), Alexi Meinchuk goalie (1), Lean Bergmann (45) share congratulations following the Barracuda win over the San Diego Gulls on Tue Mar 9, 2021 in San Diego (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif—The San Jose Barracuda scored three unanswered goals and then held on to defeat the San Diego Gulls 4-2 on Tuesday evening at Solar4America Ice At San Jose.

San Jose has won three out of their last five games, including two out of three from San Diego. The Gulls have lost four of their past six games.

The ‘Cuda (5-3-2-0) drew first blood in the first 11 seconds of the game.

Christian Jaros fed a pass over to Noah Gregor at the blueline. Gregor made a deke past a Gulls’ defender into the middle of the ice and snapped home a hard wrist shot past Gulls’ goalie Lukas Dostal for his first goal of the season.

San Jose out shot San Diego 10-7 after the opening 20 minutes.

The Barracuda extended its lead with two goals in a two-minute span to begin the second period. Gregor skated in from the right wing before centering a pass back up to Fredrik Handemark and buried a wrist shot far side past Dostal for his third goal of the season at the 2:28 mark. It was also Gregor’s first assist of the season.

San Jose made it 3-0 when a San Diego turnover in the neutral zone proved costly to the visiting team. Handemark brought the puck into the Gulls zone and gave it up to Evan Weinger with a rink wide pass. Weinger found Jayden Halbgewachs down low where he slid a backhander past Dostal for his fourth goal of the season at the 4:41 mark.

San Diego (9-6-0-0) got on the scoreboard with under a minute left in the middle frame on the power play. Sam Carrick sent a cross ice pass over to Kodie Curran who blasted a one-timer top-shelf past Cuda

On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Len, after losing three straight games the San Jose Sharks (9-11-3) looked like they tightened down the defense despite getting behind early 2-0 on Monday night against the St Louis Blues (14-8-2).

#2 The defense played a big enough role for San Jose that allowed them to tie the score at 2-2 in the second and third periods with a goal a piece from Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic.

#3 The Sharks in their last few games have been getting goal scoring help from their defencemen and Vlasic’s goal on Monday night no exception.

#4 Evander Kane can come out and get one in the back of the net and he didn’t waste anytime on Monday night 41 seconds in the overtime and scored the game winner.

#5 The Sharks open up back to back games in Anaheim this Friday and Saturday. The Anaheim Ducks (7-12-6) have lost five of their last six games this is a team that has been struggling will this give the Sharks an opportunity to take advantage of the Ducks?

Join Len for Sharks podcasts every Wednesday morning at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

for his third goal of the season at the 19:16 mark.

The Gulls made the ‘Cuda pay once again for it’s fifth trip to the sinbin. Andrew Poturalski sent a shot-pass to a wide open Sam Carrick who tapped home the puck right in front of the crease for his fifth goal of the season at the 16:36 mark.

Jaycob Megna scored an empty netter from his own defensive zone with 30 seconds left to ice the game.

Melnichuk stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced to earn his second victory of the season. Dostal made 21 saves on 24 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0-for-4 on the power play. San Diego went 2-for-5.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Gregor 2) Handemark 3) Alex Dostie

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel back down to Bakersfield to take on the Condors on Friday 3/12 at 6:00pm at Mechanics Bank Arena.

Agozzino goal gives Gulls 5-4 overtime win over Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda defenceman Ryan Merkely (6) and the San Diego Gulls left winger Jaime Devane (15) battle for the puck at FivePoint Arena in San Diego on Sat Mar 6, 2021 (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

IRVINE, Calif—Andrew Agozzino scored 1:12 into overtime to give the San Diego Gulls a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday evening at FivePoint Arena

Agozzino stripped Ryan Merkley of the puck at the blueline and skated in before sliding the puck past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for the game winning goal, his fifth of the season.

San Jose has lost two of its last three games. San Diego have won two of their last three games..

San Diego (9-5-0-0) drew first blood in the first period on its second shot of the game. Hunter Drew sneaked a back handed through the five-hole of Melnichuk for his first goal of the season at the 7:19 mark. Benoit-Oliver Groulx and Maxim Golod assisted on the goal.

San Jose (4-3-2-0) answered back under two minutes later. Robbie Russo set up Maxim Letunov in the low slot and he snapped home a wrist shot past Gulls goalie Ollie Eriksson Ek for his first goal of the season at the 8:46 mark. Merkley received the secondary assist.

Letunov had not scored a goal since February 23rd, 2020 when he scored a goal against the Ontario Reign.

San Jose had the ice tilted in its favor as they outshot San Diego 16-5 after the opening 20 minutes.

The Gulls regained the lead early in the second period. Golod skated around the net from left to right and centered a cross ice pass to an open Groulx and he buried a point-blank shot past Melnichuk for his fourth goal of the season at the 1:51 mark.

The Barracuda scored the equalizer on the power play just under four minutes later. Merkley sent a cross ice pass that bounced off the boards to Zachary Gallant who fired a slap shot that landed top-shelf on the far side past Erikkson Ek for his first career AHL goal at the 5:40 mark.

San Jose out shot San Diego 11-9 in the scoreless third period.

Melnichuk made 23 saves on 26 shots in the losing effort. Eriksson Ek finished with 39 saves on 41 shots to earn the win.

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

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Eriksson Ek 2) Agozzino 3) Groulx

UP NEXT: The Barracuda host the Gulls on Tuesday at 6:00pm at Solar4America Ice to close out the three-game series.

Barracuda shoot down Gulls in 5-1 victory

The San Jose Barracuda celebrate a win over the San Diego Gulls on Friday night Mar 5th at Five Point Arena in San Diego to open up the first of a three game series (photo from @sjbarracuda) 

by Marko Ukalovic

IRVINE, Calif—The San Jose Barracuda were able to do what no other team had been able to do this season. Beat the San Diego Gulls on their home ice.

The ‘Cuda powered their way with a pair of special team goals en route to a 5-1 victory over their Pacific Division rival on Friday evening at FivePoint Arena. San Diego came into the game 7-0-1 on their home away from home.

San Jose (4-3-1-0) dominated for the entire 60 minutes of the game as they had the ice tilted inside the San Diego zone for the majority of the evening.

The ‘Cuda drew first blood when Evan Weinger scored an unassisted goal at the 11:07 mark of the first period. Weinger intercepted a clearing attempt and looked to center a pass from the right wing when it deflected off a Gulls defender and past Gulls goalie Lukas Dostal for his first goal of the season.

San Diego (8-4-0-0) answered back 17 seconds later when on a delayed penalty call to San Jose, Antoine Morand found Andrew Agozzino on the left slot and he snapped home a wrist shot top-shelf past ‘Cuda goalie Alexei Melnichuk for his fourth goal of the season.

Under five minutes later the Barracuda regained the lead on the power play. Jayden Halbgewachs received a pass on the left wing from Robbie Russo and skated in before sniping home a wrist shot past Dostal near post for his first of two goals on the evening at the 15:39 mark.

San Jose closed out the four-goal opening twenty minutes 65 seconds later. Christian Jaros fired a shot from the right point that Karlis Cukste, who made his AHL debut for San Jose, redirected Jaros’s shot past Dostal for his first career goal at the 16:44 mark

Cukste ,whose natural position is a defenseman, was playing forward for the first time.

San Jose out shot San Diego 14-7 at the end of the first period.

In the second period, San Jose once again controlled the play on the ice as they had held San Diego to just one shot on net in the first 15 minutes of the middle frame.

The ‘Cuda scored its second power play goal of the game when Russo blasted a slap shot from the point where Sasha Chmelevski tipped home past Dostal for his first goal of the season at the 10:23 mark. The Long Beach native had just been sent back down to the Barracuda after playing a game with the parent club Sharks two nights ago.

Halbgewachs finished off the scoring with a late goal in the third period. A turnover inside the Gulls zone led to Fredrik Handemark finding Halbgewachs all alone in the left slot, where he snapped home a wrist shot top-shelf far side for his second goal of the game and third of the season at the 14:28 mark.

Melnichuk had a clean game having to only stop 16 of the 17 shots he faced to earn the win. Dostal finished with 27 saves on 32 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 2-for-4 on the power play. San Diego went 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game were: 1) Halbgewachs 2) Russo (who finished with two assists) 3) Weinger

UP NEXT: San Jose takes on San Diego on Saturday 3/6 at 7:30pm at FivePoint Arena.

Barracuda rebound with convincing 4-1 win over Gulls

The San Jose Barracuda’s defenceman Karlis Cukste (77) and the San Diego Gulls forward Andrew Potvralski (22) try and engage the puck at FivePoint Arena in Irvine on Thu Jan 21, 2021 in pre season action (sjbarracuda.com photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

IRVINE, Calif-The San Jose Barracuda jumped out to a quick start and never looked back as they scored four unanswered goals to beat the San Diego Gulls 4-1 in their second pre-season game on Thursday evening at FivePoint Arena.

San Jose split the two-game series with their SoCal division rival.

San Jose got on the attack early as a Gulls offensive zone turnover resulted in an odd-man rush for the Barracuda. Lean Bergmann set up Kurtis Gabriel in front of the net and Gabriel beat Gulls goalie Anthony Stolarz for the game’s opening goal just 32 seconds into the contest.

“I think they came out with a lot of speed early,” said Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen. “We certainly, after our last game, were feeling pretty good about ourselves. It was a good lesson for our players in knowing that this is a pretty good league. There are some good players out there. They came very hard at us and I felt like we got caught off guard. Those are the kind of things you’re glad happens in training camp, that these lessons are learned. You’re playing against good players and you need to be prepared every single night.”

The Barracuda extended their lead with a couple of power-play goals. The first was scored by Jayden Halbgewachs, who evaded a Gulls defender in front to send a forehand shot past Stolarz at the 4:50 mark of the opening frame.

Later on in the period, San Jose struck again on the man advantage as Antti Suomela one timed a shot by Stolarz, pushing the Barracuda lead to 3-0 with 4:42 remaining in the first.

San Jose struck again in the second period, with Kyle Topping snapping a wrist shot past Stolarz at the 11:18 mark of the middle frame, extending the Barracuda lead to four goals.

“We’re a development league and part of the development process is not always a smooth road,” said Dineen. “There are going to be bumps along the way, whether they are personal or as a team. I was happy with stretches of our game tonight, but at other times there are some hard lessons to be learned. That certainly played out tonight.” 

Late in the third period, Sam Carrick put the Gulls on the board. Shortly after San Diego finished killing a minor penalty, Jack Kopacka poked a loose puck towards Sam Carrick at center ice. Carrick rushed ahead on a breakaway and beat ‘Cuda rookie goaltender Samuel Harvey with a wrist shot over the glove, cutting San Jose’s lead to 4-1, the eventual final score. Carrick has collected 4 points (3G, 1A) in two preseason games.

In total, the San Jose would put 43 shots on Stolarz including 19 in the opening 20 minutes. While San Diego had its moments of heavy pressure at both the end of the second and third, the Gulls would beat Harvey just once on 34 shots.

Harvey (1-0) earned his first pro win in his pro debut, playing perfect hockey through the first 57 minutes and 38 seconds. Stolarz who celebrated his 27^th birthday on Tuesday, took the loss in his season debut, allowing four goals in total.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda are back in preseason action on Friday at 3:00p.m. as they take on the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Performance Center in El Segundo, Ca.

Barracuda fall to Gulls 5-1 in pre-season opener

San Jose Barracuda goaltender Josef Kornear (32) looks behind him as the San Diego Gulls forward Alex Dostie (10) battles for the puck at FivePoint Arena in Irvine on Tue Jan 19, 2021 (@sjbarracuda photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

IRVINE, Calif-It had been over 10 months since the San Jose Barracuda were in a hockey rink.

The ‘Cuda were dominated by their Pacific Division rival the San Diego Gulls 5-1 in both team’s pre-seasoner opener on Monday evening at FivePoint Arena.

San Diego wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Just over five minutes into the action, with the Gulls already on the game’s first power play, Andrew Agozzino converted a backdoor pass from Trevor Zegras, to give San Diego an early 1-0 advantage.

San Jose responded quickly, evening the score at one just 1:37 later as a shot from the point by Joakim Blichfeld snuck through traffic and past Gulls netminder Lukas Dostal.

With just over a minute remaining in the game’s opening period, San Diego retook the lead after a long shift in the offensive zone. Andrew Poturalski collected a bouncing puck along the wall just in front of the San Jose bench, curled towards the middle of the ice and fired a low shot off of his linemate, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and past Josef Korenar. Chase De Leo also collected an assist on the go-ahead goal as the Gulls took a 2-1 lead into first intermission.

Sam Carrick doubled the Gulls lead just two minutes into the second period as he capitalized on a San Jose turnover. As the Barracuda attempted to break out of their own zone, San Jose forward Vlad Kotkov was intercepted by Carrick, who one-timed the errant pass by Korenar to give the Gulls a 3-1 lead at the 2:11 mark of the middle frame.

Another power-play opportunity halfway through the second period, allowed the Gulls to quickly convert once again and extend the lead. Once again, Zegras found Agozzino uncovered on the backdoor but this time the veteran winger made an extra pass to Carrick, who slammed home his second goal of the game, putting San Diego ahead 4-1 with 10:39 left in the second period.

The Gulls capped the offensive onslaught just two minutes later as Jack Kopacka raced down left wing and caught Korenar by surprise, firing a quick wrist shot just under the crossbar, extending the Gulls advantage to four.

The teams traded chances in the third period with neither side finding the back of the net.

Dostal, appearing in his first game as a member of the Gulls, made 28 saves to earn the win.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its tow-game series with San Diego on Thursday 1/21 at 6:00pm at FivePoint Arena.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: How Covid 19 ordinance will keep Cuda games real quite

sjbarracuda photo: Stat graphic from Tuesday night’s game in Stockton between the San Jose Barracuda and Stockton Heat

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Santa Clara County announced on Monday due to Covid 19 Virus that no more crowds of over 1000 people may assemble for any type of meetings or events which would effect the San Jose Barracuda who has their games in SAP Center. Although the Barracuda play in a 17,000 seat capacity building they usually draw no more than 3500 fans but the place will further be empty by the new ordinance from the county.

#2 The Barracuda (21-27-5-2) got a huge win over the Stockton Heat (30-17-4-4) at Stockton Arena, the win was the first against the Heat this season and the Cuda picked up their six consecutive game where they have scored a point.

#3 Barracuda goaltender Josef Korenar stopped 22 out of 26 shots in goal but the Barracuda provided enough offense to get Korenar the win.

#4 The Barracuda’s Lukas Radil had himself an evening scoring his first two goals and four point game of his career.

#5 It’s onto San Diego for a Friday night face off with the Gulls Marko sets this game up for us.

Join Marko for the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Gulls comeback to stun Barracuda with 3-2 overtime win

photo from sjbarracuda.com

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif- The San Diego Gulls flipped the script in their favor a night after the San Jose Barracuda came back from a two-goal deficit. This time around they would have the last laugh as Isac Lunderstrom scored the game winning goal with three seconds left in overtime to complete a 3-2 come from behind victory for the Gulls on Saturday evening at SAP Center.

Lunderstrom finished off a give-and-go with Josh Mahura with a wrist shot from the left wing that beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar for his sixth goal of the season at the 19:57 mark of the extra session.

San Jose, who have played four of their last five games in overtime, had its season high three-game winning streak snapped. However they have earned a point in a season high five-game point streak. They finished their six-game homestand with a 3-1-2 record. With the win, San Diego is in sole position of fourth place in the Pacific Division with 66 points.

It was a war of attrition on special teams between the two divsion rivals. The Barracuda struck first early in the first period with a short-handed goal. With Keaton Middleton in the sinbin for cross checking, Jeffery Viel raced in from the right wing and his shot had Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle knock the net loose but not off its bearings. The puck was still live and Evan Weinger quickly tucked it into the net for his ninth goal of the season at the 1:50 mark. It was also Weinger’s third short-handed goal of the year and the Barracuda’s sixth of the season.

San Jose (20-27-5-2) doubled its lead on the power play late in the opening frame. Jeffery Viel centered a pass from behind the end line that deflected off the skate of Anthony Greco over to Jonny Brodzinski who blasted a one-timer past Boyle for his 13th goal of the season at the 16:47 mark.

Brozinski has five goals in his last four games and is on a current four-game point streak.

Shots were even at 11 for both teams in the first period as the Barracuda controled the majority of play.

San Diego (29-18-6-2) cut the lead in half on the power play early in the second period. Brendan Guhle sent a pass back up to the right point where Mahura sent in a shot on net that Chris Mueller redirected the puck past the five-hole of Korenar for his 19th goal of the season at the 5:59 mark.

The Gulls scored the equalizer with a short-handed goal of their own, their 17 of the season, over five minutes into the third period. Simon Benoit set up Sam Carrick who wrapped around a shot past Korenar for his 22nd goal of the season at the 5:48 mark. Carrick leads the Gulls with four short-handed goals.

San Diego gained momentum and dominated the rest of the period as they had San Jose on their heels outshooting them 10-4.

The Gulls had two glorious chances to end the game earlier in overtime but Korenar made two spectacular saves to keep the ‘Cuda in it. The most notable was stopping Carrick on a 2-on-0 breakaway where the puck was on the goaline but Korenar somehow kept it from crossing the line at the 2:50 mark.

Boyle finished the evening stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced to earn his eighth win of the season and fourth in a row for the Gulls backup goaltender. Korenar made 31 saves on 34 shots suffering the tough luck loss.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1-for-5 on the power play. San Diego went 1/2.

Viel registered two assists in the game, his eighth multi-point performance of the season and fifth helper in his last three games.

Saturday’s game was the third-straight between the Barracuda and Gulls that needed overtime to decide it.

The announced attendance was 3,661.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda travel out to Stockton to take on the Heat to start a three-game road trip on Tuesday 3/9 at 7:00pm at Stockton Arena.