BARRACUDA FALL 3-2 IN REGULAR-SEASON FINALE
Apr 13, 2019Loveland, CO - The San Jose Barracuda (39-22-3-4) elected to sit out a handful of their veteran players on Saturday against the Colorado Eagles (36-27-4) (Colorado Avalanche) in their regular-season finale at the Budweiser Events Center and still managed to stick around to the very end before falling 3-2 win.
In his professional debut, Andrew Shortridge played admirably in his first pro start, stopping 33 of Colorado's 36 shots.
In the first, Martin Kaut (12) opened up the scoring as he poked the puck over the goal line after Shortridge looked to have secured the initial point shot by David Warsofsky. San Jose would outshoot Colorado 13-to-11 in the first but the game would remain at a 1-0 count.
In the second, the Barracuda went on their only power-play of the game but failed to even the score. San Jose generated chance after chance put Pavel Francouzstook tall.
In the third, Dominic Toninato (14) gave the Eagles a bit of insurance as he cleaned up a rebound from a Nick Meloche right-point shot at 4:34. Colorado would extend its lead to 3-0 after Shortridge made a brilliant glove save along the right side on Michael Joly, but the Eagles held onto possession as the Barracuda couldn't clear and seconds later Logan O'Connor (19) blasted home a one-timer at 13:22 along the left wing. Evan Weinger (11) would make things interesting as he tipped in a thread-pass from Matt Fonteyne at 16:15. The Barracuda would pull their net and get within one as Alex True (24) jammed one in but it was too little too late with just 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
Francouz (27-27-3) earned the win and snapped a two-game skid by stopping 30 of 32 shots.
San Jose Barracuda have secured a Calder Cup playoff spot and now await an opening-round opponent. Keep it tuned to SJBarracuda.com and all Barracuda social channels for up-to-date scheduling. All Barracuda action can be heard live on AM 1220 KDOW, the Sharks + SAP Center App and watched on watchtheahl.com.
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