Barracuda Fall in San Diego in Season Finale vs. Gulls
Apr 2, 2016San Diego, CA – The San Jose Barracuda (29-24-7-3, 68pts) presented by Barracuda Networks dropped a 5-3 decision to the host San Diego Gulls (36-22-2-2, 76pts) in front 9,651 fans at Valley View Casino Center on Saturday evening. With the loss, the Barracuda remain behind the Charlotte Checkers for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Barclay Goodrow, John McCarthy, and Petter Emanuelsson scored for San Jose while Troy Grosenick allowed five goals in 24 shots in net in the loss. Shea Theodore added three assists for the Gulls to lead the way offensively and Matt Hackett made 22 saves in net for San Diego.
A fast paced first period saw great back and forth action and several great saves by Barracuda netminder Troy Grosenick. Ryan Carpenter stole the puck away from a Gulls defender in the offensive zone and sent the puck across the slot to a wide open Barclay Goodrow (18th) at 3:20 for the only score of the first period. Shots were 8-6 Gulls through 20 minutes.
The Gulls broke out to a 3-1 lead in the second period as Antoine Laganiere (14th) broke in behind the Barracuda defense at 1:45 and buried a shot past Troy Grosenick. Corey Tropp (14th) broke in alone on Grosenick at 4:44 after a great feed by Shea Theodore to give the Gulls a 2-1 advantage. San Diego struck on the power play at 13:02 as Ondrej Kase (7th) finished off tic-tac-toe passing down low for their third goal of the middle frame. San Jose finally broke through as John McCarthy (15th) scored shorthanded with a great individual effort and snuck a quick shot through the pads of Matt Hackett at 16:21. It was a physical second period that featured Alex Gallant (13th FM) dropping tough guy Brian McGrattan with a series of right hands at 7:05. Shots were 17-17 through 40 minutes of play as the Barracuda trailed 3-2.
Petter Emanuelsson (10th) tied the score early in the third period after Mike Sgarbossa fell at the side of the net and Emanuelsson picked up the loose puck and fired it just inside the cross bar at 27 seconds. But the Gulls went back ahead for good as Brandon Montour (11th) finished off a 3-on-2 rush at 5:12 and Nic Kerdiles (15th) scored on a 2-on-1 rush at 12:49 to give San Diego the 5-3 home victory. Shots were 8-7 San Jose in the third period.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star Antoine Laganiere (1-1-2) 2nd star: Brandon Montour (1-1-2) 1st star: Shea Theodore (0-3-3)….Final shots were 25-24 in favor of San Jose… Matt Hackett (8-7-0) made 22 saves on 25 shots for San Diego….Troy Grosenick (11-10-4) made 19 saves on 24 shots for San Jose…. Aaron Dell served as the backup goalie for the Barracuda ….San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play while San Diego went 1-for-3…. Raffi Torres (IR), Danny Doremus (inj), Patrick McNally, Frazer McLaren, and Alex Schoenborn did not dress for the Barracuda…the Barracuda are now 0-1-0-0 on their six game road trip… San Jose now has just five games left in the regular season (1 home, 4 away)….the shorthanded goal by McCarthy was the 6th scored by San Jose this season….Ryan Carpenter now has a four game point streak after an assist.
Coming up….
On Wednesday, the Barracuda continue their six game road trip with a 5pm (pacific) start in San Antonio vs. the Rampage (AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche). Coverage begins on tape delay at 8pm on AM 1220 KDOW. Listen to every game live for free on KDOW.biz or AHL Live. Join the game day conversation on Facebook and follow the game on Twitter by following @SJBarracuda.
Season Tickets for the 2016-17 season are on sale now by contacting the Barracuda Office at 408-977-4747 or by crashing the net at www.SJBarracuda.com.
