Coach Sommer Picks Up Win #635 in 5-2 Victory in Rockford

Jan 15, 2016

Rockford, IL –  Barracuda Head coach Roy Sommer picked up win #635, trailing only Fred “Bun” Cook (636 wins) for the most wins in AHL history as the San Jose Barracuda (18-10-3-3, 42pts) presented by Barracuda Networks extended their season best point streak to eight games (7-0-1-0) with a 5-2 win over the host Rockford IceHogs (22-10-2-3, 49pts) in front of 4,062 fans at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Friday evening.  The Barracuda’s three game road trip concludes on Saturday at 5pm (pacific time) in Des Moines, IA vs. the Wild.

Goaltender Troy Grosenick (10-4-3) made 33 saves and Trevor Parkes scored a goal and added two assists as San Jose improved to 10-1-3-0 in their last 14 games.  Petter Emanuelsson, Bryan Lerg, Micheal Haley, and Jeremy Langlois also scored for San Jose as the Barracuda improved to 2-0-0-0 on their three game road trip. 

Mark Visentin allowed five goals on 32 shots for the IceHogs as Mark McNeill provided the only two goals for Rockford as they dropped their first Friday night game this season in regulation (9-1-0-1).

Rockford struck first in a fast paced first period as both teams had several great scoring chances.  Mark McNeill (6th) fired a shot past Troy Grosenick’s blocker at 7:30 after the Barracuda failed to clear the puck out of their own zone to give the IceHogs a 1-0 lead. 

Just 34 seconds later, Petter Emanuelsson (5th) snapped a quick shot from the right slot past goaltender Mark Visentin after a great feed by Ryan Carpenter.  Captain Bryan Lerg (9th) collected his own rebound and sent a backhander into the net at 11:33 to give San Jose a 2-1 advantage. 

Shots were 15-12 Rockford in the first period as San Jose had to kill off two minor penalties.

Each team scored in the second period of play as San Jose held an 11-10 shot edge in the middle frame. 

Mark McNeill (7th) fired a one timer shot from down low in the right circle after a cross ice feed at 1:01 to tie the game at 2-2. 

Michael Haley through a check in the offensive zone, Scott Timmins won the puck in the corner and found Trevor Parkes (6th) alone in front for a quick shot past the Rockford netminder at 5:39.  San Jose led 3-2 after 40 minutes of play.

Micheal Haley (12th) finished a 2-on-1 taking a feed from Ryan Carpenter at 1:19 on the power play to give San Jose a 4-2 lead.  Jeremy Langlois (8th) also struck on a 2-on-1 rush as Bryan Lerg gave him a great feed into the zone at 6:04 to put the game away at 5-2. 

Troy Grosenick made nine more saves in the third period as San Jose grabbed the 5-2 road victory in their first and only trip to Rockford this season.

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Mark McNeill (2-0-2) 2nd star: Bryan Lerg (1-1-2, 9 shots) 1st star: Trevor Parkes (1-2-3)….Final shots were 35-32 in favor of Rockford… Mark Visentin (4-6-2) made 27 saves on 32 shots for Rockford….Troy Grosenick (10-4-3) made 33 saves on 35 shots for San Jose….Grosenick is now 6-0-1 in last six starts and 10-1-2 in last 13 starts overall….San Jose went 1-for-5 on the power play while Rockford went 0-for-3…. Frazer McLaren (inj), Daniel Doremus, Greger Hanson, Alex Gallant, and Mark Cundari did not dress for the Barracuda…down on a conditioning assignment from the SJ Sharks, Raffi Torres made his SJ Barracuda debut and took a regular shift with Micheal Haley and John McCarthy - it was the first AHL action for Torres since the 2004-05 season with Edmonton Roadrunners….the Barracuda have points in 12 of last 13 games (8-1-3-0)… the Barracuda are in a stretch where they play 9 of 11 on the road…  Bryan Lerg fired a season high nine shots on goal… Mirco Mueller and Patrick McNally each finished +3…Ryan Carpenter added two assists…The Barracuda hit the midway point of their 68 game regular season schedule.

Coming up….  
On Saturday, the Barracuda play the Wild in Des Moines, IA at 5pm.  The game will air on a tape delay beginning at 6pm on AM 1220 KDOW.

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