Meier gets the game winner on his first pro goal
Nov 12, 2016Cedar Park, TX - The San Jose Barracuda erased a one-goal deficit with four unanswered in the third to beat the Texas Stars, 8-5, Saturday night at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park. Timo Meier's first pro goal was also a game-winner as San Jose earned the weekend split with the Stars
Rourke Chartier (4) smacked a puck out of mid-air on the power play at 14:46 of the first to give San Jose its first lead of the weekend, but Brandon DeFazio (4) was able to tie the game less than three minutes later at 17:42 to make it 1-1. Dan Kelly made his presence known in his first game as a Barracuda; the veteran defenseman dropped the gloves withDustin Stevenson at 14:07.
In the second, the offensive explosion began as the two clubs combined for seven goals.Marcus Sorensen (2) started the scoring for San Jose and recaptured the Barracuda's advantage at 1:24 after Danny O'Regan forced a turnover and fed the puck over to Sorensen who ripped a shot past Maxime Lagace. 24 seconds later Mike McMurtry (3) poked a loose puck past Mantas Armalis to tie the game at 2-2. Jon Martin applied a huge hit on Julius Honka that led to Martin fighting Ethan Werek, a fight in which the south paw landed several left-handed blows at 2:43. Barclay Goodrow (6) continued his strong weekend by scoring his fourth goal in two games as he redirected a Julius Bergman shot at 4:47. Brendon Ranford (1) evened it up with his first of the year as Travis Morin whipped a pass backdoor at 7:16 on the power play. Texas took its first lead at 7:54 as Dustin Stevenson (1) beat Armalis through the five-hole from the point. But Tim Heed (1) countered for San Jose and tied the game seconds into a power play with a shot from the point at 8:19, ending Lagace's evening. But DeFazio (5) put Texas back on top at 8:45 to make it 5-4 after 40 minutes.
In the third, San Jose made a goaltending switch themselves by replacing Armalis with Troy Grosenick. Grosenick was perfect in the third stopping all four Stars Shots he faced. Julius Bergman (1) tied the game at 5-5 on the power play when his slapper from the point rolled up and over Philippe Desrosiers at 9:38. San Jose took its first lead since the second and wouldn't look back when Timo Meier tipped a point shot past Desrosiers at 11:07. San Jose added two empty-net goals from Heed (2) at 19:00 and O'Regan at 19:51 to secure the 8-5 win.
Armalis lasted 40 minutes for San Jose and allowed five goals on 21 shots, but Grosenick (2-3-0) worked the final 20 minutes and was perfect, stopping all four shots he faced to earn the win. Lagace was pulled after 28 minutes of work in which he allowed four goals on 30 shots. Desrosiers (2-2-0) suffered the loss allowing two goals on nine shots in the final 30 minutes.
The Barracuda continue its five-game road trip with a morning tilt against the San Antonio Rampage at AT&T Center on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Puck drop is set for 8:30 a.m. PST. San Jose returns home on Tuesday, Nov. 22 against the Bakersfield Condors. For tickets visit SJBarracuda.com/tickets or call 408.999.5757.