Barracuda drop exhibition opener 4-2 in a feisty affair vs. Stockton Heat
Oct 1, 2015SAN JOSE, CA –The San Jose Barracuda (0-1-0-0, 0pts) presented by Barracuda Networks opened up their two game exhibition schedule with a 4-2 loss to the visiting Stockton Heat (1-0-0-0, 2pts) in front of a standing room only crowd at Sharks Ice at San Jose on Thursday evening. The Barracuda wrap up their exhibition schedule on Saturday, Oct 3 with a 7pm face-off in Bakersfield vs. the Condors.
Petter Emanuelsson (1-1-2) and Julius Bergman (1-0-1) scored for San Jose in a game that featured four sets of fighting majors and a total of 66 penalty minutes. Louick Marcotte (1-2-3) led the way for Stockton offensively while goaltender Eric Hartzell went the distance for the Heat making 30 saves in net for the victory.
San Jose Barracuda forward Alex Gallant (1st FM) and Stockton Heat forward Garet Hunt (1st FM) dropped the mitts and the buckets at 2:05 of the opening period for a fantastic fight at center ice to set the tone early. Barracuda goaltender Troy Grosenick made eight saves as neither team found the back of the net in the opening frame as San Jose held a 12-8 shot advantage.
Stockton struck first as Michael Kirkpatrick (1st) ripped a shot top shelf past Troy Grosenick on a Heat odd man rush at 4:34 of the second period to put San Jose down 1-0. The Heat took a 2-0 lead after a feed from behind the net found Louik Marcotte (1st) in front for a quick strike past San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell.
The Barracuda got on the board with 37 seconds left in the middle frame after Petter Emanuelsson (1st) sent a snap shot from 55 feet that made its way through traffic and past Heat goaltender Eric Hartzell to cut the deficit to 2-1. Rookie Adam Helewka recorded the only assist as the Barracuda headed into the second intermission trailing 2-1.
San Jose rookie defenseman Julius Bergman (1st) tied the score at 2-2 just 12 seconds into the third period as Petter Emanuelsson picked up his second point of the game with an assist. Stockton went ahead 3-2 at 9:52 with a score on the rush and a quick shot by NHL veteran Aaron Johnson (1st) past Aaron Dell.
Barracuda winger Mike DiPaolo (1st FM) dropped Heat defenseman Keegan Kanzing (1st FM) at 10:56 after a quick scrap.
Morgan Klimchuk (1st) scored the only special team goal of the game with a power play marker at 17:54 to give Stockton the 4-2 victory. Vincent Arseneau (1st FM) and Alex Gallant (2nd FM) each dropped the mitts in the final five minutes of the game as the two divisional rivals duked it out in the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Garet Hunt – STK (0-2-2, FM) 2nd star: Julius Bergman – SJ (1-0-1) 1st star: Louick Marcotte - STK (2-1-3)…. Final shots were 32-26 in favor of San Jose… Erik Hartzell made 30 saves on 32 shots for Stockton for the win….Troy Grosenick had 8 saves on 9 shots for San Jose in the first 27:23 of action while Aaron Dell made 14 saves on 17 shots in the final 31:17. … San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play while Stockton went 1-for-4…Chris Crane and Scott Timmins wore “A’s” for the Barracuda….Nikita Jevpalovs took a shot in the face during warm-ups and did not dress due to injury….Petter Emanuelsson (1-1-2) had a multi-point game for the Barracuda before leaving the game after a hit from behind by Mitchell Heard early in the third period… Greger Hanson had a game high five shots on goal… Alex Gallant picked up 24 of the 40 penalty minutes for San Jose.
San Jose Barracuda Lines: (pregame)
PARKER TIMMINS ARSENEAU
HELEWKA STEEFES JEVPALOVS – did not play due to injury in warm-ups
HANSON CRANE EMANUELSSON
GALLANT DOREMUS DIPAOLO
McNALLY BERGMAN
PIETRONIRO MAKOWSKI
FEDERICO BAKER
GROSENICK
DELL
Coming up….
On Saturday, the Barracuda travel to Bakersfield to close out their two game exhibition schedule with a 7pm face-off vs. the Condors at Rabobank Arena. The game can be heard live on AM 1220 KDOW and streamed online at www.KDOW.biz. Coverage begins at 6:30pm with the SJ Barracuda pregame show.
On Friday, October 9, the San Jose Barracuda host the Rockford IceHogs at the SAP Center at 7:30pm to kick off the regular season schedule. The first 5,000 fans will receive a commemorative opening night t-shirt presented by Pepsi! Be a part of AHL history for the first ever San Jose Barracuda game! Call 408-999-4747 to score your tickets today!