Barracuda Drop First Game of Long Homestand
Mar 13, 2016San Jose, CA - The San Jose Barracuda (26-21-6-3, 61pts) presented by Barracuda Networks began a six-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Ontario Reign (35-14-4-1, 75pts) in front 4,897 fans at SAP Center on Sunday night.
San Jose fell down 3-0 after two periods and could only solve Ontario goaltender Peter Budaj once all night. John McCarthy registered the sole tally for the Barracuda in the loss while Troy Grosenick allowed four goals on 23 shots in net.
A tight-checking first period saw the Reign strike first as Brett Sutter (5th) roofed a shot from the left circle over Troy Grosenick’s glove to give Ontario a 1-0 lead at 6:55. Grosenick would be tested early and often as most of the play was in San Jose’s end. Being hemmed in their own zone, the Barracuda had a tough time generating offense and were limited to one shot on net in the first ten minutes of the period. The final shots after the opening frame were 11-5 and Ontario took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
Ontario would add to their lead early in the second at 1:09 as Nic Dowd (13th) capitalized on a Barracuda turnover in the neutral zone as his slap-shot off the rush beat Grosenick. Michael Haley tried to generate some momentum for San Jose in a spirited fight with the Reign’s Kurtis MacDermid, but to no avail. Shortly after at 13:15, Nic Dowd (14th) would strike again as he finished off a great feed from Michael Mersch from behind the net. Scott Timmins almost tallied for San Jose late in the period, but Peter Budaj made a nice toe save through traffic. The Barracuda found themselves in a 3-0 hole after 40 minutes of play.
John McCarthy (14th) would get San Jose on the board at 8:53 of the third with a centering pass that deflected off Sutter’s skate past Budaj. The Barracuda looked to be poised to make a late push, but Justin Auger (13th) ended San Jose’s comeback bid with a shorthanded marker at 14:58. Ontario locked the game down defensively and skated off with a 4-1 win.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Sean Backman (0-2=2) 2nd star: Michael Mersch (0-2=2) 1st star: Nic Dowd (2-0=2)…Final shots were 23-19 in favor of Ontario...Peter Budaj made 22 saves in the win for Ontario…Troy Grosenick made 19 saves in the loss for the Barracuda…San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.... Frazer McLaren, Alex Gallant, Daniel Doremus, Mirco Mueller, and Rick Pinkston did not dress for the Barracuda... John McCarthy now has a four-game point streak (3-2-5)…Michael Mersch, Sean Backman and Andrew Crescenzi each tallied two assists for Ontario…San Jose has only scored 16 goals in ten meetings against Ontario this season…The Barracuda wore Star Wars themed jerseys for Star Wars night at SAP Center…San Jose sits in 4th place in the Pacific Division and remain in the thick of the playoff race in the Western Conference.
Coming up….
On Wednesday, the Barracuda take on the Ontario Reign at SAP Center at 7:30pm. Coverage begins at 7:20pm with Jason Lockhart and David Maley on the call live on AM 1220 KDOW.
All games can be heard live online at www.kdow.biz. Fans may watch the games online for a small fee at www.ahllive.com. Join the game day conversation on Facebook and follow the game on Twitter by following @SJBarracuda.
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