BARRACUDA FENDED OFF BY FIREBIRDS, 4-3 (SO)
Apr 3, 2023Palm Desert, CA - The San Jose Barracuda (28-33-1-5) continued its four-game road trip Monday night at the Acrisure Arena, falling 4-3 in the shootout to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (46-14-4-2).
The first period would see neither team find the back of the net, though the Firebirds would outshoot the Barracuda 14-4. Barracuda defenseman Derrick Pouliot and forward Anthony Vincent would pick up the first two penalties of the game, each for tripping, for a second consecutive game while Coachella Valley would give up just one power-play opportunity to the Barracuda as Tristan Mullin would be called for hooking.
In the second, the Barracuda were again outshot, but closing the gap to 11-8. Kole Lind (29) would open the scoring on the power play, beating a sliding Aaron Dell 3:45 into the frame. However, at 6:54, fresh off a stint with the San Jose Sharks, Kyle Criscuolo (16) would find the equalizer, beating Chris Driedger on a two-on-one. Reminding viewers that he also was back from his call up to the Sharks, Danil Gushchin (17) would add a tally of his own from the high slot 7:29 into the second period.
Early in the third, Cameron Hughes (18) would tie it up for the Firebirds with his team’s second power-play goal of the night as he beat Dell over the left shoulder. At the 14:36 mark, Carsen Twarynski (17) would sneak one past Dell, tricking in a loose puck along the left post. Playing from behind, Barracuda captain Andrew Agozzino (25) would knot things up once again with 18.9 seconds remaining in regulation to push the game to overtime at he batted in a rebound. The goal for Agozzino would tie a Barracuda franchise record for goals scored in a single season.
In overtime, both teams would see great opportunities but be unable to capitalize, with the shots even 3-3.
The shootout would see Tristen Robins score the only goal for the Barracuda as the team’s second shooter, though it would take four rounds for the Firebirds to beat Dell twice with both Max McCormick and Hughes scoring in the third and fourth rounds to complete the win in Palm Desert.
Dell would finish the night with 36 saves on 39 Firebirds shots while Driedger would stop 22-of-25 Barracuda pucks. San Jose would finish the night 0-for-5 on the power play while Coachella Valley would find success on 2-of-7 opportunities on the man advantage.
The Barracuda return to Tech CU Arena on Friday, March 7 to take on the Colorado Eagles. For tickets and more info about upcoming promotions and specials, visit sjbarracuda.com.