BARRACUDA HOLD OFF CONDORS LATE RALLY, WIN 3-2
Dec 17, 2017SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Barracuda (12-11-0-1) edged the Bakersfield Condors (10-12-3-0), 3-2, on Sunday afternoon in the second game of a weekend set at SAP Center.
The Barracuda opened the game with an aggressive offensive approach, putting nine shots on goal to the Condors’ five in the first period and scoring the lone goal in the opening twenty minutes of play when Adam Helewka (4) buried a penalty shot on Bakersfield netminder Nick Ellis at the 8:24 mark. The Condors failed to convert on three power play opportunities in the period and the score remained 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
It would take San Jose three minutes and 23 seconds to extend their lead to 2-0 in the second period, as Rudolfs Balcers (4) tipped a Brandon Bollig shot on net and then swiped home the rebound. Four minutes later, Balcers (5) would score again by cutting back in the slot and snapping a top-shelf shot past Ellis for his team-leading 19th point of the season. Condors right-winger Ty Rattie (10) would give his team their first goal of the contest 14 seconds later to bring the score to 3-1.
The final twenty minutes of play saw lock-down defense from both teams until Bakersfield left-winger Joey LaLeggia (5) scored with eight seconds remaining in the game, to bring the score to 3-2. The Condors had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Josh Currie couldn’t find the back of the net with a final shot coming off a pass from Rattie, and the Barracuda survived to split the weekend set.
Barracuda netminder Troy Grosenick (4-4-1) earned the victory making 32 saves on 34 shots, while the Condors’ Ellis (6-6-1) took the loss, making 22 saves on 25 shots.
The Barracuda conclude their current three-game series against the Condors with a one-game road trip to Bakersfield on Thursday, before returning to San Jose to take on the Texas Stars Friday night at SAP Center. Puck-drop for Friday night’s game is slated for 7 p.m. Tickets start at just $10 and are available for purchase at SJBarracuda.com/tickets.
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