GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA at GULLS (11-19-16)
Nov 19, 2016Game #11 – San Jose (5-3-0-2) at San Diego (5-5-1-0)
7:00 PM PST, Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, Calif.
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Tonight’s Matchup: The San Jose Barracuda and San Diego Gulls (Anaheim Ducks) embark on a sequel at Valley View Casino Center on Saturday night. The Gulls flipped the script on San Jose by scoring a tying goal with just over a minute in regulation and then won in a shootout 3-2 on Friday. San Jose will have chance at redemption in game two after earning one point on Friday. San Jose is 4-6-1-2 against the Gulls all-time and 3-2-1-1 at Valley View Casino Center in 13 matchups.
San Diego’s win Friday was their third in a row and first winning streak of the year. The Gulls 5-5-1-0 (.500%) record is good for sixth in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference. Despite the loss on Friday, San Jose still sits at third in the Pacific with a record of 5-3-0-2 (.600%) and 12th in the Conference.
Players To Watch: Timo Meier scored his third goal in as many games on Friday and now has six points (3-3-6) in eight pro games. Danny O’Regan extended his point streak (1-4-5) to a career-high three games by assisting on Meier’s goal. O’Regan has points in five of his last six games.
Between the pipes: Troy Grosenick was solid again for San Jose on Friday making 34 saves but fourth-year pro suffered the hard-luck loss and is now 3-3-0-1 on the the season with a pair of shutouts, a 2.54 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Grosenick is 3-3-3 in ten career games against the Gulls. Mantas Armalis was pulled after two periods in his last start in Texas on November 12, but the first year American Leaguer has yet lose in regulation. Armalis is 2-0-0-1 with a 3.39 goals-against average and a .881 save percentage.
Dustin Tokarski’s 22 saves on Friday earned the netminder his second consecutive win and fourth on the year. Tokarski is 4-2-0-0 on the season with a 3.69 goals against average and a .866 save percentage. Matt Hackett earned his first win of the year last Saturday against Manitoba and is now 1-3-0-0 with a 4.48 goals-against average and a .860 save percentage in five games played. In three games last season, Hackett was 2-1-0-0 against San Jose with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
Last Time Out: The San Jose Barracuda looked to have their third straight win in the books on Friday night until the San Diego Gulls (5-5-1-0) tied the game with just over a minute left in regulation and eventually won in a shootout, 3-2, at Valley View Casino Center.
The game produced early fireworks when Alex Gallant and Scott Sabourin waited just two minutes and 25 seconds to drop the mitts. The two tough guys returned a flurry of right hooks without backing down before they were tied up and separated. After denying both Gulls power-play chances, Danny O’Regan won an offensive zone draw and Timo Meier (3) quickly ripped the puck without a hitch past Dustin Tokarski at 18:11 to give San Jose the only goal of the first.
In the second, veteran Stu Bickel (2) intercepted a San Jose clearing attempt and went right through the five-hole of Troy Grosenick to tie the game at 10:05. San Diego outshot San Jose 9-to-4, but the score stayed even after 40 minutes.
In the final frame, Ryan Carpenter (2) redirected a point shot from Tim Heed at 13:15 to give San Jose the lead back, in what looked to be the game-winner. But San Diego managed to tie the game with just a minute and one second left, off the stick of Ondrej Kase (3).
A slow start to the three-on-three overtime led to a flurry of chances late for both teams, but neither club was able to find the winner in extra time.
In the Shootout, on San Diego’s fourth try, Stefan Noesen juked and then lifted a puck over Grosenick’s left shoulder to give the Gulls the lead. Carpenter had one last chance for San Jose, but he was denied by Tokarski's blocker.
Troy Grosenick (3-3-0-1) was impressive again, steering away 35 San Diego shots, but was unable to capture his third straight win. Tokarski (4-2-0-0) collected his fourth victory of the year by stopping 22 of 24 shots he faced.