Going into their game against the San Diego Gulls (AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks) at the Valley View Casino Center, the San Jose Barracuda had yet to win a game when trailing after 40-minutes. That trend continued Friday night as the Barracuda fell 3-2 in overtime to the Gulls and fell to 0-8-3 when trailing after two periods.
The Barracuda, who have lost two straight games in overtime and their last three games overall, got regulation goals from defenseman Karl Stollery and forward Nikolay Goldobin while goaltender Troy Grosenick made 28 saves in net, 11 of which came in the third period. In addition, forward Ryan Carpenter extended his point streak to three games with an assist.
After a scoreless first period that was highlighted by Gulls fans throwing teddy bears onto the ice for a goal at the end of the period that was immediately waived off and held up upon review, Stollery put the Barracuda ahead 1-0 at 7:51 of the second period off a snap shot from the top of the slot that beat Gulls goaltender Anton Khudobin top shelf. Sharks forwards Lerg and Carpenter had the assists on the goal, which was Stollery’s second of the season.
The lead only last for seven-and-a-half minutes as the Gulls scored two power play goals in a two-and-a-half minute span to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission. Defenseman Shea Theodore tied the game at at 15:26 when his wrist shot from the left point in front of the blue line go through traffic in front and beat Grosenick for his fourth goal of the season, which resulted in another wave of teddy bears tossed onto the ice. At 17:54, forward Stefan Noesen went unnoticed by all four Barracuda penalty killers to get positioned on top of the crease and reached out to knock a centering feed from the left corner past Grosenick for his second goal of the season.
In the third period, Goldobin pulled the Barracuda even at 12:16 when he buried home a snap shot from inside the left circle while on the move on an odd man rush for his fifth goal of the season. Goldobin’s linemate Petter Emanuelsson and defenseman Mirco Mueller had the assists.
With a 1:46 left in the period, Barracuda forward Jeremy Langlois drew a holding penalty on Theodore to give the Barracuda a late power play to possibly win the game but the Barracuda were unable to take advantage of their opportunity. Once Theodore’s penalty expired in overtime, the extra session stayed 4-on-4 as the action stayed continuous and Noesen won the game for the Gulls at 3:11 when he beat Grosenick with a one-timer from just in front of the right circle.
NOTES… Shots on goal were 32-31 in favor of the Barracuda… The Barracuda went 0-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-7 on the penalty kill… Grosenick’s record fell to 5-4-3 with a 3.12 goals-against-average and .900 save percentage… Barracuda forward John McCarthy had a game high six shots on goal… Barracuda forward Alex Gallant dropped Gulls defenseman Stu Bickel during their first period fight… Carpenter has eight points (1-7-8) during his three game point streak… The Barracuda are 5-3-4 on the road and 9-9-5 with 23 points overall… The Barracuda are back in action Dec. 20 when they host the Stockton Heat at 3p.m/pt.
THREE STARS
1. Stefan Noesen – Gulls (2-0-2, OT GWG)
2. Max Friberg – Gulls (0-1-0)
3. Anton Khudobin – Gulls (30 saves, Win)
LINES
Lerg (C) / Carpenter / Parkes
Goldobin / McCarthy (A) / Emanuelsson
Hanson / Haley (A) / Langlois
Gallant / Jevpalovs / McLaren
DEFENSE
*In order of appearance*
Young / Ryan
Stollery / Bergman
Cundari / Mueller
GOALIES
Grosenick
Dell
SCRATCHES
McNally
Doremus (inj)
Timmins (inj)
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