Barracuda narrowly beat the Gulls 5-4

For two periods, it seemed like the San Jose Barracuda had the game with the San Diego Gulls well in hand. Heading into the locker room after the second period, the Barracuda had a commanding 5-1 lead. However, somehow, some way, the Gulls found their way back into the game.

The Gulls, Anaheim’s AHL affiliate, scored three unanswered goals on Tuesday night, nearly completing the comeback. However, Georgi Romanov stood tall in net for the Barracuda and San Jose narrowly scraped out a 5-4 win.

Thomas Bordeleau, who had two goals in the game, recognized that the team wasn’t at its best in the third period, but he was happy with the end result.

“Every time they scored a goal it was just because we got away from our game, so it was really just try to stick to that. Stick to what works,” said Bordeleau. “Obviously, a little bit of a heart attack at the end on the bench. Just not sure what was gonna happen, but at least we got the two points and that’s what matters.”

Head Coach John McCarthy didn’t like the third period, but he was very happy with the way his team played in the second period.

“I thought we took care of the puck. That was the biggest thing. We weren’t making those high risk plays. High percentage, low risk plays and kind of a series of them on top of each other led to a lot of OZ [offensive zone] time,” said McCarthy of the second period. “Then I didn’t think we did as good of a job of that in the third period and that’s why we let them back in the game. But overall, a positive for us today.”

This Barracuda game gives Sharks fans a good idea of who is playing well and might receive the first callup to the big team.

San Jose has a lot of defensive depth

The Sharks roster is full with eight active defensemen and a ninth, Matt Benning, currently on injured reserve. The Barracuda are dealing with a similar issue. There are nine defensemen on the roster. That means there’s not a lot of room for movement, specifically up and down, among San Jose’s defense. However, who’s playing and who’s not for the Barracuda offer a lot of indications of who might be called up if there’s suddenly room on the NHL blueline.

Tuesday night’s pairings included:

Shakir Mukhamadullin – Leon Gawanke
Ethan Frisch – Radim Simek
Henry Thrun – Nick Cicek

Gawanke and Frish each had an assist in last night’s game.

Another observation, Mukhamadullin is going to make Sharks fans very happy when he’s finally called up. His size gives him an advantage, but he’s also an exceptional player. Not only is he a very smooth skater, but he doesn’t panic, and he doesn’t force plays. He makes smart decisions with the puck.

Cardwell, Bordeleau lead the charge

In terms of forwards, Ethan Cardwell and Thomas Bordeleau are the two players worth a watch at the moment. Bordeleau had two goals against the Gulls, while Cardwell had a goal and two assists. The two have been playing together since Bordeleau returned to the Barracuda from the Sharks. Jacob Peterson has joined the line for the past few games. He also performed last night, with a goal and an assist. Brandon Coe was the other scorer for the Barracuda.

Sharks may have found a steal in Romanov

The fact that a Sharks scout somehow discovered Georgi Romanov in the VHL (the Russian hockey tier below the KHL) and then brought him to San Jose without much competition from other teams is amazing. While it’s early, San Jose may have pulled one over on every other team in the league.

Romanov allowed 4 goals on 30 shots Tuesday night, but at least two of those goals were the result of defensive breakdowns rather than mistakes by the goaltender. On the third goal, in particular, even though the Barracuda were at even strength, they allowed a Nathan Gaucher to stand all alone, uncontested at the far post. It didn’t take much for Jacob Perreault to thread a pass through a bunch of Barracuda players to the waiting Gaucher for an easy tap in.

McCarthy acknowledged the breakdown postgame and praised Romanov’s game.

“Unfortunately, especially in the third period, I thought, [we] left the net front unoccupied by us, occupied by them a couple of times. [Romanov] made a couple of nice saves. Thought he was good,” said McCarthy.