Barracuda offense continues to struggle in shutout loss to Reign
In what is an on going franchise record, the San Jose Barracuda saw their goalless drought reach 166:20 Saturday night after being shutout for the second time in as many nights, this time by goaltender Peter Budaj, who made 24-saves for his third shutout of the season in leading the Ontario Reign (AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings) to a 3-0 win at the Citizens Business Bank Arena.
The Barracuda, whose last goal was a shorthanded score by forward Scott Timmins at 18:40 of their game Wednesday night at SAP Center, went 0-for-5 on the power play in Ontario and went 0-for-12 with the man advantage for the week.
Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell made 14-saves on 15 shot attempts in 40-minutes of relief time for starting goaltender Troy Grosenick, who exited the game at the end of the first period after it appeared the skate of Reign forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas accidentally caught Grosenick up high at the side of the net with 3:45 left in opening frame.
The winning goal was scored by Reign forward Andrew Crescenzi just 67-seconds into the game when he shuffled a rebound from the right of the crease past a sprawled out Grosenick after Grosenick had made the initial save on a left point shot from Reign defenseman Zach Leslie. The goal was Crescenzi's first of the season.
The Reign added an insurance goal at 4:12 of the third period when forward Adrian Kempe buried home a one-timer from on top of the crease top shelf for a power play goal, his first goal of the season.
With the Barracuda trialing by two, Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer pulled Dell for the extra attacker with 3:40 left in the game and the Reign forward Michael Mersch scored an empty net goal, his fourth goal of the season, at 19:14 to seal the 3-0 win.
NOTES... Shots on goal were 28-24 in favor of the Reign... The Barracuda went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill... Grosenick was credited with the loss and falls to 0-2-1 with a 2.90 goals-against-average and .917 save percentage... Dell now has a 2.21 goals-against-average and .926 save percentage... The Barracuda extended their streak to two games of having a fighting major when defenseman Gus Young fought Reign forward Ryan Horvat at 17:49 of the first period... Barracuda defenseman Julius Bergman had a team high four shots on goal... Barracuda forwards John McCarthy and Melker Karlsson stayed behind in San Jose as McCarthy was called up to Sharks and Karlsson had a maintenance day... This was the first of 12 meetings between the Barracuda and Reign this season... The Barracuda are 0-1-0 against the Reign, 2-1-0 on the road and 2-3-1 with five points overall... The Barracuda are back in action Nov. 1 when they host the Reign at SAP Center with puck drop at 3pm/pt.
THREE STARS
1. Peter Budaj - Reign (24 saves, Shutout win)
2. Andrew Crescenzi - Reign (1-0-1)
3. Adrian Kempe - Reign (1-0-1)
LINES
*In order of appearance*
Haley (A) / Carpenter / Emanuelsson
Goldobin / Timmins / Jevpalovs
Helewka / Langlois / Parkes
McLaren / Crane / Arseneau
DEFENSE
*In order of appearance*
Young / DeMelo (A)
Stollery (A) / Ryan
Cundari / Bergman
GOALIES
Grosenick
Dell
SCRATCHES
McNally (scr)