After not being able to defeat the San Diego Gulls (AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks) in three games on home ice at the SAP Center, the San Jose Barracuda completed a weekend Sweep of the Gulls at the Valley View Casino Center with a 4-3 win Saturday night.
Barracuda goaltender Troy Grosenick made his second consecutive start and earned his second win of the season by making 32-saves, 19 of which came in the third period. In addition, Barracuda forward Jeremy Langlois continued his hot streak by scoring his fourth goal in his last six games and eight different Barracuda skaters registered a point.
Langlois put the Barracuda ahead 1-0 at 8:21 with his fourth goal of the season when he fired the puck past Gulls goaltender Matt Hackett from inside the left circle off a face-off win by linemate Ryan Carpenter.
The lead was extended to 2-0 at 18:28 when defenseman Karl Stollery fired a slap shot from near the center point on the left side that beat Hackett and popped the Gatorade bottle out of its holder. Sharks defenseman Dylan DeMelo had the lone assist on the goal, which was Stollery’s first of the season.
With the Barracuda on an early power play inside the opening 65-seconds of the second period, defenseman Mark Cundari ripped a howitzer of a slap shot from on top of the right circle through the wickets of Hackett at 1:31 for a 3-0 lead and his first goal of the season, which was assisted by defenseman Joakim Ryan.
The Gulls got the goal back and on the scoreboard 34-seconds later when forward Brian McGrattan beat Grosenick blocker side with a slap shot from on top of the right circle while on the move for his second goal of the season.
The Barracuda regained their three goal lead at 11:08 when forward Greger Hansen corralled an up-ice chip pass from linemate John McCarthy in the Gulls zone and beat Hackett with a snap shot from the left slot (just inside the circle) for his first goal of the season, which held up as the game winner.
Not wanting to be swept on home ice, the Gulls turned up their offensive pressure in the third period and peppered Grosenick with 21 shots, seven more than they had through 40-minutes combined. Of the two pucks that got by Grosenick in the final frame, one came with two-seconds remaining (scored by forward Chris Mueller) after the Gulls had played with the extra attacker for nearly five minutes as Hackett was pulled following forward Nic Kerdiles’ 5-on-3 power play goal at 14:42.
NOTES… Shots on goal were 35-26 in favor of the Gulls… The Barracuda went 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill… Grosenick is now 2-3-1 with a 3.10 goals-against-average and .905 save percentage… Barracuda forward Nikita Jevpalovs had a team high five shots on goal and a disallowed goal due to goaltender interference in the first period… Barracuda defenseman Mark Cundari dropped the gloves against Gulls forward Matt Bailey at 5:23 of the second period… Langlois has a four game point streak (3-2-5)… Barracuda captain Bryan Lerg had his five game point streak snapped (4-2-6)… The Barracuda are now 2-2-1 against the Gulls this season, 4-2-0 on the road and 5-6-1 with 11 points overall… The Barracuda are back in action Nov. 18 when they travel to play the Bakersfield Condors at 10:30 a.m/pt for a School Day Game.
THREE STARS
1. Greger Hanson – Barracuda (1-0-1, GWG)
2. Troy Grosenick – Barracuda (32 saves, Win)
3. Brandon Montour – Gulls (0-1-1)
LINES
Lerg (C) / Carpenter / Langlois
Goodrow / Timmins / Parkes
Jevpalovs / McCarthy (A) / Hanson
Gallant / Doremus / Emanuelsson
DEFENSE
Stollery / DeMelo (A)
Young / Ryan
Cundari / Bergman
GOALIES
Grosenick
Dell
SCRATCHES
Crane
McNally
McLaren (inj)
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