The San Jose Barracuda lost a physical game with the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday night in which the ‘Cuda were outgunned.
First period
Just under three minutes in, Oasiz Wiesblatt, brother of former San Jose Sharks draft pick Ozzy Wiesblatt and Kasper Halttunen decided to set the temperature for the night with matching fighting majors.
Not long after, Andreas Englund and Samuel Laberge joined the penalty box party with their own five-minute penalties.
In the middle of all these penalties, including a pair of power-play opportunities, both goaltenders were called into action often. Matthew Murray saw the busier workload and handled it well despite constant pressure. The fight tension never really left the ice, and neither did the whistles.
But with seconds left in the period, the ice finally tilted.
David Edstrom, who the Sharks traded to the Nashville Predators for Yaroslav Askarov, found a loose puck near the net and buried it at 19:56, giving the Admirals the 1–0 lead heading into the intermission. It was Edstrom’s first goal as a professional.
Ryan Ufko and Jordan Oesterle picked up the apples, and suddenly all that early emotion translated into an actual scoreboard swing.
A messy, punch-filled, penalty-heavy first period, but the kind of messy that makes hockey fun.
Second period
If the first period was all punches and buildup, the second was goals … and also still a lot of punches.
Things got rolling quickly with a couple of early penalties, and suddenly the ice opened up for Zach L’Heureux, who made the most of the power play and buried one at 2:02. That kind of kicked the door open for the offense on both sides.
A minute later, Daniel Carr snapped home another power play goal.
There was barely time to process before Wiesblatt added one of his own, again on the man advantage.
The ‘Cuda answered back, though, and finally got on the board. Mattias Hävelid jumped into the play and slipped one home to keep things interesting. And still, the parade to the box rolled on. Hooking, tripping, interference, you name it.
Then, the middle of the period turned into a wrestling match. Multiple majors, misconduct, roughing everywhere.
Through it all, the power plays continued stacking, and Ufko cashed in on one, extending the lead again.
A late response from Halttunen helped close the gap, but after everything, like the goals, the scrums, the penalties, this game was and continued to be physical.
Third period
The third didn’t have the scoring frenzy from earlier, but it definitely kept the theme of “everyone is mad and nobody wants to go home.”
Chances came from everywhere pretty much, Regenda, Hävelid, Egor Afanasyev all getting looks, but Matthew Murray was staying sharp. The penalty kill had to work through another Kevin Gravel trip, but by then, both teams seemed more interested in firing pucks than actually converting.
Most of the period was back-and-forth without much payoff. A few dangerous pushes, a couple of scrambles, but the scoreboard stayed the same.
Until the empty net.
With time winding down, Ryder Rolston found the open net from distance at 17:44, sealing things.
A calmer finish compared to what came before, but still very on-brand for the night: shots, shoves, and a whole lot of box time.
Postgame
The San Jose Barracuda fell short after a penalty-filled night. Frustration and discipline were recurring themes as the team struggled to find any rhythm at even strength.
The Barracuda spent significant stretches shorthanded, with Head Coach John McCarthy pointing out how the constant parade to the box derailed any momentum.
“It’s the number of penalties, but it’s also the timing of them. We had to kill four in a matter of four or five minutes … it just disrupts the flow of the game,” said McCarthy.
San Jose also struggled to solve an aggressive opposing penalty kill.
“gotta move the puck quicker, get more pucks to the inside. I thought we stayed outside too much, especially on the five and three.”
Despite the rough night, McCarthy emphasized the importance of learning from mistakes and maintaining composure in tight and emotional games.
“I think frustration, and you know, guys get into those situations. A little bit more than normal tonight.”
The Barracuda will look to reset and clean up their discipline heading into their next matchup.
