It was 10:30 am when the puck dropped at the TechCU Arena in San Jose on Wednesday. That’s when the San Jose Barracuda hosted the San Diego Gulls on “Cuda Classroom Day,” where the audience was 95% children.
The San Jose Barracuda delivered an incredible performance, shutting out the San Diego Gulls 4-0 at home. A combination of early offensive pressure, strong special teams and stellar goaltending helped San Jose secure this win.
San Jose wasted no time getting on the board, as Lucas Vanroboys opened the scoring at 9:38 from Danil Gushchin and Braden Haché.
— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) March 19, 2025
The ‘Cuda kept the pressure on, and after San Diego’s Easton Brodzinski took a hooking penalty at 17:50, San Jose capitalized. Gushchin struck on the power play at 19:06, making it his 37th point of the year.
— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) March 19, 2025
San Jose continued to control the pace in the second period. After Jimmy Schuldt was sent to the box for high-sticking at 9:11, the Barracuda killed off the penalty and struck again at 14:23. Ethan Frisch found the back of the net, making the lead 3-0 in favor of the ‘Cuda.
WHAT. A. SHOT.🔥 pic.twitter.com/ob1MllX612
— SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) March 19, 2025
San Diego struggled against San Jose’s offensive pressure, and despite a power play opportunity, the Gulls failed to break through.
The final frame saw more frustration for the Gulls, as the team took multiple penalties, including Scott Sabourin for slashing and Travis Howe for roughing and tripping. The chippy play resulted in Howe receiving a 10-minute misconduct.
San Jose put the finishing touch on the team’s day when Colin White scored a short-handed empty-net goal at 19:04, assisted by Ethan Cardwell, making this game a shutout!
The audience was filled with children as mentioned before, so the noise level was through the roof.
“It’s a cool event. It’s a little loud at times, but the guys fed off the energy, it was good,” said Head Coach John McCarthy postgame.
Shutout Performance
San Diego’s Oscar Dansk faced 35 shots, stopping 32 before being pulled late. San Jose’s Gabriel Carriere and the Barracuda defense stood tall, turning aside all 18 Gulls’ shots to secure that shutout. San Jose went 1-for-3 on the power play, with Gushchin’s goal serving as the lone special teams marker. The Gulls failed to score all four of their power play opportunities.
Guschin has been showing us what he came here to do. Making waves on this team and putting up points left and right. He currently is at the 37-point marker for this season, further proving his place on this team as a leader and offensive threat. With all these call-ups to the Sharks, it makes us wonder if Gushchin will be a contender soon. Time will tell! The ‘Cuda return to play in San Jose on Sunday at 5 p.m.
Scoring Summary
First Period
9:38 SJ Lucas Vanroboys from Danil Gushchin and Braden Haché
19:06 SJ Danil Gushchin from Pavol Regenda and Lucas Carlsson
Second Period
14:23 SJ Ethan Frisch from Ethan Cardwell and Colin White
Third Period
19:04 SJ Colin White from Ethan Cardwell
