The San Jose Barracuda wrapped up a disappointing weekend at home with a 3-2 loss to the San Antonio Rampage. This game was the polar opposite of last night’s showdown, with the shots on goal total being completely lopsided on the side of the Rampage, 38-18.
Some notable scratches were Manny Wiederer, who as you may recall was forced to leave the game last night after a hit from Dan Renouf at mid-ice, and Tage Thompson, 2017 WJC Gold Medal winner, for the Rampage, who share an affiliation with Blues players as well as Avalanche players this season.
Alexander True put the Barracuda on the board first with a backhander off a pass from Adam Helewka at 4:44 of the first period. Rocco Grimaldi of the Rampage answered back, kicking off an amazing game with a goal that came off a two-on-one opportunity with six seconds remaining in the first.
After these two home games, it seems the Barracuda are really, really missing the likes of Joakim Ryan and Tim Heed patrolling the blue line, especially on the power play. The ‘Cuda went one for six with the man-advantage tonight, and at one point had a four minute power play after Brandon Mashinter bled following a high stick from Nic Meloche.
The Cuda finally found the back of the net on a power play late into the second period when Filip “The Sandman” Sandberg redirected a Julius Bergman shot from the point and tallied his first professional goal to make it 2-1.
A generally sloppy game from both sides would only get worse in the third period, as the referees seemed to have lost total control of the game when they failed to blow a play dead, in which Marcus Sorensen crashed into Spencer Martin, causing the latter to lose his helmet and blocker. Martin wasn’t happy. Colby McAuley once again got involved in a scrap, or lack thereof, as both he and Felix Girard were banished to the sin bins at 16:10 for roughing. In this period, the Rampage would get two power play goals. The first one would redirect off the stick of Joe Colborne and get past Bibeau. The Rampage then took advantage of a four-on-three opportunity, as Andrew Agozzino poked a rebound past Bibeau and a diving Jacob Middleton to give the Rampage the lead, and the win.
Today’s three stars were Joe Colborne, Antoine Bibeau, and Andrew Agozzino, in that order. Although not selected, Rocco Grimaldi was a force out there tonight. He was easily the best player out there for the Rampage. He was visible on every play that he was on the ice for, saving a sure goal in the second period and the aforementioned two-on-one goal.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the results of this weekend, however frustrating they may be. It’s only the third game of the season. The Barracuda will see the Stockton Heat in their second match up of the season this Wednesday at 7:00 PDT, and the Rampage will head to Cedar Park to take on their rivals, the Texas Stars, on Friday.
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