BARRACUDA EARN POINT IN SHOOTOUT LOSS AT COLORADO
Nov 24, 2018
Loveland, CO- The San Jose Barracuda (10-3-1-2) never trailed in 65 minutes of play on Saturday at the Budweiser Events Center but the Colorado Eagles (9-7-3-0) (Colorado Avalanche) earned their third win in a row, 4-3, in a shootout.
In a bit of experimentation, Barracuda Head Coach Roy Sommer put Jeffrey Viel, Dylan Gambrell and Manny Wiederer on a line for the first time this season and Gambrell found Viel (3) uncovered in the low slot and the rookie forward snapped in the pass at 4:37 of the first to give San Jose the games first lead. The Barracuda would hold that lead for over 15 minutes until J.C Beaudin's forecheck forced a Barracuda turnover and Ty Lewis (4) punched in a cross pass from Michael Joly at 19:54 from just above the crease.
Tied at 1-1 through 20 minutes, Zach Frye (1) recaptured San Jose's lead as he snapped a wicked-angle wrister from just above the goal line past Pavel Francouz at 1:15. After a review, the goal was deemed good, despite the net coming off moments before the puck went in. Prior to Saturday, Frye had not played since October 15 due to injury and depth. The tally was the Alaska-Fairbanks alums first of his pro career. Colorado would again tie things up when Justin Falk's (1) left-point shot beat a screened Josef Korenar on the short-side at 10:20. The goal, which was unassisted and came after a failed clear by the Barracuda, was Falk's first in his last 36 AHL games and his first since 2015.
In the third, on San Jose's second power play, Colorado took a bad change that led to a three-on-two. On the odd man rush, Rourke Chartier's shot was blocked but John McCarthy (3) cleaned up the rebound to give San Jose its third lead at 6:36. But once again Colorado would find a way to even the score as Martin Kaut (4) rushed down the wing and went short-side top-shelf on Korenar at 14:41. The score would remain 3-3 through 60 minutes of play, leading to overtime for the second consecutive evening.
In OT, each team traded changes and combined for nine shots over the five-minute period but the game would remain tied.
In the shootout, Joly scored and then Kaut would seal the win as San Jose went zero-for-two in the shootout.
Korenar (6-1-1) took the shootout loss after allowing three goals on 41 shots, while Francouz (9-4-1) earned the win after allowing three on 41.
San Jose returns back to SAP Center on Tuesday, November 27 when they take on the Stockton Heat for Cuda Classroom Day (11 a.m.). Tuesday's broadcast coverage kicks off at 11 a.m. on the Sharks + SAP Center App, SJBarracuda.com/listen and on AHLTV.
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