San Jose Barracuda Fall to Gulls in Nail-Biter

Nov 7, 2015

SAN JOSE, CA –The San Jose Barracuda (3-4-0-1, 7pts) presented by Barracuda Networks lost 3-2 in regulation to the visiting San Diego Gulls (8-2-0-0, 16pts) in front of 4,053 fans at the SAP Center on Saturday afternoon.  The San Jose Barracuda host the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday, November 8th at 3:00 pm.

Barclay Goodrow (1-0-1) and Nikita Jevpalovs (1-0-1) scored the Barracuda’s two goals.  Mike Sgarbossa (2-0-2) lead the way offensively for the Gulls scoring the first two goals with Joseph Cramarossa (1-0-1) scoring the game-winner late in the third period.  John Gibson went the distance for the Gulls making 31 saves in his 6th win of the season.  Troy Grosenick played made 25 saves in the loss for the Barracuda. 

Mike Sgarbossa (1st) of the Gulls, scored off a second chance rebound in front of the net at 8:15 to jumpstart an action packed first period.  Fireworks flew at 8:40 when Frazer McLaren (2nd FM) of the Barracuda and Brian McGrattan (2nd FM) of the Gulls dropped the gloves and went at it, with both players exchanging heaving shots back and forth.  With 32.5 seconds left in the period, Sgarbossa (2nd) pounced on a loose puck in front of the net on the rush, to give the Gulls a 2-0 lead heading into the 2nd period.  Troy Grosenick made nine saves for the Barracuda while John Gibson made six for the Gulls.

Troy Grosenick was steadfast through the second period saving all nine shots faced.  At 14:29 McGrattan of the Gulls received two minor penalties for taking out goaltender Grosenick, 2 minutes for goaltender interference and 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.  San Jose was unable to capitalize on the four-minute power play opportunity.  Two minutes later Barclay Goodrow (1st) scored his first goal in his first game as a Barracuda at 18:37 to cut the Gulls lead in half.  Shots were 15 – 9 in favor of the Barracuda.

Both teams battled back and forth in an exciting 3rd period.  Grosenick robbed the Gulls on an open net shot at 6:59, making a gorgeous glove save moving right to left to the keep the score at 2-1.  Rookie Nikita Jevpalovs (2nd) tied the game up at two a piece on a backdoor open net rebound at 12:19.  The Gulls regained the lead at 14:56 off of an Ovechkin-like wrist shot through the defenders legs from the right circle.  Grosenick was pulled for the extra skater with 1:30 remaining but the Gulls held strong to secure the win.  Grosenick made seven saves in the period while Gibson made 11 for the Gulls win. 

Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Joseph Cramarossa (GWG) 2nd star: Barclay Goodrow (1-0-1) 1st star: Mike Sgarbossa (2-0-2)… Final shots were 33-28 in favor of San Jose… John Gibson (6-1-0) made 31 saves on 33 shots for San Diego ….Troy Grosenick (0-3-1) made 25 saves on 28 shots for San Jose in the loss….San Jose went 0-for-3 on the power play while San Diego went 0-for-2… Melker Karlsson led the Barracuda with five shots…, Vincent Arseneau and Patrick McNally did not dress for the Barracuda… captain Bryan Lerg, Nikolay Goldobin, Micheal Haley, and Mark Cundari are still on recall with the SJ Sharks… Melker Karlsson’s played in his first game back since October 23rd vs the Gulls.  Barclay Goodrow played in his Barracuda debut after suiting up in 12 games with the Sharks.  This was the first of 13 double headers this season for the Sharks and Barracuda at SAP Center in San Jose as the Shark host the Ducks at 7:30pm….several hundred teddy bears hit the ice after Goodrow scored the first Barracuda goal – the teddy bears are to be donated to charity courtesy of Kaiser Permanente.

Coming up….  

On Sunday, the Barracuda host the Bakersfield Condors at 3:00 pm with coverage beginning at 3 pm on AM 1220 KDOW.  Fans may watch the game for a small fee at www.AHLLive.com.