Wild Finish in Stockton Has Barracuda Falling 4-3 in Shootout
Nov 21, 2015
STOCKTON, CA –The San Jose Barracuda (5-6-0-3, 13pts) presented by Barracuda Networks dropped a wild 4-3 shootout decision to the host Stockton Heat (5-5-0-2, 12pts) in front 6,171 fans at the Stockton Arena on Saturday evening. The Barracuda wrap up their season long seven game road trip in Charlotte, NC vs. the Checkers on Tuesday and Wednesday evening at 7pm.
Troy Grosenick made 49 saves in net for the Barracuda as San Jose was able to battle back from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Barclay Goodrow, Scott Timmins, and John McCarthy scored for San Jose but the Barracuda fell after a wild five round shootout. Heat netminder Kevin Poulin injured himself after John McCarthy scored in the first round of the shootout and was replaced by Kent Simpson who then stopped two of the four Barracuda shooters for the victory. The Barracuda are now 2-1-0-2 on their season long seven game road and now have points in four straight games (2-0-0-2).
The Heat broke out to a 2-0 lead in the first period after connecting on a pair of odd man rushes. Kenny Agostino (1st) gave Stockton a 1-0 lead at 5:16 and Markus Granlund (5th) made it 2-0 after he finished off a 2-on-1 rush past goaltender Troy Grosenick at 8:13. Kevin Poulin made several great saves in the opening period for Stockton as San Jose held a 14-12 shot advantage through 20 minutes of play.
San Jose was outshot 19-12 in the second period but scored the only goal with their only power play advantage. Barclay Goodrow (3rd) tipped a Mark Cundari blast past goaltender Kevin Poulin at 3:14 to get the Barracuda on the board. Stockton would get three power plays to end the period but Troy Grosenick stood tall as San Jose trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Scott Timmins (4th) tied the score at 2-2 after great board work by Greger Hanson and Nikita Jevpalovs at 2:49 of the third period. John McCarthy (2nd) roofed a shot on a 2-on-1 rush at 5:25 to give San Jose a 3-2 advantage. But the Heat would tie the score at 12:05 as Emile Poirier (1st) took a feed from behind the net and beat Grosenick with a one timer all alone in front of the San Jose cage. Shots were 17-4 in favor of Stockton in the third period as we went to overtime tied 3-3.
Goaltender Kent Simpson replaced an injured Kevin Poulin after the first round of the shootout and held on for the victory. John McCarthy, Nikita Jevpalovs, and Jeremy Langlois scored for San Jose but the Heat scored on four of their five tries as Freddie Hamilton netted the game winner in round number five.
The Barracuda fall to 5-6-0-3 overall with a 4-2-0-2 record on the road.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Kenny Agostino (1-1-2, shootout goal) 2nd star: Mark Cundari (0-2-2) 1st star: Freddie Hamilton (GWG in shootout)…Final shots were 53-33 in favor of Stockton… Kevin Poulin (2-0-1) made 30 saves on 33 shots for Stockton and got a no decision after getting injured in the 1st round of the shootout – Kent Simpson got the win stopping two of four shooters in the shootout….Troy Grosenick (2-3-2) made 49 saves on 52 shots for San Jose and stopped one of five in the shootout ….San Jose went 1-for-1 on the power play while Stockton went 0-for-5… Patrick McNally, Chris Crane, Daniel Doremus and Alex Gallant (injured) did not dress for the Barracuda…Micheal Haley, Melker Karlsson, Nikolay Goldobin, and Mirco Mueller are all currently with the SJ Sharks…. Mark Cundari (0-2-2), Joakim Ryan, Nikita Jevpalovs, and Greger Hanson all had assists for San Jose…the 49 saves for Grosenick was a career high and a Barracuda record…the Barracuda are now 1-3 in the shootout this year and have yet to have a game decided in the overtime period.
Coming up….
On Tuesday, the Barracuda battle the Checkers (AHL affiliate of Carolina Hurricanes) in Charlotte, NC at 4pm. Coverage begins at 3:30pm online at www.kdow.biz and www.ahllive.com. Fans can listen on AM 1220 KDOW on a tape delay at 8pm.
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