BARRACUDA EXPLODE FOR SIX GOALS, BLANK GULLS 6-0

Jan 20, 2023

San Jose, CA – The San Jose Barracuda (17-21-0-1) got a pair of goals from Kyle Criscuolo in his Barracuda debut and 20 saves from Eetu Makiniemi, shutting out the San Diego Gulls (11-28-0-0), 6-0, on Friday night at Tech CU Arena in front of 3,108 fans. The six goals matched a season-high, and the shutout was the club’s fourth of the year.

In the first at 4:53, Criscuolo (6) got things started as he beat Lukas Dostal with a forehand-to-backhand move. The Cuda would go on to outshoot the Gulls 13-4 in the frame and they would take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

In the second, at 1:41, Andrew Agozzino (11) would make it 2-0 Barracuda in his first game back after missing five in a row with an upper-body injury as William Eklund spotted him from below the goal line. Then at 16:46, Max Veronneau would swing a cross-ice pass to Darren Brady (2) who snapped in the team’s second of the period to take a 3-0 lead.

In the third, Criscoulo (7) would tap in a C.J. Suess wraparound as it sat on the goal line at 5:47, and then at 8:44, Thomas Bordeleau (18) made it 5-0 Barracuda by directing a Tristen Robins pass under the crossbar from just above the end line. At 15:32, Artemi Kniazev (2) made it 6-0 by beating Dostal on the glove-side after a won o-zone faceoff draw.

Makiniemi (7-10-1) made it consecutive wins by stopping all 20 shots he faced and in the process collected his second shutout of the season and fourth of his career. Dostal (9-17-0) gave up six goals on 29 Barracuda shots in the loss.

The Barracuda kick off a three-game road trip on Wednesday in Henderson and will return to Tech CU Arena on Feb. 3 to take on the Abbotsford Canucks for the first of a back-to-back.

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