BARRACUDA FADE AFTER FAST START, FALL TO GULLS
Jan 11, 2023
San Diego, CA – The San Jose Barracuda (15-20-0-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Wednesday at the Pechanga Arena but would give up the next five goals, falling 5-2 to the San Diego Gulls (11-24-0).
In the first, Jeff Viel (6) tipped in a Darren Brady wrister from the right point to open the scoring and then William Eklund (9) snapped a 12-game goalless drought by whipping a shot through the five-hole of Lukas Dostal as he carried it down the right wing to give the Barracuda a 2-0 lead. The Barracuda would end the period outshooting the Gulls 14-3.
In the second, San Diego would cut the lead in half as Pavol Regenda (7) trickled a right-flank shot through a screened Eetu Makiniemi at 2:15. After Eklund dropped the gloves for the first time in the AHL and was called for instigating, the Gulls would tie the score at 2-2 when Bo Groulx (8) tipped in a Brayden Tracy pull of the trigger.
In the third, with the game tied at 2-2, Hunter Drew (4) directed in a Rocco Grimaldi wraparound to give the Gulls its first lead and then Grimaldi would net a pair of empty-net shorthanded goals to seal the 5-2 win.
After giving up two goals on the first six shots he faced, Dostal (9-14-0) would stop the next 25 consecutive shots to earn the win, while Makiniemi (6-10-1) suffered his sixth consecutive loss, giving up three goals on 31 shots.
The Barracuda return to Tech CU Arena on Saturday to faceoff with the Abbotsford Canucks. Tickets start at just $13 at SJBarracuda.com.
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Tech CU Arena is a state-of-the-art, 4,200-seat arena located in San Jose. It is the home of San Jose Barracuda. Tech CU Arena is a partnership between Sharks Sports & Entertainment and Technology Credit Union, a full-service, federally insured not-for-profit credit union headquartered in the heart of San Jose. With more than 155,000 members, Tech CU provides a wide array of financial products and services, including personal banking, financial management, private banking, commercial lending, and business banking. Learn more at www.techcu.com.