PULLI SCORES TWICE BUT BARRACUDA FALL 6-5 IN OVERTIME
Jan 20, 2024
Loveland, CO – The San Jose Barracuda (11-19-7-0, 29 pts.) held multiple leads on Saturday night at the Blue Arena but ultimately would fall 6-5 in overtime to Colorado Eagles (17-14-4-1, 39 pts.). With the loss, San Jose is now 0-7 in overtime this season and has dropped eight games in a row (0-5-3-0)
Despite the defeat, Valteri Pulli scored twice, and Nikolai Knyzhov (0+2=2), Radim Simek (0+2=2), Tristen Robins (1+1=2), and Danil Gushchin (1+1=2) all recorded multiple points.
The Barracuda would get on the board in the first at 5:27 and take a 1-0 lead when Gushchin (13) shoveled what looked like an intended backhand pass to the net and it skittered through Eagles’ netminder Trent Miner. But 31 seconds later Matt Steinburg (3) would level the score as he tipped in a Keaton Middleton point-shot. After Artem Guryev was called for cross-checking, the Eagles would take their first lead as Cedric Pare (7) tipped in an Ivan Ivan pull of the trigger at 13:32.
In the second, Brad Hunt (11) made it three unanswered as he beat Magnus Chrona on a two-on-one to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead. With little momentum in their favor, the Barracuda would cut the lead down to one when Robins (3) ripped in his third goal in as many games at 8:27 after a bad Colorado change. Less than two minutes later, at 10:21, Oskar Lindblom (3) poked in a loose puck that was sitting in the crease after a Miner had made the initial save on Jacob Peterson’s rip from the right wing. 40 seconds later the Barracuda would go up 4-3 and end Miner’s night as Gushchin found Pulli (2) from below the goal line as the blueliner drifted to the low slot from the point.
Up 4-3 going into the third, the Barracuda would replace Chrona with Georgi Romonov after Chrona was injured, and the rookie goalie would allow goals on the first two shots he faced as the Eagles went back up by one. First Hunt (12) would blast a shot over Romonov’s shoulder from the point just three seconds into an Eagles power play, and then Ben Meyers (8) would beat Romonov glove-side at 7:46. Down 5-4 late in the third, the Barracuda would find a way to tie the score when Knyzhov spotted Pulli (3) coming down from the point and he fired in the equalizer at 18:15.
After no more goals in regulation, we’d go to OT, and on their only shot of the extra session, the Eagles would secure the win as Oskar Olausson (7) busted down the left wing and went top-shelf at 1:29.
BOX SCORE
The Barracuda close out their five-game road trip in Colorado against the Eagles on Sunday afternoon (2:05 p.m.) before returning to Tech CU Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 24 to faceoff with the Bakersfield Condors. For tickets and more info about upcoming promotions, go to SJBarracuda.com.