Barracuda defeat the Roadrunners 4-1

The San Jose Barracuda extended their winning streak to a franchise-record nine games with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Tucson Roadrunners. The game saw a return to the lineup for Tim Heed and Marcus Sorensen while Timo Meier, who was also sent down, was given the night off. The Sharks brass were all in attendance, giving everyone on the team something to play for as the Sharks have room on the roster for three call-ups before the Sharks next game with the Florida Panthers.

The Barracuda played a very strong first period and got on the board first at 11:14 as Rourke Chartier scored his 10th goal and became the 9th Barracuda player to hit the double-digit goal mark this year. Tim Heed picked up where he left off with yet another primary assist (16, 27 total) thanks to a strong play by Nikolay Goldobin (23).

The Roadrunners took three penalties in the opening frame and the Barracuda made them pay for it on a filthy passing sequence. At 17:29 Goldobin scored his 13th, finishing a play that started with Tim Heed (28) and Marcus Sorensen (15).

The Barracuda, however, got into some penalty trouble of their own, a bad and frankly unnecessary Barclay Goodrow penalty allowed the Roadrunners to get on the board at 18:55 of the first. Michael Bunting got his 10th of the year off a Jamie McBain (23) shot from the point, Anthony Duclair (6) got the other assist. Grosenick felt he was interfered with and passionately pleaded with the refs to no avail. The Barracuda out-shot the Roadrunners 16-7 in the period.

The second period continued on a similar pace as the first period. Anthony DeAngelo took the only Tucson penalty of the period and the Barracuda extended their lead to 3-1. Mirco Mueller scored his first of the year in the AHL with assists going to Ryan Carpenter (14) and Julius Bergman (18). I didn’t expect Mueller would get an NHL goal this year before an AHL goal.

Tucson pushed back in the third period and the Barracuda continued to put their penalty kill to work. As good as the Barracuda PK has been there have been games this season where it has been tested too many times. The Barracuda will need to find some discipline going into the playoffs.

Thankfully they killed off all four penalties and added another power play goal of their own when Sorensen notched his 14th of the year with assists from Daniel O’Regan (26) and Goldobin (24) on a scramble in front of the net. The Roadrunners would out-shoot the Barracuda 10-4 in the final frame.

Three Stars

1st. Nikolay Goldobin (1 Goal, 2 Assists)

2nd. Troy Grosenick (28 Saves)

3rd. Marcus Sorensen (1 Goal, 1 Assist)

The final shots on goal were 39-29 in favor of the Barracuda. Troy Grosenick set a personal record with his eighth straight win making 28 saves. Marek Langhamer made 35 saves in a losing effort. Barracuda captain John McCarthy was out of the lineup tonight.

The Barracuda improved their grip on the Pacific and Western Conference lead with a .698 winning percentage. The Barracuda return to the road this weekend looking to extend their record-setting run in Stockton on Friday and in Ontario Saturday. They will return home for a rare Monday game against the Texas Stars on Monday.