San Jose Barracuda Drop Pair To So Cal Rivals

The San Jose Barracuda appeared to heading down the right road as they had won four of their past five games and were showing signs of developing a consistent presence in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League (AHL). Unfortunately, the Barracuda took a detour last week as they lost both games to their Southern California rivals.

It all began last Saturday when the Barracuda concluded their five-game home stand by hosting the San Diego Gulls, top affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks. It was not a pretty end for San Jose as San Diego blanked the Barracuda by a 5-0 margin. The Gulls thoroughly dominated the Barracuda from start to finish, chasing starting netminder Aaron Dell after he allowed three goals on the first six shots he faced.

Troy Grosenick came on in relief but wasn’t able to stem the tide as San Diego would add two third period goals for the five-goal victory. The shocking stat from this one is the Gulls are undefeated in four matchups against the Barracuda at SAP Center this season. That’s not good.

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The next night, San Jose traveled down South to face the Pacific Division leading Ontario Reign, top affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. The Barracuda put up a much better fit against the Reign, but would eventually fall by a 2-1 final in Ontario.

San Jose was able to take the lead as Trevor Parkes scored his fourth goal of the season, deflecting Mark Cundari’s shot with just 31 seconds remaining in the first. Dell was back between the pipes for the Barracuda, making Parkes’ goal stand until the final minutes of the game.

Ontario tied the game with only 69 seconds remaining before Kevin Gravel’s third goal of the season proved the difference during the overtime session. Dell made 22 saves in a bounce back performance, but he was unable to come up with the victory.

Next: San Jose Escapes Toronto With Overtime Win

Currently, San Jose sits in sixth place in the Pacific Division with a 9-9-1-3 record, good for 22 points. The Barracuda will need to pick up their play if they want to move up within the division standings because they are beginning to dig themselves quite the hole.

The Barracuda return to action tonight as they look to enact some revenge against the Gulls in San Diego, before returning home to face the Stockton Heat, affiliate of the Calgary Flames, for their final game before the holiday break. Needless to say, these are two big contests for San Jose as they want to head into the break on a winning note.

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