San Jose Barracuda Report: Sommer Ties Record

Finally, after coming up short on six previous occasions, the San Jose Barracuda were able to get Roy Sommer his 636th career AHL victory. The Barracuda notched a 4-3 victory over the San Antonio Rampage, the top affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, as Sommer tied Fred “Bun” Cook for the all-time AHL wins lead.

It wasn’t an easy mountain to climb for the Barracuda who hit a rough patch heading into the All-Star break. After falling to the Rampage the night before to see their losing streak reach six games, San Jose picked up a much needed victory behind the efforts of their power play.

All-Star Ryan Carpenter got the Barracuda on the board to even things up at one with his ninth goal of the season, and then John McCarthy would score San Jose’s second power play goal of the evening to tie things up at two as the game was even after 40 minutes of play.

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In the final frame, Ben Smith would give the Barracuda their first lead of the game off a nice feed from Nikolay Goldobin as San Jose converted for the third time with the man advantage. The goal was Smith’s first of the season and gave the Barracuda the momentum they needed.

Petter Emanuelsson would score San Jose’s lone goal at even strength, although it was a big one as it turned out to be the game-winning goal after the Rampage cut the deficit back to one late in the third. However, Aaron Dell would stand tall the rest of the way as Sommer finally got the monkey off his back.

As it stands now, the Barracuda sit in third place in the Pacific Division of the AHL with a 19-14-5-3 record, 46 points and a points percentage of .561. Despite their recent losing streak, San Jose has done a nice job in the first half of the season to put themselves into a playoff position.

Leading the way for the Barracuda are All-Stars Barclay Goodrow and Carpenter, as Carpenter leads the team with 36 points (nine goals, 26 assists) in 39 games. Meanwhile, Goodrow has come down to the AHL level and showcased some of his offensive talents, leading San Jose with 14 goals at the break.

In net, both goaltenders have seen equal amounts of time as Troy Grosenick (2.96 GAA and a .904 save percentage) leads the Barracuda with 10 wins in 22 games, but Aaron Dell has the better overall numbers with a 2.62 GAA and .914 save percentage while racking up seven victories in 21 appearances.

Next: Second Period Mistakes Cost Sharks In Anaheim

San Jose faces a big three-game stretch coming out of the All-Star break as the Barracuda take on the division-leading Ontario Reign, top affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, in three consecutive games. Beginning with a pair of back-to-back games in Ontario on Friday and Saturday, San Jose looks to improve on their third place standing and close the gap with the Reign atop the Pacific.

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