San Jose Barracuda Drop Opener In Week One
With all the focus and buzz surrounding the San Jose Sharks and their hot start, it’s time to recap the first week of action for the San Jose Barracuda.
The Barracuda kicked off their inaugural season as a franchise by hosting the Rockford IceHogs, the top development affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, it was a poor start to the campaign for San Jose as the IceHogs scored more than one minute into the game as they defeated the Barracuda 4-2 on Friday, Oct. 9.
Troy Grosenick got the start in net for San Jose and performed fairly well. Despite giving up the early goal, Grosenick made 37 saves on the night as the Barracuda were outshot 41-32 for the game.
Michael Haley paced the Barracuda with the first goal in the franchise’s history, a power-play tally which cut the Rockford lead in half. Captain Bryan Lerg tied the game at two in the second with assists going to Mirco Mueller and Haley.
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However, the Barracuda were unable to complete the comeback as Rockford seized control with two goals in the third for the victory. Special teams was a highlight for San Jose as the Barracuda went 2-for-4 on the power play, while killing off all five penalties on the night.
The Barracuda were without three of their regular players as Julius Bergman, Melker Karlsson and Petter Emanuelsson were all out of the lineup. It was a disappointing start to the season as San Jose struggled to establish their game at 5-on-5. A nice sign from a San Jose perspective was that just under 7,000 fans showed up at SAP Center to check out the newest show in town. If they can draw those numbers consistently. it should bode well for the franchise in the long run.
After one week of play, the Barracuda sit in last place in the Pacific Division of the American Hockey League. Obviously, it ‘s only been one game but San Jose wants to establish their presence, especially to win over the hockey fans that already exists in the South Bay.
The Barracuda have three games over the course of the next week as they really begin to delve into their 2015-16 season. San Jose heads to Stockton tomorrow night to take on the Stockton Heat, who demolished Rockford 7-0 in their opening game.
The Barracuda then square off against the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday, Oct. 17 before returning to SAP Center to match up against the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday, Oct.21. It will be a big stretch of games for San Jose as they seek their first win to get things rolling as a franchise.
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