The San Jose Barracuda continue to struggle in building any sort of momentum as they split a pair of games against the Texas Stars, the top development affiliate of the Dallas Stars, at SAP Center last weekend.
San Jose returned home following their season-high seven-game road trip. where they ended with a 3-2-0-2 record. The Barracuda posted their second straight win with a high-scoring 5-4 victory that saw defenseman Julius Bergman score his first career professional goal with only 48 seconds remaining.
It was a big win for the Barracuda to kick off their five-game home stand as San Jose was boosted by four goals in the second period. The Stars scored the first two goals of the game before the Barracuda responded. Joakim Ryan scored his first goal of the season, but Devin Shore would score his second goal of the game, and 15th of the season, for the Stars to re-establish their two-goal advantage.
However, Nikolay Goldobin would take over, scoring two goals less than three minutes apart, his third and fourth goals of the year, to knot things up at three. Barclay Goodrow would finish off the four-goal onslaught by San Jose, scoring his fourth goal of the season with just 10 seconds remaining in the period.
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Texas would even things up with only 1:47 left in the game, but that set things up for Bergman’s heroics. Troy Grosenick picked up his fourth win of the season, making 26 saves on the night. It was great to see the production from Goldobin, who played perhaps his best game of the year. Sharks fans want to see the continued expansion of his offensive game while becoming more defensively aware. This is the exact reason why he is in the AHL, and he will be one to monitor as the season progresses.
The same two teams squared off the next day, Nov. 29, but it was the Stars who would emerge victorious this time in another one-goal affair. Once again, Texas jumped out to an early lead, finding the back of the net 45 seconds into this one.
Trevor Parkes would tip home his third goal of the season, tying the score at one, but the Stars used two goals 15 seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead. The Barracuda would fight back, but ultimately fall short as Gus Young’s first goal of the year was all San Jose could muster the rest of the way.
Grosenick got the start once again, taking the loss in this one. Grosenick has now made more starts (11) than Aaron Dell (9), but Dell has still posted the better numbers. Grosenick is 4-4-2 with a 2.95 GAA and a .909 save percentage, while Dell has a 3-4-1 record with a 2.39 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
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The Barracuda need to start stringing together more victories as they are currently tied for fifth place in the Pacific Division of the AHL. After 18 games, San Jose sports a 7-8-0-3 record with 17 points and a 0.472 winning percentage.
San Jose continues their five-game home stand tomorrow night when they host the Stockton Heat, top affiliate of the Calgary Flames, before hosting the Bakersfield Condors, top affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, for a matinee affair on the next day. The Barracuda are tied with Bakersfield at the moment and Stockton is below them in the standings so San Jose has a big opportunity to secure four points over their next two games.