San Jose Barracuda Down To Final Two Games
The Barracuda need to win their final two contests to have a shot at reaching the Calder Cup playoffs.
It all comes down to this for the San Jose Barracuda as they’ve reached the final two games of their inaugural campaign.
San Jose finds themselves mere percentage points (0.03) behind the Charlotte Checkers for the final Calder Cup playoff spot in the AHL’s Western Conference.
The Barracuda are in this position thanks a rough swing through Texas last week.
San Jose’s first stop was in San Antonio to take on the Rampage, the top affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. Despite jumping out to an early 2-0 lead over the Rampage, the Barracuda couldn’t hold on to that advantage as they would fall in San Antonio by a 4-3 overtime final.
Bryan Lerg scored twice for San Jose in this one to reach the 20-goal plateau for the season, including the opening marker just 15 seconds into the contest. Petter Emanuelsson would follow that up with his 11th of the season as the Barracuda held a 2-0 lead after one.
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However, things would change quickly as the Rampage responded with three goals over the next period-and-a-half to take a 3-2 lead. Lerg would force overtime with his second of the night, but San Antonio found the game-winner past Aaron Dell more than two minutes into the extra frame to secure the two points.
Two nights later, Dell would get redemption. With San Jose battling the Texas Stars, top affiliate of the Dallas Stars, the Barracuda would rely on their goaltender to make 33 saves as San Jose emerged with a big 3-0 shutout over the Stars.
The Cuda received goals from Lerg, Julius Bergman and Nikolay Goldobin, but the man between the pipes deserves all the credit as San Jose were outshot 33-19 in this one.
One night later, the Barracuda looked primed for huge weekend sweep of the Stars as they held a 5-2 advantage in the second period. However, San Jose would fall apart defensively as they allowed Texas to score six unanswered tallies to deal the Cuda a crushing blow as they secured an 8-5 victory.
Ryan Carpenter (two goals), Barclay Goodrow, John McCarthy and Jeremy Langlois all found the back of the net for San Jose, but they provided little support in front of Dell on this night. Dell would stop 43 of 51 shots, but a pair of goals in the final two minutes of the second provided the Stars with some life which they carried into the third.
Texas would go on to score all four goals in the final frame as San Jose let a big two points slips right through their fingertips.
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The Barracuda must now regroup as they conclude their six-game road trip against the Stockton Heat, top affiliate of the Calgary Flames, tomorrow night before returning home to wrap up their season against the Heat on Sunday.
Needless to say, San Jose finds themselves in a bind, but a couple of victories over the weekend may just be enough to squeak into that final playoff spot.