Barracuda continue playoff push with weekend sweep

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda have entered the stretched run for a return to the playoffs. They haven't sniffed the playoffs since the abbreviated 20-21 season where they finished fourth in the Pacific Division. This past weekend they swept the Henderson Silver Knights in a two-game series at Tech CU Arena to take sole possession of fifth place in the division with 61 points, two points ahead of the Abbotsford Canucks and just four points behind the Ontario Reign for fourth place with a record of 28-20-2-3.

On Saturday the Barracuda used four different goal scorers in a balanced scoring attack to dominate the Henderson Silver Knights in 4-1 victory

The first period was filled with chippy-ness between the two Pacific Division rivals. Two fights happened in the first ten minutes of the game to help set the tone for a physical battle on Renaissance Night.

The Barracuda drew first blood late in the opening frame. Thomas Bordeleau intercepted a clearing attempt by Matyas Sapovaliv inside the Silver Knights zone. Bordeleau threaded a backhand pass over to Andrew Poturalski who buried a wrist shot past the five-hole of Silver Knights goalie Carl Lindbom for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 15:01 mark.

Henderson was dominated by San Jose in the opening 20 minutes as they were outshot 18-5 and did not generate many scoring chances as Cuda goalie Gabriel Carriere was able to easily stop all five shots he faced.

San Jose had a golden opportunity to pad its lead when they had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:43 early in the second period when Sapovaliv went into the sinbin for a high sticking double minor penalty at the 6:59 mark. However, the Cuda weren't able to capitalize during their extended power play.

The Barracuda scored two goals in a 29 second span late in the middle frame to separate themselves from the Silver Knights. Rem Pitlick scored his first goal in a Cuda uniform at the 18:03 mark. Danil Gushchin found Pitlick in the neutral zone. Pitlick split two Silver Knight defenders on a breakaway and beat Lindbom with a backhand to forehand move to double San Jose's lead.

Then Pavol Regenda beat Lindbom with a wrist shot under the left arm for his seventh goal of the season at the 18:32 mark. Donavan Houle set up Regenda's goal from below the goal line. Colin White received the secondary assist.

San Jose opened the third period with its fourth unanswered goal. Bordeleau made a pass between his legs down to the goal line over to Houle who quickly passed it back up to Bordeleau in the slot. Bordeleau beat Lindbom with a wrist shot to finish off the give-and-go with Houle for his 13th goal of the season at the 2:20 mark.

Kai Uchacz spoiled Carriere's shutout bid with his 11th goal of the season at the 8:14 mark. Uchacz won a battle along the boards with Jake Furlong. Uchacz skated in from the short side and chipped the puck up and over Carriere. Mitch McLain and Calen Addison picked up helpers on the goal.

Carriere (5-4-0) finished the game stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced to pick up his fifth win of the season. Lindbom (13-10-1-2) had a busy night as he made 40 saves on 44 shots in the losing effort.

Then on Sunday afternoon Danil Gushchin's recorded his first career hat trick which included two goals to even the game late in the third period propelled an unfathomable comeback as the San Jose Barracuda overcame a two-goal deficit to win 6-5 in overtime over the Silver Knights

Andrew Poturalski set up Ethan Cardwell's game winning goal 41 seconds into the overtime period to give San Jose a thrilling comeback win after blowing two different two-goal leads earlier in the game. Cardwell skated in with speed from the right wing before depositing a wrist shot to the short side for his ninth goal of the season.

"I got some speed through the neutral zone, and I figured why not use one more burst before I changed. And I was lucky enough to see (the) middle (of the) ice and took my chance when I got it. There was little opening in the top right corner, and I was lucky enough to find it," Cardwell said.

With the weekend series sweep, San Jose finished 6-1-0-1 against their Pacific Division rival in the season series. Henderson (22-30-3-0-50 points) has dropped two in a row after being 8-2 in its past 10 games as they anchor the division in 10th place.

San Jose drew first blood early in the first period with an even strength goal. Cardwell skated from behind the net and sent the puck up to the left slot where Lucas Carlsson blasted a one-timer past Silver Knights goalie Akira Schmid through the five-hole for his ninth goal of the season at the 5:09 mark.

"When we play the right way, I think we're a pretty good team. (In the) first period tonight, we took care of the puck, put it in the right places and were able to get it back. Spent the majority of the period in the offensive zone," Barracuda head coach John McCarthy said.

The Barracuda doubled its lead late in the opening frame. After a clean faceoff win by Thomas Bordeleau, Ethan Frisch's shot from the point was initially saved by Schmid but Poturalski cleaned up the rebound into an open net for his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 15:43 mark.

Poturalski has 16 multi-point games this season and leads the AHL in points with 57 points in just 49 games.

Henderson answered back with 19.4 seconds left in the period with a power play goal. Former San Jose Shark defenseman Calen Addison's shot was cleaned up by Alexander Holtz as he beat Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov with a wrist shot for his first goal of the contest and second goal of the season.

San Jose regained its two-goal lead with a power play goal near the halfway point of the second period. Pavol Regenda sent a pass through the crease to Danil Gushchin. The Russian forward skated into the middle before firing a shot on net. The rebound bounced up in the air and was accidentally knocked into the back of the net by Henderson defenseman Lucas Johansen. It was Gushchin's 17th goal of the season at the 9:34 mark.

The Silver Knights cut the lead to a one-goal game with its second power play goal of the game late in the middle frame. Addison's attempted shot on net hit off the skate of Cuda captain Jimmy Schuldt. The rebound went to the stick of Holtz who buried a one-timer into an open net for his second goal of the game and third goal of the season at the 15:54 mark.

Holtz, a former NHLer who played in just his fifth game with the Silver Knights, completed his hat trick, the first of his career, just under two minutes later as Henderson scored the equalizer. Jonas Rondbjerg sent a puck into the Cuda zone. Holtz collected the puck after it pinballed off Schuldt and beat Romanov top-shelf to the short side for his fourth goal of the season at the 17:49 mark.

Holtz wasn't done as he gave the Silver Knights their first lead with his fourth goal and the team's third power play goal of the game in the third period. Addison found Holtz in the left slot and he buried a wrist shot between the five-hole of Romanov for his fifth goal of the season at the 12:10 mark. Holtz became first player to score four goals in a game against San Jose in its franchise history.

Henderson went up by two goals thanks to a giveaway by the Barracuda at their offensive blue line. Kai Uchacz skated in all alone and beat Romanov with a wrist shot for his 12th goal of the season at the 15:11 mark.

Gushchin started the comeback when he scored his second goal of the game when McCarthy pulled Romanov for an extra attacker with over three minutes remaining in the period. Gushchin picked up the puck along the left boards and skated in before unleashing a wrist shot past a screened Schmid for his 18th goal of the season at the 16:41 mark.

San Jose scored the equalizer when Gushchin completed the hat trick with just 31.2 seconds left in the period to force overtime when once again Romanov was pulled for an extra attacker. Luca Cagnoni found Gushchin along the right slot and Gushchin rifled in a one-time through a sea of traffic in front of Schmid for his 19th goal of the season.

"I think from a character perspective, sticking with it and getting two (goals) with the goalie out and the winner in overtime feels good," McCarthy said

Romanov (11-6-3) stopped 20 of the 25 shots he faced in earning his 11th win of the season. It was Romanov's first start since February 1st against the same Silver Knights club. Schmid (7-18-1) made 40 saves on 46 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-3 on the power play. Henderson went 3-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Holtz (4G,0A) 2) Gushchin (3G,0A) 3) Cardwell (1G,2A).

\San Jose closes out their four-game homestand against the San Diego Gulls on Wednesday 3/5 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.