San Diego Gulls vs San Jose Barracuda: Game 2

After an explosive and exciting game one last night coach Dallas Eakins stayed with the roster that got the win and gave the nod to Jeff Glass to start.

Things again started out poorly for San Diego as again they appeared to have the jitters, handing over possession with ease and over ten minutes in the Barracuda were leading in shots 8-3. Then on a Gulls rush that was broken up far too easily when Max Jones lost an edge the Barracuda stormed back on a three on two, finishing the play by deeking out Glass to take the early lead. 1-0 Barracuda.

San Diego finally showed some life with less than two minutes left in the first when Max Jones finished off a succession of back passes in the San Jose zone by crashing the net but he was sent to the box for roughing. On the resulting penalty kill the Gulls had two of their best chances in the action thus far.

The opening frame finished with shots 10-7 for the Barracuda and the 1-0 lead.

The Kossila, Jones & Sherwood line had the best chance to start the second as Sherwood fed Kossila cross-ice but the puck was bouncing and the long-time Gull could not control it.

With fifteen minutes left in the second period Jaycob Megna airmailed a puck over the glass to send the Gulls to the penalty kill and on the very next shift Simon Benoit managed to do the same thing to make it a five on three disadvantage for a minute and fifty three seconds. San Diego started out well killing the multiple minors but a shot from the slot that got through Glass landed just behind him and as the veteran netminder leaned back to cover the Barracuda pushed it home for the 2-0 lead.

Soon after Chase De Leo intercepted a pass near the blue line and headed in on a two on one, finishing it beautifully to make it 2-1 shorthanded.

Three minutes later the visitors answered on what looked like it should have been an offside play. 3-1 Barracuda.
Back to back Power Plays for the Gulls provided some much needed momentum and they peppered Korenar – or at least the vicinity of his net – with shots. On more than one occasion having an empty net to shoot on but hitting the target wide.

With twenty seconds left in the middle frame Jake Dotchin took a penalty for hooking as he worked to prevent a scoring chance by Viel. The period finished with shots 19-18 to the Gulls but down 3-1 heading into the third.

San Diego killed the remainder of the minor to start the third but San Jose carried momentum for much of the next five minutes.

With just under ten minutes left in the final period the Gulls attempted to show some desperation but the Barracuda were playing a textbook road-game, disrupting their ryhmn and preventing high danger chances before they could eventuate.

Just as it seemed like San Jose would take the game without so much of a whimper from the Gulls they finally came to life and started to throw everything at Korenar. Eventually getting on the board via a diving tip from Justin Kloos off of an Andy Welinski point shot.

They then continued to dominate play and it felt like a game-tying goal might be imminent but San Jose were able to force a turnover in the neutral zone and fire it into an empty net that Gulls players on ice seemed to be unaware of. 4-2 Barracuda.

With less than a minute left and the net empty once again the Gulls fought back – Sam Steel pushing the puck and Korenar into the San Jose net which the Officials initially called a good goal before the visitors requested a review. The review was upheld and the goal stood with twenty seconds left.

San Diego won the resulting center ice draw but a miscommunication between Murphy and Benoit meant a loose pass was pounced on by the Barracuda and once more fired into the empty net. 5-3 Barracuda. The moment the puck hit the net a fight erupted at center ice between players from both teams. Corey Tropp notably dropping Weinger with an upper cut before players were eventually separated.

In a weak attempt at vengeance Jon Martin finished a meaningless check on Jacob Larsson at the final buzzer and another brawl erupted. This time Jeff Glass getting involved as well.

Post game notes:

• It has been a point of contention this series that the officials don’t appear to know when to blow a play dead. San Jose had beef with the game winning goal last night and their were two instances of it in tonight’s game for both sides. It isnt helping matters much in terms of animosity and general mass confusion.
• As noted – there was a lot more physicality in this game. There was one center ice hit on Max Jones that caught the rookie winger from the blindside and targeted his head. I have received word post game that this hit is being looked into by the AHL.
• It is now a best of three series with all of the remaining games in San Jose. I am not massively concerned because the Gulls have played well on the road and in San Jose particularly this season. They know what they have to do now and perhaps not playing in-front of their home faithful in such an important game will calm some nerves.
• Does Eakins change up the lines or insert previously scratched players in? I could see the speed of Jack Kopacka making a difference.