SAN JOSE—The San Jose Barracuda gave up a win to the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday, October 13. The Griffins knocked them out of the Calder Cup Playoffs last season.
At the end of the first and second periods, San Jose was down 5-0. Barracuda starting goaltender, Troy Grosenick, allowed 5 shots out of 21, while Grand Rapids goaltender, Jared Coreau, managed to make 26 saves out of 29 (San Jose scored three goals in the third period).
With the absence of some their star players (Kevin Labanc, Barclay Goodrow, Timo Meier, Tim Heed, and Joakim Ryan, who was called up to the Sharks game the night before due to veteran defenseman Paul Martin’s injury) and a great deal of rookies, growing pains were evident.
“We lost two huge assets on the back end [defensemen Heed and Ryan],” said defenseman Jacob Middleton. “That being said, it leaves a lot of opportunity for the [new players] to make a statement, and that is kind of what we have to go off of.”
It was not until the third period that San Jose began to pick things up. Left winger Brandon Mashinter notched the first goal of the game nearly eight minutes in, followed by defenseman Radim Simek (at 10:04) in a three-on-two play, assisted by Adam Helewka. Right winger Brandon Bollig posted San Jose’s third goal with 3:45 left in the game.
Mashinter’s goal was also his first of the season. Though some may think a double whammy as such should be commended, Mashinter had other thoughts.
“If we don’t win, [a goal] is nothing,” Mashinter told Canyon News after being asked what it means to him to score his first goal of the season. “It’s definitely something to build off of, but it means nothing if we don’t win.”
So, what went wrong exactly? Canyon News asked right-winger Filip Sandberg and center John McCarthy this question.
“We were late on pucks,” Sandberg answered. “A lot of turnovers. It felt like in the beginning of the second [period], we had a little bit of room to make some plays; we had some chances, and then they just put the puck in the net.”
“We’ve got to simplify, do our own job,” McCarthy said. “We were letting them kind of buzz around. They’re a good team, they’ve got a lot of offense and if you’re not hard on them in your own zone, it’s going to be a long night.”
The Barracuda take on the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday, October 14. The team’s energy level is going to be a lot higher after the excruciating loss to the Griffins.
“[Growing pains] are not going to be pretty; it is just how [the players] grasp things,” Head Coach Roy Sommer told reporters after the match.
“[Growing pains] are not going to be pretty; it is just how [the players] grasp things,” Head Coach Roy Sommer told reporters after the match.
