Brian Truong
Penalty troubles led to the San Jose Barracuda’s (7-7-4-1) 7-3 loss to the San Diego Gulls (15-10-0-0) Saturday night.
The Barracuda were playing their second straight game without Ryan Merkley, who is dealing with a wrist injury. With Noah Gregor, Fredrik Händemark, and Christián Jaroš up with the San Jose Sharks taxi squad, Evan Weinger, Zachary Gallant, and Brandon Coe drew back into the lineup.
Maxim Letunov cleaned up the rebound of Brinson Pasichnuk’s blocked shot to open the scoring halfway through the first period. Lean Bergmann also earned an assist, snapping a 13-game pointless drought.
San Diego tied the game near the end of the first period. Bergmann earned his second assist of the night while on the penalty kill, slipping a backhand pass to Alexander True who scored for a 2-1 lead.
From there, a penalty-filled final two periods led to the Barracuda giving up their most goals against this season. San Diego and San Jose were each assessed three minor penalties in the second period, but the Gulls added two more goals to take the lead.
The Gulls scored just early in the third period, converted twice on the power play, then added their sixth unanswered goal with 1:25 remaining.
Joel Kellman scored off a backdoor feed from Sasha Chmelevski in the final 30 seconds, also assisted by Robbie Russo. Kellman has two goals and three assists in the last five games.
Kořenář made 21 saves, but suffered his first regulation loss of the season after allowing his most goals against since Nov. 13, 2019.
The Barracuda host the AHL’s No. 2 team, the Henderson Silver Knights, at Solar4America Ice Tuesday and Wednesday.
Josef Kořenář Says He’s Ready for the NHL
After a difficult season last year, then starting this pandemic-impacted season in the Czech Republic, Josef Kořenář feels like he’s had a reset.
“I just came back and I felt like it was my first year again, something new,” Kořenář told San Jose Hockey Now on Saturday afternoon. “I was more excited for the season to start.”
The 23-year-old had an exciting start with the San Jose Sharks organization two seasons ago, going 23-8-3 with a .911 save percentage while splitting time with Antoine Bibeau for the Barracuda. As a rookie, Kořenář was named a 2019 AHL All-Star. But as Kořenář took the reins of the starting goaltender position for the Barracuda in 2019-20, both San Jose teams bottomed out in the standings, affecting his play.
However, he’s put in solid bounceback performances through limited appearances this season. According to Sharks assistant general manager Tim Burke, Kořenář is “doing less.”
“He’s not worrying about things like before, when he struggled last year,” Burke said Friday. “A lot of it was more mental than physical. And he just had to forget what happened and get back to the simplicity of the position.”
Kořenář (4-1-2) has only played seven games this season, as a result of him and Alexei Melnichuk being swapped in and out of the San Jose Sharks taxi squad. Kořenář himself has swapped teams five times, usually spending two weeks between his irregular starts with the Barracuda.
“We already knew before the season that it was gonna be like this,” Kořenář said. “It’s kind of hard, going up and down, just not being in games too much, but I’m trying to focus even more on the game that I’m playing once every 14 days.”
With the delay to the start of the 2020-21 North American seasons, Kořenář began the season in the Czech Republic. He was loaned to the HC Oceláři Třinec of the Czech Extraliga August 2020. Playing in his home country for the first time in two years, Kořenář went 8-2-0 with a .905 save percentage.
“It helped me, just playing anywhere other than here,” Kořenář said. “So I enjoyed it a lot in [the Czech Republic].”
Since he began the season on the Sharks’ taxi squad, Kořenář didn’t play his first game of the season until Feb. 27. Despite letting in three goals in the first period, Kořenář made 33 saves in the Barracuda’s comeback victory. Kořenář started again the next day, stopping 19 of 20 shots faced.
Kořenář faced the Bakersfield Condors in his next four appearances, building up an overall 0.919 save percentage through his first six games. According to head hoach Roy Sommer, Kořenář has been at the “top of his game” — it’s the best hockey that Sommer has seen from Kořenář.
“He’s not going past the post,” Burke said. “He’s getting to a spot. He’s getting set quicker. He’s getting more protection around him — less slot shots, less traffic, so that’s working hand-in-hand.”
Kořenář also gave credit to Dany Sabourin’s work, particularly on the mental aspects of his game. This is Sabourin’s first year as San Jose’s goaltending development coach.
“We were pretty good friends even just virtually,” Kořenář. “He’s really into his job. I like when I have a goalie coach who can really help me, instead of just me being by myself and doing everything not a hundred percent.”
While Melnichuk made his NHL debut in a 10-minute relief appearance Feb. 12, Kořenář has yet to receive that opportunity.
“I’m ready right now,” Kořenář said. “I hope it’s going to come. Everyday, at the practices I’m trying to get as much work as I can in. Just be ready for it, and when it comes, just take it.”