Barracuda fall to Rockford, 7-2, in season opener

San Jose, Calif. – The San Jose Barracuda (0-1-0-0) opened the regular season on Friday night with a 7-2 loss to the Rockford IceHogs (1-0-0-0) at Tech CU Arena in San Jose.

In the defeat, Brandon Coe (1) and Shakir Mukhamadullin (1) managed to find the back of the net, but penalty trouble plagued the Barracuda all night, as the IceHogs notched three power-play goals and an empty-net shorty. Mukhamadullin led all Barracuda skaters with five shots.

Icehogs forward Mike Hardman (86) looks to make a pass as Nick Cicek (59) defends – Photo by Jack Lima

In the first, at the 15:58 mark, Coe (1) received a pass from rookie forward Ethan Cardwell, in his pro debut, and the second year forward fired in the feed to cut the IceHogs lead down to one. Anders Bjork (1) had scored on the man-advantage and then Mike Hardman (1) stretched his team’s lead to 2-0 before Coe got the Barracuda on the board.

Barracuda defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (85) moves the puck away from Michal Teply (92) – Photo by Jack Lima

The game got away from San Jose in second when Ozzy Wiesblatt was given a match penalty for a hit to the head of IceHogs’ forward Kale Howarth, who left the game and did not return. On the ensuing five-minute power play, the Hogs notched a pair of goals in what would turn out to be the pivotal play of the night. Michal Teply (1) and David Gust (1) scored 29 seconds apart to make it 4-1.

Icehogs goalie Drew Commesso (33) stops a backhanded shot attempt by Ethan Cardwell (56) as defenseman Josh Healey (47) provides support – Photo by Jack Lima

The Barracuda were able to put 36 shots on net in the game, but just seven in third, and would allow three more goals in the final 20 before finally stopping the bleeding on Mukhamadullin’s power-play tally.

Barracuda forward Jacob Peterson (24) follows through on a shot on goal as Issak Phillips (41) defends – Photo by Jack Lima

The IceHogs finished the night with five different players collecting multiple points including Gust (2+1=3) and Joey Anderson (0+3=3) who each recorded three points. After Friday, the Barracuda are now 3-6-1-0 in openers, 1-2 in openers at home, and 1-4 against the Blackhawks’ affiliate lifetime.