SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Barracuda Head Coach Roy Sommer picked up win #636 tying Fred “Bun” Cook on top of the AHL’s all-time win list as the San Jose Barracuda (19-14-5-3, 46pts) presented by Barracuda Networks snapped a six game skid with a 4-3 win over the host San Antonio Rampage (19-20-7-0, 45pts) in front of 7,267 fans at the AT&T Center on Saturday evening.
Now in his 18th season as the San Jose Sharks AHL affiliate’s head coach, Sommer ranks 1st in the AHL in games coached (1,385) and will go for win #637 when the 
Barracuda visit the Ontario Reign (AHL affiliate of the LA Kings) at 7pm (pacific time) on Friday, Feb 4. In the AHL, he has coached 120 players who have gone on to play in the NHL, including 95 who have spent a portion of their careers with San Jose. In all, 20 players who have dressed for San Jose this season played for Sommer in the AHL at one point in their career.
Ryan Carpenter (1-1-2), John McCarthy (1-1-2), Ben Smith (1-1-2) and Mirco Mueller (0-2-2) all had multi point games for the Barracuda while Aaron Dell made 23 saves in net. San Jose scored a season high three power play goals but the game winner was an even strength snipe by Petter Emanuelsson at 13:59 of the third period as San Jose enters the AHL All-Star break in third place in the Pacific Division.
Defenseman Brandon Gormley (1st) gave the Rampage an early 1-0 lead after his shot from the point made its way through a screen and past goaltender Aaron Dell just 21 seconds into the game. Marc-Andre Cliché made it 2-0 with a rebound score at 6:52. San Jose got on the board on the power play as Ryan Carpenter (9th) snapped a shot from the left circle with John McCarthy providing a screen in front of netminder Roman Will at 13:50. Shots were 12-10 Barracuda through 20 minutes put the Rampage held a one goal advantage into the first intermission.
John McCarthy (5th) shoveled in a loose rebound from the crease into the net on the power play just 34 seconds into the second period to even the score at 2-2. Neither team found the back of the net the rest of the middle frame as San Jose outshot San Antonio 17-7 in the second period of play.
Ben Smith (1st) scored his first goal of the season with a great shot from the right slot after a terrific feed from Nikolay Goldobin on the power play at 3:10 of the third period to give the Barracuda a 3-2 lead. After a faceoff win in the offensive zone, Petter Emanuelsson (6th) sent a backhander past the Rampage goalie to give the Barracuda a 4-2 lead. San Antonio would charge back late as Nick Drazenovic (1st) struck at 16:14 to cut San Jose lead to 4-3. Aaron Dell stood tall the rest of the way as the Barracuda held on for the 4-3 road victory.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star Marc-Andre Cliche (1-0-1) 2nd star: Ryan Carpenter (1-1-2) 1st star: Ben Smith (1-1-2)….Final shots were 35-26 in favor of San Jose… Roman Will (7-6-2) made 31 saves on 35 shots for San Antonio….Aaron Dell (7-8-5) made 23 saves on 26 shots for San Jose …. San Jose went 3-for-4 on the power play while San Antonio went 0-for-3…. Frazer McLaren (inj), Micheal Haley, Raffi Torres (travel), and Patrick McNally did not dress for the Barracuda… the Barracuda are in a stretch where they play 9 of 11 on the road… San Jose is now 1-2-0-0 on their five game road trip….rookie Alex Gallant left the game late in the first period and did not return to action…Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Carpenter will head to Syracuse, NY on Sunday for the 2016 AHL All-Star Classic.
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