Stockton Heat tie series with Barracuda at one game each

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Stockton Heat held on to win game two of the series with the San Jose Barracuda in a 6-4 win Sunday at SAP Center. The teams are tied at a game each in the series.

The Heat had a great start with four goals by the end of the first period. Mark Jankowski, Austin Carroll, Linden Vey (power play) and Garnet Hathaway each scored for Stockton. Jon Gillies started the game in the net for Stockton, but was chased out in the second period in favor of David Rittich.

The Barracuda, the second period, came back hard, scoring three goals off the sticks of John McCarthy and two from Joakim Ryan. Hunter Shinkaruk’s late period goal would be the ultimate game winner.

Late in the third period, Buddy Robinson scored a short-handed goal for San Jose, bringing them to within a goal of the Heat. Vey’s clearing attempt on an empty net, from the blue line, would seal the Heat 6-4 win.

“It was definitely a little crazy. It was probably crazier than we would have hoped,” Jankowski said following the game. “There’s definitely some things that we can take from that to improve on. There’s some things we have to clean up a little bit, but overall, we got the win and that’s all that matters. Obviously, going down two in a five-game series is huge. For us to get the win and split at their ice and go back to Stockton, that’s a big game for us.”

Heat coach Ryan Huska said, “It was a strange game, but we needed the win. It wasn’t do-or-die yet for us, but that was an important game for us to try and get the split. We found a way. There were a lot of different things that were going on in that game from the goals to the penalties to the different situations, but we found a way. I can say I was real proud of a lot of our players in regards to the shot blocks tonight. We had some guys that sacrificed a lot tonight. It was a big win for us.”