GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS ROADRUNNERS
Jan 14, 2022SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (12-16-1-0) vs TUCSON ROADRUNNERS (12-11-2-1)
FRI., JAN. 14 | 7:00 P.M. | SAP CENTER AT SAN JOSE | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | MEDIA KIT | GAME NOTES
Sea and Sand: The Barracuda will face off against the Tucson Roadrunners (Arizona Cayotes) on Friday for the second time on the six-game season series, and the second meeting over the last three days. The Barracuda are 16-12-3-2 all-time against the Roadrunners and 9-6-1-1 at the SAP Center. The Barracuda went 0-1-1-0 in two regular-season games against Tucson last year (both played in Arizona), but knocked the ‘Runners out of the postseason with a 2-1 single-elimination play-in win on May. 18, 2021 at the FivePoint Arena in Irvine, CA. Wednesday was the first visit for Tucson to the Bay Area since Feb. 17, 2020 (SJ 6, TUC 3), 696 days.
About Wednesday Night: The San Jose Barracuda held a 2-1 lead until the seven-minute mark of the third when Tucson netted three unanswered goals en-route to a 4-3 win. Rookie Matias Maccelli notched a pair of assists and a goal for the Roadrunners. Zachary Gallant snapped a 42-game stretch without a tally, Artemi Knyazev netted his first pro goal, and Jake McGrew and Kyle Topping each collected two assists. Scott Reedy also scored his team-leading 15th goal.
Roadrunners Report: Tucson snapped its three-game losing streak (0-2-0-1) on Wednesday and is now 4-4-1-1 in their last 10 games played. They sit at sixth in the Pacific Division and 10th in the Western Conference and are a minus-16 in goal-differential. Only the Barracuda have a worse +/- in the Pacific Division. Tucson’s power-play is in the middle of the league at 19.4% but the PK has fared better at 83.3% which is 10th best. Friday marks the second game of a six-game roadie for the Roadrunners who will visit Stockton, Bakersfield, and Ontario during their trip. The Roadrunner will play 12 of its next 15 games on the road.
800 for Sommer: After last Saturday’s win, Head Coach Roy Sommer now sits at 800 career victories in his 24-year AHL coaching career. The Oakland, Calif., native has been behind the bench for 1,702 games in the AHL, going 800-695-48-160 (W-L-T-OTL/SOL) over that span. During the 2015-16 season, the Barracuda’s first in San Jose, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook (636 wins) for the most wins in AHL history, notching a 4-2 victory on Feb. 10, 2016, over Ontario. Sommer collected his 700th win on Dec. 3, 2017, at Bakersfield (2-1 W).
Spiky Special Teams: After going 0-for-26 on the power-play, the Barracuda finally potted a PPG off the stick of Sasha Chmelevksi on Saturday. On Wednesday, the team went 0-for-4 on the man-advantage and have just one goal over their last 34 attempts on the PP. San Jose’s power-play sits at 15th in the league at 18.7% but possesses the third-best home power-play percentage at 26.2%. On the flip side, the PK is last in the league at 69.4% and went 2-for-4 on Wednesday. The Barracuda is T-first, along with the Springfield Thunderbirds, in the AHL in shorthanded goals entering Friday (7).