GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS WRANGLERS
Dec 16, 2023SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (7-11-4-0, 16 pts.) vs. CALGARY WRANGLERS (16-5-2-0, 34 pts.)
SAT, DEC. 16 | 6:00 P.M. | Tech CU Arena | San Jose, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT
Calgary Connection: After a 3-0 win on Friday against the Calgary Wranglers, the Barracuda go for back-to-back on Saturday in the second game of the two-game set at Tech CU Arena. The Barracuda are 2-1 against the Wranglers this season after going 0-3-0-1 a year ago and have held Calgary to just two goals in three games. Since the Flames moved its farm team to its city before the 2022-23 season, the Barracuda are 2-4-0-1 and 37-30-5-3 all-time against its affiliates (Stockton/Calgary).
Friday Fun: Eetu Makiniemi made 22 saves on Friday for his first shutout win since Jan. 20, 2023, and his fifth of his career as the Barracuda blanked the Calgary Wranglers, 3-0. Makiniemi has now won back-to-back games and is 1-1-0-1 against the Wranglers lifetime. Shakir Mukhamadullin (1+1=2), Leon Gawanke (0+2=2), and Danil Gushchin (0+2=2) would all finish the game with multi-point efforts, and Nathan Todd and Thomas Bordeleau would pot power-play goals.
So Long, St. Nick: The Sharks dealt defenseman Nick Cicek and a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday for forward Jack Studnicka. Studnicka, 24, was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the second round (#53 overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft. In his career, he has appeared in 126 AHL games with Providence and Abbotsford, notching 35 goals and 68 apples. Additionally, he has appeared in 90 NHL games with Boston and Vancouver, collecting six goals and 10 assists.
Wranglers Wrap: Despite dropping its last two (0-1-1-0), the Wranglers enter Saturday sitting atop the Western Conference with a 16-5-2-0 record (34 pts., .739). Calgary, who kicked off a five-game road trip on Friday, had not lost in regulation on the road since Nov. 19 at Ontario (0-4 L), but still boasts the AHL’s best visiting record (8-2-1-0, 17 pts., .773%). The Wranglers, who were shutout for just the second time this season on Friday, still stand at eighth in the AHL in goals for (3.39) and fourth in goals against (2.61).
Oh Rau: The Barracuda added veteran forward Kyle Rau on Monday for the remainder of the season. Rau, 31, had yet to appear in a game this year before Friday. In 2022-23, he skated in 68 contents with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in 2022-23, collecting 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists), 24 penalty minutes, and a plus-five rating. Over his eight-year professional career, the Eden Prairie, Minn., native has dressed in 61 NHL games with the Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild, totaling seven points (two goals, five assists) and 15 penalty minutes. Additionally, he has appeared in 431 games in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage, Portland Pirates, Springfield Thunderbirds, Iowa Wild, Canucks, and Barracuda, racking up 292 points (133 goals, 159 assists) and 182 penalty minutes.
Real Deal Danil: After picking up a pair of helpers on Friday, sophomore forward Danil Gushchin is now pacing the Barracuda in scoring (21), points-per-game (1.00), assists (14), and is T-first in goals (7). In addition, he is third in the league in shots (92). Friday was the 21-year-old's ninth multi-point game of the year.
Nate the Great: Barracuda forward Nathan Todd extended his point streak to six games (4+5=9) on Friday, the second-longest stretch of his career, as he scored the Barracuda’s final goal of the game on the power play. The veteran forward now has goals in three of his last four games and 12 points (4+8=12) over his last 12 outings, after recording just a goal and an assist through his first nine in a Cuda sweater. A year ago, Todd collected 14 points (8+6=14) in 16 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds before suffering a season-ending lower-body injury. Saturday will be the 150th game of his AHL career.
King Leon: Barracuda blueliner Leon Gawanke picked up a pair of assists on Friday and now ranks T-sixth in the AHL in points (17) among defenders and T-fifth in assists (13). The German-born defenseman has 10 points (2+8=20) over his last 10 games and is currently first on the team in power-play points (7), T-first in power-play assists (5), second in points, and shots (60), and T-second in assists. A season ago, he led all league defenders in power-play goals (7) and was T-first in total goals (20) as a member of the Manitoba Moose.