GAME PREVIEW: BARRACUDA VS WILD
Feb 25, 2019San Jose Barracuda (29-14-2-4 .653) vs. Iowa Wild (28-16-6-5 .609)
TUES, FEB. 26 | 7:00 PM
SAP Center at San Jose | San Jose, CA
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Wild One: The ‘Cuda return back to the SAP Center on Tuesday for the final meeting of four with the Iowa Wild. San Jose fell 4-3 to the Wild last Thursday in Des Moines before responding with a 3-2 shootout victory on Friday. The Barracuda are 2-2-1-0 all-time against the Minnesota affiliate and 1-2-0-0 in 2018-19. Outside of the division, San Jose is now 6-2-0-1 this year and 21-12-2-1 all-time.
Road Ahead: The Barracuda and Texas Stars boast the Western Conference’s toughest strength of schedule in the remaining month and a half of the season. Starting on Saturday, San Jose will kick off three consecutive games against the Pacific Division’s top team, the Bakersfield Condors.
Wrapping up the Roadie: On Sunday, the Barracuda concluded its three-game road trip with the final visit of the season to Stockton. Despite holding a 1-0 lead heading into the third period, the Heat would net a shorthanded goal and power-play tally to take a 2-1 lead before adding a pair of empty-netters to secure a 4-1 win. The loss for San Jose snapped an eight-game winning streak over Stockton and a seven-game winning streak at the Stockton Arena.
Trade Winds: On Monday, the Sharks traded 2019 third-round pick Linus Karlsson to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Jonathan Dahlen. Dahlen, 21, was originally acquired by Vancouver from Ottawa in 2017 for veteran forward Alex Burrows. The 42nd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Dahlen has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 50 games with Utica and ranks third among all rookies with eight power-play goals. In other news, the Barracuda traded forward Vincent Praplan on Friday to the Florida Panthers in exchange for future considerations.
True That: Alex True netted his team-leading 18th goal of the season on Sunday and first shorthanded strike of his career. The sophomore Denmark native is first on the Barracuda in goals, first in points (41), second in assists (23), third in plus/minus (+14), fourth in power-play goals (3), T-first in shorthanded goals, second in points-per-game (.84), T-third in shots (97), and first in game-winning goals (5).
Gambo Good: Prior to Sunday’s loss at Stockton, Dylan Gambrell had collected points in his last five games (five goals, four assists), including a pair of multi-goal games during that stretch. On Friday, Gambrell scored twice and added the shootout game-winner in a 3-2 win at Iowa. The rookie forward ranks third on the Barracuda in points (33), third in goals (14), T-fourth in assists (22), T-third in shots (97), and first in points-per-game (.94). A 2017 National Champion at Denver University, Gambrell has skated in six games with the Sharks this season.
Joe the Wall: Barracuda rookie netminder Josef Korenar made 24 saves on 26 shots en-route to his 18th win of the season on Friday. The AHL All-Star ranks second in the AHL in goals-against average (2.30), T-fifth in save percentage (.918), T-seventh in wins (18) and T-third in shutouts.