GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT CONDORS
Nov 8, 2019SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (4-4-0-1) at BAKERSFIELD CONDORS (5-6-1-0)
SATURDAY, NOV. 9 | 7:00 P.M. | MECHANICS BANK ARENA | BAKERSFIELD, CA
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Tonight’s Matchup: The Barracuda hit the road for one game on Saturday as they take on the Bakersfield Condors in the third meeting of 12 on the season series, and the first of six at the Mechanics Bank Arena. In the last meeting, the Barracuda shutout the Oilers affiliate 5-0 on October 30 at the SAP Center.
Last Time Out: The Barracuda jumped out to a two-goal lead on Sunday but a four-goal Tucson third period proved to be the difference as the Barracuda fell 5-3 to the Coyotes affiliate. Joachim Blichfeld scored just 38 seconds into the first and now co-leads the Barracuda with three goals. In the second, Antti Suomela netted his first of the year but the Roadrunners would get one back in the second on the power-play, kicking off what would turn out to be a 50% night on the man-advantage (three-for-six). In the third, Tucson potted three-straight before Thomas Gregoire buried his first of the year but his older brother Jeremy would seal the win for Tucson with an empty-netter. Andrew Shortridge suffered the loss after giving up four goals on 22 shots.
Powering Up: The Barracuda have netted power-play goals in four-straight games entering Saturday (5-for-22=23%) and are two-for-eight in two games against the Condors. Max Letunov leads the team with three power-play goals.
Joe the Wall: Sophomore goaltender Josef Korenar is tied for second in the AHL with two shutouts this season and has earned points in his last three starts (2-0-0-1). As a rookie last year, Korenar went 23-8-2, with a 2.54 goals-against average and .911 save percentage and was named to the 2019 AHL mid-season All-Star team.
Kellman Cruising: Signed by the Sharks as a free agent on April 25, 2019, Joel Kellman leads the Barracuda in points (9) and assists (8) through nine games and his six-game assist streak (7) earlier this season is the longest such streak this year. Before this season, Kellman, 25, skated in 196 games in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) as a member Karlskrona HK and Brynas IF, collecting 114 points (49 goals, 65 assists), 88 PIMS and a minus-18 rating.
El Cap: Barracuda Captain John McCarthy sits just one-point shy of 300 (129 goals, 170 assists) in his pro career. McCarthy is the Barracuda’s all-time leader in games played (266), points (134), goals (58) and assists (76). McCarthy has yet to register a point this season through nine games.
Youth Movement: The Barracuda are the AHL’s youngest roster with an average age of 22.60-years-old. No other team in the league is under the average age of 23-years-old and the Barracuda have eight players 21-years-old or younger, including two players under 21 (Sasha Chmelevski [20] and Ivan Chekhovich [20]).