GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT EAGLES
Apr 4, 2025SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (32-24-5-4, 73 pts.) vs COLORADO EAGLES (39-18-5-3, 86 pts.)
FRI, APR. 4 | 6:05 P.M. PT | BLUE ARENA ARENA | LOVELAND, CO
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Colorado Connection: The Barracuda begin a three-game road trip in Colorado on Friday against the first-place Eagles. San Jose is 2-4 versus the Avs’ affiliate this season, having dropped the last two, and are 0-2 at the Blue Arena. Dating back to the 2021-22 season, the Barracuda have dropped nine in a row in Loveland (0-8-1-0), getting outscored 48-21.
Eagles Soaring: On March 27, the Eagles became the first team in the Pacific Division to clinch a playoff berth and have now reached the postseason in all seven years in the AHL. Colorado boasts a league-best +67 goal differential and is fourth in the AHL in winning percentage (.662) and first in home winning percentage (.781). The Eagles enter Friday having won their last three games at home and have points in nine of 10 (8-1-1-0). At Blue Arena, Colorado is a +58. Colorado is first in the AHL in goals for (3.52) and second in goals against (2.49).
Familiar Face: Former Sharks/Barracuda defenseman Jacob MacDonald is in his second stint with the Avs organization after signing this summer as a free agent. MacDonald is leading all defenders in scoring (53), goals (29), power-play goals (13), shots (187), game-winning goals (5), third in shooting percentage (15.5%), and fourth in power-play points (23). Among all skaters, he is T-first in power-play goals and sixth in total goals. Against the Barracuda, he has eight points (5+3=8) in six games, scoring a hat trick on Feb. 11. MacDonald’s 13’s PPG are the most by a rearguard since 2014-15. MacDonald is one goal shy of matching the AHL record for goals in a season by a defenseman which was set during the 1999-2000 season by John Slaney of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Wednesday Wrap: The Barracuda got a shorthanded goal from Patrick Giles in his debut but would fall 3-2 to the Ontario Reign on Wednesday night at Tech CU Arena. With the loss, the Barracuda have now dropped four in a row (0-3-1-0). SJB allowed two goals on two shots in the opening 32 seconds of the first on Friday but managed to claw back with a pair of unanswered goals in the first stanza. First, Giles scored shorthanded, and then Luca Cagnoni lit the lamp on the power play. In the second, Ontario’s Aatu Jamsen tucked in the go-ahead goal and Pheonix Copley shut it down to hold on to the 3-2 win.
Powering Up: The Barracuda’s franchise record power-play goal streak was snapped at 10 consecutive games (18/47=38%) on Friday, but the club bounced back on Saturday and Wednesday with goals on the advantage. The Barracuda rank first in the AHL on the PP (24.7%) and first on the road (25.8), having scored in six consecutive road games on the PP (13/33=39.3%). Danil Gushchin and Andrew Poturalski are T-first in the AHL with 13 power-play goals and Luca Cagnoni is pacing the league in power-play points (32).
Hot Pot: The AHL named Barracuda forward Andrew Poturalski the Player of the Month for March on Tuesday. The nine-year vet notched 22 points (9+13=22) in 12 games, including seven multi-point games. Poturalski missed Saturday and Wednesday’s games with a lower-body injury but is still pacing the AHL in points (73), T-first power-play goals (13), second in assists (43), and power-play points (27), and fourth in goals (30). Poturalski has 21 multi-point games this season.
Dan the Man: Danil Gushchin’s career-long nine-game points streak (7+9=16) ended on Saturday, a game shy of the franchise record. In the middle of the points streak, from Mar. 16 to Mar. 26, the 23-year-old had goals in five consecutive, matching John McCarthy’s franchise record. The third-year pro has set personal bests this season in goals (26) and power-play goals (13). He is T-first in the league, along with teammate Andrew Poturalski in advantage goals, T-ninth in total goals, and fourth in shots (199). Last week, he was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week after collecting seven points (4+3=7) in three games.
Do the Cagn Cagn: The Sharks reassigned rookie defender Luca Cagnoni back to the Barracuda on Monday and on Wednesday he scored his 14th goal of the year in the Barracuda’s 3-2 loss to the Ontario Reign. The 20-year-old skated in his first five NHL games during the recall stint, collecting his first NHL assist on Mar. 22 vs. Boston. Despite missing the last six games with the Barracuda, the Burnaby, B.C., native still ranks first in the AHL in power-play points (32), second in power-play assists (22), and T-fourth in power-play goals (10). Among fellow rearguards, he is third in goals, T-third in points (48), and sixth in assists (34).