GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT EAGLES
Oct 23, 2021SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (1-1-0-0) vs. COLORADO EAGLES (0-2-0-1)
SAT., OCT. 23 | 6:05 P.M. | Budweiser Events Center | Loveland, CO
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES
Mile High Matchup: After dropping its opener in Bakersfield on Sunday, 1-0, the Barracuda responded on Friday with a 5-4 win over the Eagles. In the victory, San Jose erased three-different one-goal deficits, as the game saw five lead changes. The Barracuda are now 8-5-2-1 lifetime against the Eagles and 3-3-2-1 at the Budweiser Events Center. Saturday’s tilt against Colorado will mark the second game on the eight-game season series and the second of three-consecutive against the Avs affiliate.
About Friday: Alexei Melnichuk turned aside 30 shots, and the Barracuda got goals from five different skaters, including the first of Nick Cicek’s AHL career. After giving up a power-play goal with 1.2 seconds left in the second, San Jose would outshoot the Eagles in the third period 10-7 and get goals from Scott Reedy and John Leonard to capture their first win of the year. The Eagles managed to score their AHL-best fifth power-play goal of the year (5/16=31%) and also tallied a shorthanded goal but it wasn’t enough, as Colorado dropped to 0-2-0-1 on the year.
Record Breaker: On Friday, Nick Merkley scored at 4:07 of the second period and then Nick Cicek would scored 17 seconds later at 4:24, marking the two fastests goals scored in Barracuda franchise history.
Young Guns: Sunday marked the AHL debut of four Barracuda skaters, Adam Raska, Nick Cicek, Artemi Knyazev, and Montana Onyebuchi. The Barracuda’s roster is comprised of seven rookies and an overall average age is 23.15, which is the third youngest in the league. On Friday, Cicek collected a pair of points (1+1=2) and finished with a team-best +3 rating. Rookie forward Timur Ibragimov also collected his first AHL assist in Friday's win.
Sommer Time: Head Coach Roy Sommer returns for his AHL-best 24th season in 2021-22 and his 26th within the Sharks organization. The Oakland, Calif. native has been behind the bench for 1,676 games, going 789-680-48-159 (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 in a 4-2 win over the Ontario Reign on Feb. 10, 2016.