GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT FIREBIRDS
Apr 9, 2025SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (33-25-5-4, 73 pts.) vs COACHELLA VALLEY FIREBIRDS (36-24-2-5, 79 pts.)
WED, APR. 9 | 7:00 P.M. | ACRISURE ARENA | PALM DESERT, CA
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Fired Up: The Barracuda and Coachella Valley Firebirds close out their eight-game season series on Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert. San Jose is 6-1 versus Seattle’s top affiliate but are coming off a 5-3 loss in the last meeting on Feb. 23 in Coachella Valley. Entering Wednesday, the Barracuda sit four points behind the Firebirds in the Pacific Division with five games to go. CV currently holds the final home-ice playoff spot in the division. Of the Barracuda’s six wins over CV, four have come by a single goal.
Playoff Punch: The Barracuda have a chance to clinch their first playoff berth since 2020-21—and their first Calder Cup Playoff appearance since 2018-19—on Wednesday with: (a) a win at Coachella Valley and a Bakersfield loss (regulation/OT/SO) at Henderson, or (b) an OTL/SOL at Coachella Valley and a Bakersfield regulation loss at Henderson. The last time the Barracuda played in the postseason was 2020-21, the shortened COVID season, when only the Pacific Division held playoffs.
Bird Gang: The Firebirds punched their third consecutive Calder Cup Playoff berth on Sunday. Coachella Valley has reached the Finals in each of the last two seasons. CV boasts the AHL’s third-best penalty kill (85.4%) and eighth-ranked power play (19.6%). The Firebirds rank 10th in the AHL in goals for (3.18) and ninth in goals against (2.82).
Powering Up: The Barracuda rank first in the league on the power play (24.7%) and first on the road (25.7%). Against the Firebirds, the Barracuda are 6-for-26 (23.1%) on the advantage and 20-for-24 (83.3%) on the PK. Before Saturday, San Jose had scored on the power play in seven consecutive road games. Danil Gushchin and Andrew Poturalski are tied for first in the AHL with 13 power-play goals, and Luca Cagnoni leads the league in power-play points (32).
Hot Pot: The AHL named Barracuda forward Andrew Poturalski the Player of the Month for March. The nine-year vet notched 22 points (9+13=22) in 12 games, including seven multi-point efforts. Despite missing the last four games with a lower-body injury, he still leads the AHL in points (73), is tied for first in power-play goals (13), ranks second in power-play points (27), and is tied for fourth in both assists (43) and goals (30). Poturalski has recorded 21 multi-point games this season. From 2022–24, he played for the Firebirds, collecting 22 points (5+17=22) in 28 Calder Cup Playoff games.
Dan the Man: Danil Gushchin’s 26 goals rank tied for second-most in a single season in franchise history, and his 13 power-play goals match teammate Andrew Poturalski for the most in a season. From Mar. 7 to Mar. 28, he notched points in nine consecutive games—the second-longest streak in franchise history. During that run, he also scored in five straight games (Mar. 16 to Mar. 26), tying John McCarthy’s franchise record. Last week, Gushchin 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: Twenty-year-old Luca Cagnoni skated in his first five NHL games last month, collecting his first NHL assist on Mar. 22 vs. Boston. The Burnaby, B.C. native ranks first in the AHL in power-play points (32), second in power-play assists (22), and tied for fourth in power-play goals (10). Among defensemen, he’s third in goals and points (49), second in power-play goals, and sixth in assists (35).