GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT FIREBIRDS
Feb 15, 2024SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (15-22-8-0, 38 pts.) vs. COACHELLA VALLEY FIREBIRDS (27-12-4-2, 60 pts.)
THURS, FEB. 15 | 7:00 P.M. | Acrisure Arena | Palm Desert, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT
Road Return: After a 6-2 win on Wednesday in San Diego, the Barracuda’s second consecutive victory, San Jose continues its three-game road trip in Coachella Valley on Thursday night. The Barracuda are 1-2 against the Firebirds this season and are coming off a 5-3 win in the last meeting on Nov. 29 at the Acrisure Arena. Before that win, the Barracuda had gone 0-6-2-2 in 10 all-time meetings against the Kraken’ affiliate.
Last Time Out: The Barracuda scored a season-high six road goals on Wednesday, taking down the San Diego Gulls, 6-2, at the Pechanga Arena. The win was the Barracuda’s second in a row, snapping the Gulls three-game winning streak. Kyle Rau (1+2=3) and Thomas Bordeleau (0+3=3) finished with a game-high three points and Jacob Peterson (2+0=2) and Nikolai Knyshov (0+2=2) also notched two points apiece. Georgi Romanov got back to a .500 record (6-6-4) as he made 19 stops.
Cuda Check: The Barracuda have held its opponents to three or fewer goals in each of its last eight games, and have gone 5-2-1-0 during the stretch. After Wednesday’s win, the Cuda have now earned points in a season-long three games and have held their opponents to 25 or fewer shots in three of its last four outings.
Lone Star: Shakir Mukhamadullin helped lead Team Pacific to an AHL All-Star Challenge victory last Monday at Tech CU Arena in San Jose. Mukhamadullin, who made his NHL debut on Jan. 27 against Buffalo, has skated in three games with the Sharks this season, recording his first NHL assist on Jan. 31 at Anaheim. Among AHL defenders, the six-foot-four, 190-pounder, who was originally selected by New Jersey in the 2020 NHL Draft (first round, 20th overall), is T-seventh in assists (21), power-play assists (9), and points (27). On Cuda, he is first in power-play assists and power-play points (11), T-third in assists, fifth in scoring, and sixth in shots (79).
Todd’s Time: Forward Nathan Todd notched his first AHL hat trick on Saturday and scored again on Wednesday. Saturday was the Barracuda’s first three-goal performance since Ozzy Wiesblatt scored a hat trick at San Diego on April 5, 2023. Since recording just one goal in his first 15 games with SJ, Todd has notched 13 in his last 30 outings and is averaging a point-per-game during that stretch (13+17=30). The Kemptville, Ontario, native is now T-first on the team in goals (14), and second in points (35), shots (106), and power-play goals (3), and T-third in assists (21).
Coles Notes: Barracuda forward Cole Cassels extended his point streak to six games (1+5=6) with an assist on Wednesday, matching his career-long. It’s also the second-longest point streak by a Cuda skater this season. Cassels is currently pacing SJB in helpers (26) and is third in points (32). Additionally, he is first among Cuda forwards in plus/minus (+12).
Fired Up: The Coachella Valley Firebirds enter Thursday sitting atop the Pacific Division and have points in nine straight (7-0-1-1) and five in a row at home (4-0-0-1). The Firebirds shutout the Henderson Silver Knights in their last outing on Saturday, getting 20 saves Chris Driedger. The veteran netminder is now T-third in the AHL in shutouts and T-seventh in goals-against average (2.28). Forward Kole Lind is T-sixth in the AHL in scoring (40) and T-third in assists (31) and former top pick Shane Wright ranks third among league rookies in goals (18) and T-fifth in points (32).