GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS EAGLES
Nov 12, 2022SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (4-4-0-1) vs. COLORADO EAGLES (6-5-0-0)
SAT., NOV 12 | 6:00 P.M. | Tech CU Arena | San Jose, CA
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Home Sweet Home: After a 4-3 shootout win over the Ontario Reign on Thursday, which snapped a five-game skid, the Barracuda will continue its four-game homestand on Saturday with the first of two games on the weekend against the Colorado Eagles (Colorado Avalanche). A season ago, the Barracuda went 4-3-1-0 against the Avs affiliate and are 11-8-3-1 all-time. Colorado enters Saturday having won its last three in a row.
Key to Victory: After Thursday’s 4-3 shootout win over Ontario, the Barracuda are now 5-0-0-1 this season when scoring 3+ goals. When giving 4+ goals, they are 0-3-0-1. During the team’s five-game skid, the Barracuda scored 3+ goals just once. Colorado enters Saturday 11th in the AHL in goals-against average (2.91).
Eagle Scouts: The Eagles top three scorers from last year departed this offseason as Kiefer Sherwood (36+39=75) and Jordan Gross (10+55=65) signed with the Predators, while Dylan Sikura (33+40=73) inked a deal with the Blackhawks. Sherwood finished third in the AHL in goals in 2021-22 and was named an AHL Second All-Star, while Gross was awarded the AHL’s Top Defenseman Award (Eddie Shore Award) and was an AHL First All-Star. The Eagles did add Charles Hudon, who currently leads the team in scoring (5+6=11), after tallying 30 goals last year with the Syracuse Crunch. Additionally, the team added veteran defenseman Brad Hunt who skated in 50 games with the Canucks last season, and 2021-22 Calder Cup Champions Josh Jacobs and Spencer Smallman from the Chicago Wolves. Hunt currently ranks fifth among AHL defenders in points (3+7=10).
Killing It: After going four-for-four on the penalty kill on Thursday, the Barracuda now rank first in the AHL on the kill (93.2%). San Jose began the season a perfect 25-for-25 on the PK, the best start in franchise history, and was just three kills away from matching the team’s watermark for consecutive penalties killed off.
Rookie Arrivals: Rookies Thomas Bordeleau (4), Tristen Robins (4), Brandon Coe (2), William Eklund (2), Danil Gushchin (2) and Ozzy Wiesblatt (1) have accounted for 15 of the Barracuda’s 23 goals scored this year (65%). The most among any team’s rookie class this season. Wiesblatt (Rd 1, 31st overall), Bordeleau (Rd 2, 38th Overall), Robins (Rd 2, 56th Overall), Gushchin (Rd 3, 76th Overall), and Coe (Rd 4, 98th Overall) were all part of the Sharks' historic nine-forward draft class in 2020.
Tough Customers: The Barracuda (2nd: 24.70) and Eagles (4th: 19.00) rank in the top five in the AHL in penalty minutes per game entering Saturday. The Barracuda are first in majors (11) and tied with Colorado and Tucson for second most misconducts with three.