GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS EAGLES
Nov 9, 2024SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (6-3-0-0) vs COLORADO EAGLES (4-4-0-1)
SAT, NOV. 9 | 6:00 P.M. | TECH CU ARENA | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | MEDIA KIT | GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT
Birds of a Feather: The Barracuda kick off their eight-game season series with the Colorado Eagles beginning Saturday night at Tech CU Arena. Saturday is the first of back-to-back games between the clubs over the weekend as the Cuda begin a five-game homestand. San Jose enters Saturday having dropped consecutive games for the first time this season after reeling off five in a row. The Barracuda are 3-0 at home this season, outscoring the opposition 17-4. The Eagles are coming off a 3-2 loss against Coachella Valley on Wednesday, giving up all three goals in the second period. The Avs affiliate is 0-2 on the road this year.
Eagle Talons: A year ago, the Cuda came up winless (0-2-2-0) in four games versus the Avs affiliate and dating back to the 2022-23 season, the Barracuda have dropped 11 in a row against the Eagles (0-8-3-0), being outscored 51-24 during that span and 19-8 at home. The Barracuda have just one win in their last 15 games against Colorado. San Jose’s last win over the Eagles came on Nov. 12, 2022 (2-1 OTW) as Luke Johnson scored the OT winner 40 seconds into the extra session.
Back with the Barracuda: The Sharks assigned forwards Danil Gushchin and Ethan Cardwell to the Barracuda on Monday after Macklin Celebrini and Ty Dellandrea were removed from the IR. Gushchin has 99 points (42+57=99) over the last two seasons with the Cuda, the most of any skater with the team. In 10 games this season with the Sharks, he collected one assist. Cardwell appeared in three games with the Sharks during his first call-up stint of his career, registering zero points. A year ago, Cardwell was named the Barracuda’s rookie of the year after scoring a team-high 23 goals.
Hot Pot: Andrew Poturalski scored both Barracuda goals on Sunday in Iowa and now has goals in four of his last five (5). Poturalski leads the Barracuda in goals (5), shots (25), and is T-second in points (9). The Sharks signed the two-time Calder Cup Champion to a two-year contract in July. The native of Williamsville, NY, finished the 2023-24 season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, collecting 51 points (15+36=51), a plus-eight rating and a team-high nine power-play goals.
Calling Collin: Rookie forward Collin Graf was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after collecting points in each of his first seven games in the AHL (3+7=10). The undrafted free-agent signee of the Sharks is leading the Barracuda in points (12) and assists (9). Among league-leaders, he is T-third in points and assists. Following his junior season at Quinnipiac in 2023-24, Graf signed an entry-level contract with San Jose on April 4, 2024, and would go on to play seven games with the Sharks, collecting two assists. Graf was a Hobey Baker finalist a season ago and was named the ECAC Player of the Year and the conference’s Gladiator Best Defensive Forward. In 2022-23, he helped the Bobcats capture a National Championship.
Barracuda Brick: After going 5-0 in October, Yaroslav Askarov was named the AHL’s Goalie of the Month. The 22-year-old, who was selected 11th overall in 2020 by the Predators and was acquired by the Sharks from Nashville in August as part of a blockbuster trade, began the season with back-to-back shutouts and did not allow a goal until 152 minutes and 10 seconds into his tenure with the team. Last season, in Milwaukee with the Admirals, he finished second in the league with 30 wins, just one behind Tucson's Matt Villalta. He was also ranked second in shutouts (6) and fifth in goals-against average (2.39). Askarov won 14 games in a row at one point last year, as he and former Sharks' prospect Troy Grosenick backstopped Milwaukee to a 19-game winning streak.
Blueline Bolster: The Sharks activated defenseman Lucas Carlsson off IR on Wednesday and assigned him to the Barracuda on Thursday after the veteran cleared waivers. Carlsson signed a two-way, two-year contract with the Sharks on July 1, 2024. A season ago, he ranked third in the AHL in goals among defensemen (15) and led all rearguards in game-winners (5) and was T-13th in points (39). Carlsson represented the Charlotte Checkers at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic in San Jose. In 2022-23, the native of Gavle, Sweden, led all AHL defenders in goals (20) and was named to the AHL Second All-Star Team.
Thunder Road: On Thursday, the Barracuda assigned forwards Luke Grainger and Mitchell Russell to the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder. Grainger scored his first pro goal last Wednesday in his season debut as the Barracuda beat the Coachella Valley Firebirds, 5-2, at Tech CU Arena. A year ago, he appeared in two games with the Barracuda after signing a PTO out of Western Michigan. Russell made his season debut on Sunday at Iowa after suffering an injury during training camp.