GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS. RAMPAGE
Nov 21, 2017LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES
Tonight’s Matchup: On Wednesday, the Barracuda wrap up its season-long six-game home stand with a visit from the San Antonio Rampage. San Jose is 0-2 against San Antonio this season including a 3-2 loss on October 14 at SAP Center. After Wednesday, the Rampage and Barracuda will face one another five more times during their eight-game season series.
Tale of the Tape: So far through two games, despite falling in both, San Jose has outshot San Antonio 77-to-41, but have gone just 1-for-14 (7%) on the power play, including a 0-for-9 effort on the man-advantage in a 3-1 loss at San Antonio on Oct. 27. In 2016-17, San Jose went 4-1-0-1 against the Colorado Avalanche affiliate and are 7-4-2-1 all-time in the series.
Awesome Antoine: Barracuda netminder Antoine Bibeau collected his second straight victory on Saturday and his second shutout of the season in a 1-0 win against the Ontario Reign. Bibeau ranks third in the AHL with a 1.64 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage and is T-first in the league with a pair of shutouts. A season ago, Bibeau appeared in two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, going 1-1 with a .927 goals-against average and a 1.99 save percentage.
Cuda Call Up: On Saturday morning, the San Jose Sharks recalled forward Danny O’Regan for the first time this season. The second-year pro has collected assists in each of his last two games with the Sharks since his recall and is riding a three-game NHL point streak dating back to last season (one goal, two assists). The Red Garrett Memorial Award winner a year ago as the AHL’s Rookie of the Year, O’Regan still sits atop the Barracuda team-lead in goals (6) and points (12). O’Regan led one of the AHL's most potent offenses a year ago, collecting 58 points (23 goals, 35 assists) and a team-high 11 power-play goals. O’Regan’s recall means the Sharks now possess seven players from the Barracuda’s Calder Cup playoff roster from a year ago (Danny O’Regan, Joakim Ryan, Tim Heed, Barclay Goodrow, Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc and Ryan Carpenter).
Rookie Arrival: Among AHL rookies, Barracuda forward Rudolfs Balcers ranks fifth (10) in the league in assists and 11th in points (11). Balcers set a personal-high and Barracuda season best with three assists in San Jose’s 4-1 win over Manitoba on November 12. A year ago, Balcers led all WHL rookies in goals scored (40) as a member of the Kamloops Blazers. The San Jose Sharks drafted the 20-year-old in the fifth round (#142 overall) of the 2015 NHL draft.
Closing in on 700: Returning for an AHL-record 20th season behind the bench for the San Jose Sharks top affiliate, Roy Sommer continues his historic career. In 2015-16, Sommer surpassed Fred ‘Bun’ Cook as the AHL’s all-time leader in wins and collected his first A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL Coach of the Year in 2016-17. Sommer is 697-612-48-72-66 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) in his career.