GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS ROADRUNNERS
Nov 17, 2019SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (4-8-0-1) vs TUCSON ROADRUNNERS (11-3-0-0)
SUNDAY, NOV. 17 | 5:00 P.M. | SAP CENTER | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | BIOS
Tonight’s Matchup: On Sunday, the Barracuda kick off a four-game homestand as the top-seeded Tucson Roadrunners make their second of four visits to SAP Center. The Barracuda dropped the first meeting 5-3 on Sunday, November 3. In that game, the Barracuda led 2-0 before the Roadrunners stormed back with four unanswered. The two clubs will play again in San Jose on Wednesday.
Last Time Out: The Barracuda led 2-1 entering the third period on Saturday night in Stockton but allowed a power-play goal at the 11-minute mark before giving up the game-winning goal with just 17 seconds left in regulation. In the loss, Jeff Viel and Alex True found the back of the net and Andrew Shortridge matched a career-high with 33 saves.
Roadrunners Rolling: The Coyotes’ affiliate enters Sunday riding a five-game winning streak and stand atop the AHL’s Pacific Division. In addition, they’ve also reeled off four in a row on the road. Entering Sunday, Tucson ranks fifth in the AHL in goals-per-game (3.57), sixth in goals-against-average (2.50) and fourth in shots-per-game (32.43).
Oh No(vember): The month of November has not been kind to the Barracuda thus far. San Jose is 0-5-0-1 since in the month began and after Saturday’s loss, they have now dropped a franchise-record five-straight in regulation and have matched the franchise’s longest winless streak at six games (6 games, 1/16/16 at Iowa thru 1/29/16 at San Antonio (0-4-2-0)).
Sumo: After not recording a point in the Barracuda’s first five games, Antti Suomela has points in four of his last five games, including recording the first multi-goal game of his career on Wednesday at San Diego. Suomela also put a single-game career-high of shots on net (8) and was a plus-2 in the loss.
Kellman Cruising: Signed by the Sharks as a free agent on April 25, 2019, Joel Kellman leads the Barracuda in points (9) and assists (8) through 13 games. Before this season, Kellman, 25, skated in 196 games in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) as a member Karlskrona HK and Brynas IF, collecting 114 points (49 goals, 65 assists), 88 PIMS and a minus-18 rating.
Youth Movement: The Barracuda are the AHL’s youngest roster with an average age of 22.60-years-old. No other team in the league is under the average age of 23-years-old and the Barracuda have eight players 21-years-old or younger, including two players under 21 (Sasha Chmelevski [20] and Ivan Chekhovich [20]).