San Jose Barracuda (37-13-2-4) at Stockton Heat (27-24-4-1)

Saturday, Mar 18, 2017Stockton Arena

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Tonight’s Matchup: On Saturday, the Barracuda and Stockton Heat wrap up a home and home at Stockton Arena. San Jose is 2-2 against the Heat in Stockton this season and 5-4-0 overall. The Heat sit one point behind the fourth-seeded Bakersfield Condors after both teams won on Friday night. The Barracuda have lost two in a row against the Heat after winning five consecutive games against Stockton earlier this season. San Jose is 18-3-1-1 over their 22 games. The Barracuda hold the best overall winning percentage (37-13-2-4 = .714), home (20-5-1-2 = .768) winning percentage and road winning percentage (17-8-1-2 = .661) in the AHL.

Win And The ‘Cuda Are In: The Barracuda have multiple scenarios on Friday that will clinch a playoff berth. (a) A regulation win at Stockton, OR (b) an OT win at Stockton AND a Bakersfield loss (reg/OT/SO) at Tucson, OR (c) a SO win at Stockton AND a Bakersfield regulation loss at Tucson.

League Leader: The San Jose Barracuda sit atop the AHL with a .714 winning percentage. The Barracuda set a league long 14-game winning streak from January 25 to March 1 and a 15-game point streak from January to 25 to March 4, sweeping the month of February with an 11-0 record. The Barracuda have points in 20 of their last 22 games and have gone 22-6-1-1 since January 1.

Heeding up: On Tuesday, the San Jose Sharks reassigned defenseman Tim Heed back to the Barracuda and Heed collected two assist in San Jose’s 7-4 loss vs. Stockton. Among AHL blueliners, Heed is third in points (12+36=48), eighth in goals, second in assists, sixth in power-play goals (7), T-second in game-winning goals (4) and is T-17th overall in the league in points.

Ryan Rising: Among AHL defenseman, Barracuda blueliner Joakim Ryan is ninth among AHL defensemen in points (7+27=34), T-sixth in assists, and is fifth in the AHL in plus/minus (+25).

Dynamic Danny: Among rookies, Danny O’Regan is first in points (20+32=52), second in assists, fourth in goals, second in power-play goals (8), and is T-fifth in points overall in the AHL. Over his last six games, the Boston University product has four goals, three assists, two game winners and a shootout winner.

Troy Trending: Barracuda All-Star netminder Troy Grosenick leads the AHL in shutouts (9), second in goals-against average (2.06), second save percentage (.929) and T-second in wins (25). Grosenick’s last regulation loss came in San Diego on January 20.

Last Time Out: The San Jose Barracuda netted a season-high four power-play goals on Friday night, but the Stockton Heat proved too much, topping the Barracuda 7-4 at SAP Center. Barclay Goodrow (20) opened up the scoring for San Jose as he powered to the net and chipped a shot over David Rittich from the right wing on the power play at 5:35. Less than two minutes, later Mark Jankowski (23) whistled a wrister from the high slot past Mantas Armalis on the power play to even the score at 7:02. Garnett Hathaway (6) gave the Heat their first lead at 17:36 and Brandon Bollig (10) added some insurance at 18:18. Under a minute left in the period, Danny O'Regan (20) cut the lead back down to one with a blast from the right circle on the man advantage. In the second, Matt Frattin (18) pushed the Heat back up to two at 2:36 on the power play and Linden Vey (13) made it a three-goal advantage at 4:20, also on the PP. John McCarthy's (16) redirect on a Julius Bergman point shot at 8:55 cut the lead to 5-3, but at 12:06, Mike Kostka snuck a puck short side to make it 6-3. Joakim Ryan (8) fired San Jose's fourth power-play goal of the game past Rittich at 3:49, but Vey (14) sealed the win at 19:41 with an empty netter. Armalis (12-5-3) took the loss after allowing six goals on 22 shots, while Rittich (12-10-1)  earned the victory after making 26 saves on 30 shots.