SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (1-0-0-0) vs ONTARIO REIGN (0-1-0-0)

SUN, OCT. 13 | 3:00 P.M. | TOYOTA ARENA | ONTARIO, CA

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Reigning It In: On Sunday, the Barracuda go for the opening weekend sweep of the Ontario Reign after a 5-0 win on Saturday to kick off the season. The Barracuda have not started 2-0 since 2022-23 when the club began the year with franchise-best 4-0 record. The Barracuda have also not beat the Reign in consecutive games since that same season.

Saturday Sizzle: The Barracuda got 22 saves from Yaroslov Askarov and a pair of goals from Kasper Halttunen in his AHL debut, blanking the Ontario Reign 5-0 on Saturday night at the Toyota Arena. The shutout win was the first in a season opener in franchise history and Askarov’s 10th of his AHL career. The Barracuda failed to beat the Reign last season in eight attempts. In the win, Halttunen (2+0=2), Filip Bystedt (0+2=2), Andrew Poturalski (0+2=2) and Joey Keane (1+1=2) finished with multiple points. The Barracuda went 2/5 on the power play and 6/6 on the penalty kill.

Brick Barracuda: Yaroslav Askarov became the first Barracuda goalie ever to record a shutout in his debut on Saturday. The 22-year-old, who was selected 11th overall in 2020, was acquired by the Sharks from the Predators in August after a 30-win season last year with the Milwuakee Admirals.

The New Guys: Saturday saw five players make their Barracuda/AHL debuts; Colin Graf, Kasper Halttunen, Jake Furlong, Luca Cagnoni, and Braden Hache.  Additionally, Andrew Poturalski, Colin White, Joey Keane, Jimmy Schuldt and Yaroslav Askarov also made their Cuda debuts.

Hot Pot: Andrew Poturalski collected a pair of assist on Saturday, his 98th career multi-point game in the AHL. The Sharks signed two-time Calder Cup Champion to a two-year contract in July. Poturalski 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.

Reign Report: TJ Tynan, Ontario’s leading scorer for the past three seasons, signed with the Colorado Avalanche this summer. Tynan, the AHL’s MVP in 2021-22 while with ONT, led the league in assists in each of his three years with the Reign, including 84 assists during his MVP season.

Marco Polo: Former Shark’ Marco Sturm returns as the head coach of the Reign in 2024-25, his third with the team. In two seasons in the AHL, Sturm has guided Ontario to the playoffs both years, going 76-55-8-5. Prior to his time with the Reign, the German coach spent four years with the Kings as an assistant under Todd McLellan.

Cuda Killer: A year ago, Reign forward Sam Fagemo finished with 16 points (11+5=16) in seven games against the Barracuda, collecting all 16 points in five of the seven games. Fagemo notched a pair of hat-tricks against San Jose which included a five-point game (3+2=5) on Feb. 27, 2024. Fagemo had a game-high four shots on Saturday but could not solve Askarov.