BARRACUDA WEEKLY (3.21.17)
Mar 21, 2017
SAN JOSE AND SAN DIEGO SET TO CLASH ON WEDNESDAY
WEEKLY REWIND
Friday, March 17 – BARRACUDA 4 vs. Stockton 7
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.
Saturday, March 18 – BARRACUDA 3 vs. Stockton 1
The San Jose Barracuda scored three unanswered goals on Saturday night at Stockton Arena and held on for a 3-1 win over the Stockton Heat. The victory punched San Jose the first AHL postseason bid in a game that saw a combined 111 penalty minutes.
Keith Aulie was given a game misconduct for an elbow on San Jose's Nikita Jevpalovs at 4:36, but a minute and 31 seconds later Hunter Shinkaruk found Mark Jankowski (24) in the slot, and the rookie forward went forehand-to-backhand before beating Troy Grosenick at 6:05 on a four-on-four.
In the second, San Jose evened the score with its 11th shorthanded tally of the season. Buddy Robinson (13) forced a turnover, raced down the right wing with a Heat defender draped all over him, and was able to trickle the puck through David Rittich's five hole at 5:44.
In the third, Mirco Mueller held in a Stockton clearing attempt, fired it on net and Rourke Chartier redirected the puck past Rittich at 4:57. San Jose added some insurance at 9:42 on a Barclay Goodrow (21) tip and Grosenick stopped all nine third period Stockton shots.
Grosenick (26-8-3) collected his 26th win by making 19 saves on 20 shots, and Rittich (12-11-1) suffered the loss after allowing three goals on 27 shots.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Wednesday, March 22 – BARRACUDA at San Diego (Valley View Casino Center)
Listen: AM 1220 KDOW at 7:00 p.m. PST
Watch: AHLLive.com
NHL Affiliation: Anaheim Ducks
The top two clubs in the AHL battle for the tenth and final time on Wednesday night in San Diego. The home team has come out victorious in every game this season. San Jose is 5-2-1-1 in nine games against the Gulls and is 0-2-1-1 at Valley View Casino Center. San Jose enters the matchup with the best road winning percentage in the league (18-8-1-2 = .672) and are 8-1-1-0 over its past ten road games. Since January 1, San Jose has gone 23-6-1-1 while San Diego has put together a record of 24-4-1-1.
Saturday, Feb. 25 – BARRACUDA at Tucson (Tucson Arena)
Listen: AM 1220 KDOW at 7:05 p.m. PST
Watch: AHLLive.com
NHL Affiliation: Arizona Coyotes
On Saturday, the San Jose Barracuda and Tucson Roadrunners kick off a two-game weekend set at Tucson Arena. San Jose won both games in Tucson on Feb. 24-and-25 extending its then winning streak to 14 games. San Jose is 4-0-0-0 against the Roadrunners this season in four matchups. The Roadrunners have gone just 9-18-3-0 since Jan. 1.
Sunday, Feb. 26 – BARRACUDA at Tucson (Tucson Arena)
Listen: AM 1220 KDOW at 4:05 p.m. PST
Watch: AHLLive.com
NHL Affiliation: Arizona Coyotes
BROADCASTER BITES
- After being the 16th and final team to clinch a playoff spot last season, San Jose became the first in the AHL to clinch a postseason birth this year with a 3-1 win over Stockton on Saturday night
- The Barracuda have the best overall (38-13-2-4 = .719), home (20-5-1-2 = .768) and road (18-8-1-2 = .672) winning percentage in the AHL
- San Jose’s +53 goal differential is first in the league
- San Jose ranks in the top five in the league on the power play (2nd: 24.9%) and penalty kill (5th: 84.2%)
- The Barracuda are second in the AHL in short-handed goals (11)
- Troy Grosenick is first in the AHL in shutouts (9), T-first in goals-against average (2.03), second in save percentage (.930) and T-first in wins (26)
- San Jose has given up the least amount of goals in the AHL (145)
- The Barracuda have the most shutouts in the AHL this season (11)
- Danny O’Regan is first among AHL rookies in points (20+32=52), second in assists, sixth in goals, T-seventh in power-play goals (6), and T-ninth in points overall in the AHL
- Among defensemen, Tim Heed is fourth in the AHL in points (12+36=48), third in assists, T-sixth in power-play goals (7), T-second in game-winning goals (4) and is T-19th overall in the league in points
- Joakim Ryan is ninth among AHL defensemen in points (8+29=37), T-sixth in assists, and is T-third in the AHL in plus/minus (+27)
- Barclay Goodrow matched a Barracuda single-season record with his 21st goal on Saturday in Stockton (Bryan Lerg/Nikolay Goldobin ’15-16)
CURRENT STREAKS
- Mirco Mueller is on a three-game point streak (0+3=3)
UPCOMING MILESTONES
- Ryan Carpenter is five games shy of 200 in his AHL career
- Barclay Goodrow is nine games shy of 200 in his professional career
- Barclay Goodrow is six points shy of 100 for his pro career
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
- Danny O’Regan & Timo Meier recalled to San Jose (NHL) 3/19/17