GAME PREVIEW: BARRACUDA AT HEAT
Feb 24, 2019
San Jose Barracuda (29-13-2-4 .667) vs. Stockton Heat (21-25-4-1 .461)
SUN, FEB. 24 | 5:00 PM
Stockton Arena | Stockton, CA
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Heat Index: On Sunday, the San Jose Barracuda and Stockton Heat collide for the 11th time on the 12-game season series. San Jose holds a 9-1-0-0 mark against the Flames affiliate and have won seven-straight at Stockton Arena dating back to last year. The Barracuda have outscored the Heat 40-to-29 this season and 29-to-19 in Stockton.
Last Time Out: Dylan Gambrell scored twice and the Barracuda earned their third shootout win of the year and their first win over the Iowa Wild in three tries on Saturday in Des Moines, 3-2. Gambrell also scored the only goal in the shootout as the Barracuda killed off a four-minute double minor penalty in overtime that included a full two minutes of five-on-three play. The Stockton Heat have been idle since falling Wednesday at Ontario, 4-3. The Heat put a season-high 47 shots on net but fell in a 3-0 goal deficit before eventually climbing back into the game. Prior to the loss on Wednesday, Stockton had won three-of-four.
Road Warriors: After Friday’s shootout win at Iowa, the Barracuda are now T-fifth in the AHL in road winning percentage (.625%) and are fifth in road goal-differential (+10).
Joe the Wall: Barracuda rookie netminder Josef Korenar made 24 saves on 26 shots en-route to his 18th win of the season on Saturday. The AHL All-Star ranks second in the AHL in goals-against average (2.30), T-fifth in save percentage (.918), T-seventh in wins (18) and T-third in shootouts (3).
Gambo Good: Rookie forward Dylan Gambrell collected his third multi-goal game of the season on Friday and added the game-winning tally in a shootout. The former University of Denver Pioneer is third on the Barracuda in points (33), third in goals (14) and T-fourth in assist (19).
True That: Alex True netted a pair of goals on Monday and now leads the Barracuda in points (40), goals (17), second in assists (23), game-winning goals (5), T-first in multi-point games (8) and T-third in plus/minus (+14). True has already surpassed all of his offensive totals from a year ago in 18 fewer games.
Dynamic Dezzy: Sophomore d-man Nick DeSimone ranks 13th among AHL defensemen in points (31), T-eighth in goals (9), T-14th in assists (22), and T-ninth in power-play goals (4). DeSimone has already surpassed all his offensive totals from his freshman season in just 46 games.
Star-Studded: The Barracuda were well represented at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic at the end of January in Springfield, MA. Assistant captain Jake Middleton, winger Francis Perron, goaltender Josef Korenar and head coach Roy Sommer were all in Springfield as Barracuda representatives. Perron co-won the sharp-shooter contest after hitting all four targets in six attempts and collected two points (one goal, one assist) in the three-on-three tournament. Middleton finished T-second among all skaters with four points (one goal, three assists) during the three-on-three tournament.