GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT REIGN
Mar 18, 2018
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Tonight’s Matchup: On Sunday, the San Jose Barracuda and Ontario Reign collide for the seventh of eight matchups on the season. The Barracuda are 2-4-0-0 against the Los Angeles Kings affiliate this year and are coming off a 2-1 shootout win against the Reign in the last meeting on March 4 at SAP Center.
Century Mark: The Barracuda earned franchise victory 100 with a 4-0 win over the Cleveland Monsters on March 10. The Barracuda joined the Ontario Reign, San Diego Gulls and *Texas Stars (*play 76 game schedule) as Pacific Division teams to reach 100 wins since 2015-16.
Killin’ it: The ‘Cuda have killed 17 straight on the PK after going two-for-two on Friday and have not given up a power-play goal since March 23 at Bakersfield (L, 1-4). San Jose ranks first in the Pacific on the kill and seventh in the AHL.
Big Mac: Barracuda Captain John McCarthy collected six points (three goals, three assists) in two games against Cleveland last weekend culminating in his first CCM/AHL Player of the Week nomination. McCarthy helped lead San Jose to a 6-2 win on Saturday as he collected his first pro hat-trick (sixth in Barracuda history) and his first four-point night. The Olympian ranks first on the ‘Cuda in plus/minus (+7), first in power-play goals (6), T-second in goals (10), and third in points (23). McCarthy is riding a three-game point streak (three goals, four assists).
Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!: Among first-year AHL players, Rudolfs Balcers ranks eighth in points (40), T-10th in assists (22), and T-13th in goals (17). The Latvia native leads the Barracuda in points, assists, goals, and is T-first in game-winning goals (4). Balcers is currently on a three-game point streak after collecting a goal and an assist on Friday.
All-Star Antoine: In his fourth professional season, and first within the Sharks organization, AHL All-Star Antoine Bibeau is 18-12-2 in 32 games played with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. The native of Victoriaville, Quebec is T-fourth in the AHL in shutouts (4), fifth in goals-against average, T-seventh in save percentage, and T-10th in wins.
Sommer-Time: San Jose Barracuda Head Coach and Bay Area native Roy Sommer collected the 700th AHL win of his career on Dec. 3 at Bakersfield (2-1). Sommer is the first coach in the 82-year history of the American Hockey League to reach 700 coaching wins. In 2015-16, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook as the AHL’s all-time leader in wins and collected his first A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as AHL Coach of the Year in 2016-17. Sommer, who’s in his AHL record 20th season behind the bench for the top affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, coached his 1,500th game in the AHL on Dec. 8 at SAP Center against Tucson.