GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT REIGN
Dec 7, 2019
SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (8-11-0-1) vs ONTARIO REIGN (10-11-2-0)
SATURDAY, DEC. 7 | 6:00 P.M. | TOYOTA ARENA | ONTARIO, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | BIOS
Tonight’s Matchup: On Saturday, the Barracuda square off with the Ontario Reign (Los Angeles Kings) for the fourth time this season and the second of two games on the weekend at the Toyota Arena. The Barracuda are 1-2 against Ontario this year after a 9-2 win on Friday.
Last Time Out: On Friday, the Barracuda netted a franchise-high nine road goals on Friday in a 9-2 win over the Reign. In the victory, San Jose had 15 different skaters record a point, 11 different skaters record multiple points and three recorded multiple goals. Andrew Shortridge made 22 saves to earn his second win and Cal Petersen took the loss after allowing five goals on 18 shots in just over 27 minutes of action.
About Ontario: The Reign enter Saturday sitting at the third spot in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Colorado Eagles. Much like the Barracuda, the month of November was not kind to Ontario who went just 3-9-1 in November, had a six-game losing skid and scored a goal or less five separate times, including being shut out twice. The Reign are averaging a league-high 18.57 penalty minutes per-game and rank 28th in goals-per-game and sixth in goals-against-per-game.
Blichfeld Beasting: Rookie forward Joachim Blichfeld scored twice on Friday and now leads the Barracuda in goals (9), ranks second in points (15) and is T-first in power-play goals (3). Among AHL rookies, Blichfeld is T-seventh in scoring, T-second in goals and T-third in power-play goals. Last year, Blichfeld led the WHL in scoring (53 goals, 61 assists) and was named the WHL Player of the Year (Four Broncos Trophy) as a member of the Portland Winterhawks. The Sharks selected the Denmark native with the second-to-last pick (210th) in the 2016 draft.
Maxed Out: Sophomore forward Max Letunov extended his point streak (two goals, nine assists) to a career-high seven games on Friday and now leads the Barracuda in points (17), game-winning goals (2) and co-leads the team with three power-play goals. The Sharks originally acquired Letunov from the Arizona Coyotes in a draft-day trade in 2016.
Excellent Evan: On Friday, California native and second-year-pro Evan Weinger extended his point streak to four games and now has points in seven of his last eight. Weinger is T-second in the AHL in shooting percentage (6/18 = 33.3%) and is T-second on the Barracuda in goals.
Youth Movement: The Barracuda are the AHL’s youngest roster with an average age of 22.79-years-old. No other team in the league is under 23-years-old. In fact, six players on the 'Cuda roster are 21-years-old or younger, including two players under 21 (Sasha Chmelevski [20] and Ivan Chekhovich [20]).