GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS HEAT
Feb 12, 2020
SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (14-25-2-2) vs STOCKTON HEAT (25-12-3-3)
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12 | 7:00 P.M. | SAP CENTER | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES
Heated Affair: On Wednesday, the Barracuda return home for one game against the Stockton Heat (Calgary Flames) in the ninth meeting on the 12-game season series. Entering the mid-week matchup, the Barracuda are 0-7-0-1 against the Heat this year and are 0-4 at home. The Barracuda are currently on a season-long seven-game skid (0-5-2).
Last Time Out: On Saturday, the Barracuda jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period at Colorado, thanks to a goal from Joachim Blichfeld and Keaton Middleton. In the second, Martin Kaut would cut the lead in half on the power-play before Antti Suomela extended the Cuda’s lead to 3-1 on the man-advantage but the Eagles would draw even after Mark Alt and Sheldon Dries found the back of the net late in the second. After a scoreless third, the Barracuda would take an overtime penalty and Dries would bury his second of the game to complete the comeback win. Josef Korenar took the loss after allowing four goals on 35 shots while Hunter Miska extended his win streak to five games after making 30 saves on 33 shots.
Scouting Report: The Heat enter Friday having dropped their last two games and are just 2-5-1 over their last eight. Despite the recent struggles, the Flames affiliate ranks second in the AHL in goals-per-game (3.72) and third on the power-play (86.7). The Heat’s leading scorer Alan Quine (11+30=41) also leads the head-to-head series between the two teams with 12 points (4+8=12) in six games.
Blistering Blichy: On Friday, Joachim Blichfeld netted his team-leading 15th goal of the year and now ranks 12th (15+13=28) among all rookies in scoring. The 21-year-old who was the Barracuda’s only All-Star representative in late January in Ontario, was the WHL’s MVP last year after totaling 114 points in 68 games (53+61=114) with the Portland Winterhawks.
Home-Sweet-Home: The San Jose City Council unanimously approved a 200,000 square-foot expansion of Solar4America Ice at San Jose last Tuesday, which will add two additional recreational ice sheets to the facility, increasing the building’s total ice sheets to six. The expansion will make S4A Ice at San Jose the largest ice facility under one roof west of the Mississippi River. One of the additional ice sheets will be located inside a 4,200-seat, two-story spectator arena which will serve as the new home for the San Jose Barracuda. Construction for the facility is expected to begin in April 2020, with a targeted completion date of April 2022.
Youth Movement: The Barracuda enter Friday as the AHL’s youngest roster with an average age of 22.50-years-old. In fact, eight players on the 'Cuda roster are 21-years-old or younger, including 20-year-old Sasha Chmelevksi.