GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS HEAT (5.2.17)
May 2, 2017
San Jose Barracuda (2-2) vs. Stockton Heat (2-2)
GAME 5 (Best-of-5), Divisional Round Semifinal
Tuesday, May 2, 2017 – SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
Tonight’s Matchup: On Tuesday, the Barracuda and Heat battle in a decisive win or go home game five. Each club has exchanged victories during the series with San Jose twice leading by a game. During the regular season, the Barracuda boasted the leagues best home winning percentage (24-6-2-2 = .765) and went 4-2-0 against the Heat at SAP Center. The Barracuda are 3-5-0 all-time in the postseason and 2-2-0 in San Jose.
Power Outage: After finishing the regular season with the Leagues second best power play (65/273 = 23.8%), San Jose’s daunted unit has gone ice-cold during the playoffs. The Barracuda are just 1-for-17 (5.9%) on the man-advantage which ranks 14th out of 16 playoff teams.
O’Regan Rolling: After being held off the scoresheet in San Jose’s first two playoff games, Danny O’Regan has three points (2+1=3) over his last two games. The AHL’s Rookie of the Year (Red Garrett Memorial Award) led all AHL freshman in points (23+35=58) during the regular season and finished T-second on the Barracuda in points (5+6=11) against the Heat in 11 games played.
Carpenter Cruising: Ryan Carpenter potted his third goal of the series on Friday and now has six points (3+3=6) through four playoffs games. In his three-year pro career, Carpenter has 11 points (5+6=11) in 12 career Calder Cup playoff games and a plus-12 rating.
Dynamite DeSimone: Rookie blueliner Nick DeSimone, who played just four regular-season games for the Barracuda before the playoffs after signing an entry-level deal with the Sharks out of Union College following his junior campaign, has four points (0+4=4) in four playoff games and a plus-4 rating. The East Amherst, New York, native leads all defensemen in points during the series and is t-third in points among all defensemen during the playoffs. DeSimone scored his first pro goal in San Jose’s final regular season game of the year at Bakersfield on April 15.
Winner Winner: San Jose’s Zack Stortini is by far the team’s most experienced postseason player having played in 61 Calder Cup playoff games over his 12-year career, and the veteran forward won a Calder Cup with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2007. Stortini appeared in San Jose’s first two postseason games but was held out of the lineup in both games in Stockton.