GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS REIGN (1-13-17)
Jan 13, 2017
Game #30 – San Jose Barracuda (17-8-1-3) vs. Ontario Reign (17-7-4-0)
Friday, January 13, 2017
7:00 PM PST, SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
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Tonight’s Matchup: The San Jose Barracuda and Ontario Reign play for the fourth time this season and the second time at SAP Center with first place in the Pacific Division at stake. The Barracuda are 2-0-1 against the Reign this year after suffering a 4-3 overtime loss at home on Dec. 18. San Jose is 3-2-2 all-time against Ontario at home and 5-6-4 in 15 total matchups. Both teams are 7-2-1 in their last ten games.
Top Of The Class: The San Jose Barracuda killed off all five Tucson Roadrunner’ power-plays on Saturday and still sit atop the AHL on the penalty kill (88.7%). The Barracuda also rank third in the league, just below Ontario, on the power play scoring at a 25.4% clip.
All-Star Nods: Last Thursday, the AHL announced that Barracuda Goaltender Troy Grosenick and rookie Forward Danny O’Regan had been named to the 2017 All-Star game, which will take place in Lehigh Valley at the end of the month. Grosenick is having a career campaign in his fourth season as a pro, posting a 9-6-1 record in 20 games played. The Brookfield, WI, native leads the AHL in shutouts (5), sixth in save percentage (.928) and sixth in goals-against average (2.12). Amongst AHL rookies, O'Regan ranks second in points (33) and T-first in assists (22) and sixth in goals (11). He also ranks first on the Barracuda in points, T-first in assists and T-first in goals.
Heed Check: Tim Heed made his NHL debut for the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night in Calgary. In his first NHL game, Heed logged 16 minutes and 29 seconds and registered one shot. Despite his recall, the blueliner is still ranked second in the league among defensemen in points (31) and second in assists (22). He is also third in goals (9), T-first in power play goals (6), and T-first in game-winning goals (3). Heed is second on the Barracuda in points, T-first in assists, T-third in goals, first in power play goals and T-first in game-winning goals and is riding a five-game point streak (2+3=8) from Dec. 28 to now and has points in 10 of his last 11 games (4+13=17).
Ryan Rolling: With the recall of Mirco Mueller and Tim Heed, plus the upper body injury to Julius Bergman, Joakim Ryan has paced the Barracuda from the backend. The second-year pro out of Cornell has points in four-straight games (2+4=6), which is one game shy of his career-long point streak of five. Through just 29 games, Ryan is nearly on pace to double his points from last year and has already doubled his goals after scoring just twice last season. Ryan has five goals, and 15 assists through 29 games after totaling two goals and 26 assists in 66 games last season.
San Jose's Last Time Out: The San Jose Barracuda used three first period goals from Colin Blackwell (2), Marcus Sorensen (9) and Ryan Carpenter (7) and rode the early lead to 5-2 win over the Tucson Roadrunners at SAP Center last Saturday. Mantas Armalis made 33 saves to earn the win, and despite just working the first nine minutes, Justin Peters suffered the loss after allowing three goals on five shots. Joakim Ryan tallied on the power play in the second to make it 4-0, and after a pair of ‘Runners goals in the third, Patrick McNally (1) sealed the win with an empty-netter.
Ontario’s Last Time Out: After Adrian Kempe (8) opened up the scoring in the first on Wednesday in Ontario, the Texas Stars potted three unanswered goals and rolled to a 3-1 win at Citizens Business Bank Arena. Jack Campbell suffered the loss after allowing two goals on 22 shots and Maxime Lagace earned the victory by making 21 saves on 22 shots. Brandon Ranford (6) tied the game for the Stars in the second, and then Matej Stransky (12) gave Texas their first lead just 2 minutes and 22 seconds into the third. Remi Ellie (6) capped off the victory with an empty-netter late.