GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS REIGN

Mar 27, 2024

SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (20-30-9-2, 51 pts.) vs. ONTARIO REIGN (34-21-3-4, 75 pts.)

WED, MAR. 27 | 7:00 P.M. | TECH CU ARENA | SAN JOSE, CA

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Reigning It In: After a 4-0 win versus the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday afternoon, the Barracuda wrap up their four-game homestand on Wednesday against the Ontario Reign (LA Kings). The Barracuda are 0-5-1-0 versus LA’s top affiliate this season, getting outscored 26-9, and are 0-3 at home. The Barracuda will close out the eight-game season series next Saturday at the Toyota Arena in Ontario.

 

Sunday Funday: The Barracuda scored three times on the power play and got 29 saves from Eetu Makiniemi en-route to 4-0 win against the Tucson Roadrunners on Sunday afternoon at Tech CU Arena. In the victory, the Barracuda went on the man advantage a season-high nine times and the two clubs combined for 158 penalty minutes. Also a watermark for the season. Makiniemi’s shutout was his third of the year, seventh of this career, and second in his last five games. Tucson had not been shutout since Nov. 22 and it was just the third time in which they had not scored in a game this season. In the win, Danil Gushchin snapped an eight-game goalless drought with a late first period goal. Cole Cassels would then score late in the second on the power play and Oskar Lindblom and Ethan Cardwell (PP) would score in the third.

    

Full Deck:  Barracuda rookie forward Ethan Cardwell scored on Sunday and now has goals in four of his last five games. Among league freshmen, he is now T-sixth in goals (18), eighth in shots (139), and T-12th in scoring (35). On the Barracuda, he is first in goals, second in game-winning goals (3), third in shots, T-second in power-play goals (4), and fifth in points. If Cardwell is to reach 20 goals, he’d become the seventh player in franchise history to notch 20+ goals in their first campaign, and third in the last two years (Guchchin – 22, Bordeleau – 22).

 

Robins Ratcheting Up: Tristen Robins extended his point streak to a career-best five games (2+4=6) on Sunday with an assist and now has points in six of seven and assists in his last four. The sophomore forward missed the first 24 games of the season with an ankle injury that he suffered in the preseason and then missed another six games from Feb. 21 to Mar. 2 with a separate injury. The 22-year-old has seven points (2+5=7) over his last seven outings after recording seven points (2+5=7) through his first 24 games this year. A year ago, as a rookie, he potted 17 goals and added 21 assists in 64 games, including seven goals on the power play.

  

Reign Report: The Ontario Reign enter Wednesday having won its last three and are 11-2-0-1 over its last 14. Ontario won eight in a row from Feb. 23 to Mar. 11, outscoring the opposition 34-14 during the stretch. The Reign are one point behind the 3rd-place Colorado Eagles in the Pacific Division and two points behind the 2nd-place Tucson Roadrunners. Ontario is third in the AHL in goals against (2.66) and first in road penalty kill (87.4%) and second in road power play (23.1%). Ontario is the 4th-best second-period team (+21) in the AHL and are +8 versus the Cuda in the middle frame.

 

Cuda Killer: Sam Fagemo, who is tied for first in the AHL in goals (37), has a team-high 16 points (11+5=16) in six games versus the Barracuda this season and a plus-nine rating. In the last meeting against SJB, Fagemo finished with a team-high five points (3+2=5) in a 8-2 Reign win. On Jan. 5, he was held scoreless in a 2-0 Reign win in Ontario, but has multiple points in the other five games versus San Jose, including a pair of hat tricks. In his career against the Barracuda, Fagemo has 29 points (15+14=29) in 22 games.

 

Dynamic Duo: TJ Tynan (55) and Sam Fagemo (54) rank T-fifth and T-sixth in the AHL in scoring, respectively. Tynan is first in the AHL in assists (47) and in his career has 35 points (6+29=35) in 25 games versus the Barracuda. Fagemo has notched a league-high 16 power-play goals and is T-fourth in the AHL in power-play points (23), along with fellow teammate Charles Hudon. Fagemo is also T-second in the league in game-winning goals (8), just one behind teammate Akil Thomas’ nine. Thomas had three last week en-route to player of the week honors.