GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA vs. STARS (11.12.16)
Nov 12, 2016
Game #8 – San Jose (3-3-0-1) at Texas (7-4-1-0)
5:00 PM PST, H-E-B Center, Cedar Park, Texas
LISTEN LIVE | WATCH LIVE | GAME NOTES
Tonight’s Matchup: The San Jose Barracuda and Texas Stars (Dallas Stars) battle for the second time in as many nights at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, TX. Saturday’s tilt marks the final game between the two teams in Texas this season. The Stars will travel out and play in San Jose on February 20 and March 1. Texas’s win on Friday, improved their home record to 5-1-0 on the year while San Jose dropped to 1-2 away from Northern California.
Players To Watch: Barclay Goodrow netted his second professional hat trick on Friday, which gave the Toronto native eight points (5-3-8) in seven games against Texas in his career. Goodrow scored his first pro hat trick on Dec. 6, 2016 vs. Bakersfield.
Between the pipes: Troy Grosenick and Mantas Armalis have split the reps thus far through the first seven games with each goaltender playing every other game. Armalis is coming off arguably his best AHL performance as he stopped 25 San Antonio Rampage shots en route to a 3-1 win last Sunday. Armalis has yet to lose in regulation this season; he is 2-0-0-1 with a 2.52 GAA and .904 SV%. Troy Grosenick’s loss Friday moved the veteran netminder to a record of 1-3 with a 3.61 GAA and a .879 SV%.
Maxime Legace has carried the load for Texas in the early going, playing in nine of the teams first 12 games. The second-year pro is 5-3-1-0 with a 3.69 GAA and a .894 SV%. Legace is 2-2-0-0 against San Jose in five career games. Texas’s other netminder Philippe Desrosiers is 2-1-0-0 in three games played for Texas with a 2.73 GAA and .903 SV%. Desrosiers was a second-round pick by the Dallas Stars in 2013, he made his AHL debut against San Jose on January 3, 2016, and suffered a 5-1 loss.
Last Time Out: Barclay Goodrow scored his second professional hat trick, but the Texas Stars proved too strong as they topped the San Jose Barracuda, 5-3, Friday night at H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas.
In the first period, Texas scored the lone goal of the opening frame when Mike McMurtry (2) collected a pass as he streaked below the right circle and beat Troy Grosenick inside the left post at 4:48.
In the second, San Jose went 0-for-2 on the power play, but Barclay Goodrow (3) was able to tie the game, 1-1, at 17:21 of the period after Ryan Carpenter set him up with a high-slot pass on an odd-man rush. As the second expired, Texas recaptured the advantage with just 30 seconds remaining in the period. Mattias Backman (2) pinched from his left defensive spot and fired a shot passed Troy Grosenick after the goalie had made the initial save off his right pad.
In the third, Travis Morin (3) and Denis Gurianov (1) scored less than a minute and a half apart at 1:27 and 2:20 to make it 4-1. Goodrow (4) inched San Jose back within two on a power play deflection from the point at 9:06, but Morin (4) again tallied at 11:10 to push Texas’s lead back to 5-2. As the public address announcer was announcing Morin’s goal, Goodrow (5) powered his way around Maxime Lagace in the crease and netted his third of the game at 11:10. Despite a desperate attempt, San Jose failed to find the two goals it needed to tie the game.
Lagace earned the win by stopping 29 of San Jose’s 32 shots. For San Jose, Grosenick made one of the best saves you’ll see when he robbed Brandon DeFazio on the doorstep in the third, but the fourth-year pro suffered his third loss of the year and second in a row by allowing five goals on 26 shots.