GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA AT CONDORS
Feb 7, 2019San Jose Barracuda (26-9-2-4 .707) vs. Bakersfield Condors (25-15-2-1 .625)
FRIDAY, FEB. 8 | 7:00 P.M.
SAP Center | San Jose, Calif.
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES
Bako Boiling: On Friday, the Barracuda travel to Bakersfield to take on the AHL’s hottest team, the Bakersfield Condors, winners of 10 straight. During the franchise-best stretch, the Condors edged the Barracuda 6-5 in overtime on January 21 at SAP Center as All-Star Joe Gambardella scored the game winner and have outscored their opponent 46-21 during the winning streak. San Jose is 3-0-1-1 against the Condors this season and 2-0 at Rabobank Arena.
Sommer-Time: Barracuda Head Coach and Oakland native Roy Sommer earned his 750th AHL win on Friday. Sommer, who the only coach in the 83 years of the AHL to reach 750 wins, is currently 751-640-48-78-73 over his 20+ years of coaching in the AHL. The AHL’s all-time leader in victories, games coached, and seasons coached was the third Golden State native to make the NHL during his playing career that spanned three games with the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers and became the second Californian to score in the NHL on January 28, 1981, against the Montreal Canadiens.
Star-Studded: The Barracuda were well represented at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic at the end of January in Springfield, MA. Assistant captain Jake Middleton, winger Francis Perron, goaltender Josef Korenar and head coach Roy Sommer were all in Springfield as Barracuda representatives. Perron co-won the sharp-shooter contest on Sunday after hitting all four targets in six attempts and collected two points (one goal, one assist) in the three-on-three tournament. Middleton finished T-second among all skaters with four points (one goal, three assists) during the three-on-three tournament.
The Truth: Sophomore forward Alex True potted a pair of goals in Friday’s 6-4 win at Stockton and now leads the Barracuda in points (36), T-first in goals (14), first in assists (22), third in plus/minus (+17), T-third in power-play goals, second in points-per-game (.88), and first in game-winners (4). Since December first, True has registered seven multi-point games and leads the Barracuda with six points (two goals, four assists) against Bakersfield.
Two-Headed Monster: San Jose’s goalie combo of Josef Korenar and Antoine Bibeau have combined for the AHL’s best goals-against average (2.46) and save percentage (.915). The 20-year-old rookie Korenar is first in the AHL in GAA (2.24), third in SV% (.921), T-fifth in wins (16), and T-second in shutouts (3). Bibeau is 10th in the league in GAA (2.56) and is T-11th in SV% (.914).
Francis on Fire: Acquired from the Ottawa Senators in the Erik Karlsson trade, third-year pro Francis Perron is second on the Barracuda in points (31), T-first in goals (14), third in assists (17), first in power-play goals (6), first in shooting percentage (24.1%), second in game-winning goals (3), T-fifth in plus/minus (+15) and first in multi-point games (8). Friday will be Perron's 150th career AHL game.
Hard Wood: Acquired in an offseason trade with the Arizona Coyotes, Kyle Wood is second on the Barracuda in assists (21), first in plus/minus (+19), first in power-play assists (7), and is fourth in points (25). Wood was an AHL All-Star in 2016-17 and was named an AHL All-Rookie member after totaling 43 points (14g, 29a) with the Tucson Roadrunners.