GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS CANUCKS
Nov 29, 2024SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (10-6-0-0) vs ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS (10-8-0-1)
FRI, NOV. 29 | 7:00 P.M. | TECH CU ARENA | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT
Canucks Connection: The Barracuda kick off a five-game homestand on Friday with the first of back-to-back games versus the Abbotsford Canucks. Friday marks the first game of the eight-game season series against Vancouver’s top affiliate. A year ago, the Barracuda went 1-2-0-1 against Abby and 0-1-0-1 at home. All-time against the Canucks, the Barracuda are 7-11-1-1 and 2-6-1-1 at home. Abbotsford enters Friday having won four in a row.
Sunday Funday: Down by a goal in the third period on Sunday in Toronto, the Barracuda managed to tie it at 1-1 on a Danil Gushchin power-play strike and then win it in a shootout, 2-1. Gushchin and Andrew Poturalski scored the Barracuda’s shootout goals and Gabe Carriere turned aside both Marlies shooters to earn the win. Carriere, in just his second AHL game of his career, made 31 saves in the victory, including four in the extra session.
Sparkling Special Teams: The Barracuda boast the AHL’s top penalty kill (89.7%) and are T-first in the league in shorthanded goals (5). Additionally, they are one of just four teams, who have not given up a shorthanded goal. The Barracuda have the AHL’s 13th-best power play (18.8%) entering Friday, but the fourth-best man advantage at home (25%).
Eye Eye Captain: Last week head coach John McCarthy and general manager Joe Will named Jimmy Schuldt the club’s sixth captain in franchise history. Schuldt, 29, is in his first season with the Barracuda after helping guide the Coachella Valley Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals. The sixth-year pro was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Vegas Golden Knights on April 4, 2019. Prior to turning pro, the rearguard spent four years at St. Cloud State, serving as the team’s captain for three of the four seasons. Andrew Poturalski, Lucas Carlsson, Colin White, and Scott Sabourin were named alternate captains.
Ask & You Shall Receive: The Sharks reassigned prized goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov to the Barracuda on Tuesday. Askarov went 1-0-1 in two games during his recall, posting a 1.96 GAA and a .926 SV%. The Omsk, Russia, native earned his first win as a Shark on Monday against the LA Kings, 7-2, as he made 22 saves. Among AHL goalies, the 22-year-old ranks T-second in shutouts (2), third in save percentage (.939), fourth in goals-against average (1.92), and T-third in wins (6).
Askarov was named the AHL’s Goalie of the Month in October after going 5-0 with a pair of shutouts. The former 11th overall pick by the Nashville Predators was traded to the Sharks on August 23, 2024, in exchange for forward David Edstrom, a 2025 conditional first-round pick, and goaltender Magnus Chrona.
Collin Cookin’: Despite being held off the scoresheet in both games this past weekend in Toronto, Barracuda rookie Collin Graf is T-fourth in the league in scoring (19), and assists (14). Among freshmen, he is T-first in assists, T-second in points, and fourth in plus/minus (+8). Graf, who was considered the top undrafted college free agent available last spring, was inked by the Sharks to an ELC on April 4, 2024. The National Champion at Quinnipiac in 2022-23 appeared in seven games last season with the Sharks, collecting two assists.
Hot Pot: Andrew Poturalski buried the shootout game-winner on Sunday, the second of his SOGW of his career and first since the 2022-23 season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Poturalksi is T-sixth in the AHL in scoring (17), and goals (7), and T-fourth in power-play goals (3). The Sharks signed the two-time Calder Cup Champion to a two-year contract in July.
Do the Cagn Cagn: Among AHL rookies, 19-year-old defenseman Luca Cagnoni is T-third in scoring (16) and assists (11), T-fifth in goals, T-first in power-play points (8), and second in power-play assists (7). Among AHL defensemen, he is first in assists, second in points, T-second in goals (5) and power-play points, and T-third in power-play assists.