GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS HEAT
Apr 2, 2022
SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (20-345-2-2) vs STOCKTON HEAT (40-12-4-1)
SUN., APR. 3 | 3:00 P.M. | SAP CENTER | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | MEDIA KIT | GAME NOTES
Simmering Down: The Barracuda and Stockton Heat wrap up its 10-game season series on Sunday with the second game of a home-and-road. The Barracuda enter Sunday having dropped its last six consecutive games and its last six against the Heat (0-4-1-1) after a 7-1 loss at the Stockton Arena on Saturday. In nine games this year, the Barracuda are 1-6-1-1 versus the Flames affiliate, collecting its only win on Dec. 31 on the road (4-0 W). In the nine games, the Barracuda have been outscored 34-20 and have been held to one goal five times. The Barracuda are 0-3-0-1 against the Heat at the SAP Center and have not beat Stockton at home in its last nine consecutive games. The last win against its NorCal rival at home was March 10, 2019 (5-4 SOW).
Heat Index: The top team in the AHL has already secured a playoff berth and is now 7-3 over its last 10 and 14-5-1 in its last 20. Stockton’s .712 (18-7-0-1) road winning percentage is the best in the AHL as the Heat have gone 8-2 over its last 10 road games and enter Sunday on a three-game road winning streak. After Sunday, Stockton will have seven more road games left in the regular season and 10 games remaining in total. The Heat has the best record in the AHL when it scores the first goal (.864), something they have not done in the last four games against the Barracuda but still managed to collect wins in all four matchups. The Heat boast the AHL’s best penalty kill, have a league-high 14 shorthanded goals, and rank second in goals-for (3.72), and second in goals-against (2.65).
Wolf of Wall Street: Gilroy native Dustin Wolf is a perfect 7-0 against the ‘Cuda so far this year, with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage. Wolf is first in the AHL in wins (30), third in GAA (2.26), and second in SV% (.926). He is coming off a 7-1 win over the Barracuda on Saturday.
Major Movement: The Sharks made multiple moves before the NHL trade deadline two weeks ago, including deals that impacted the Barracuda. The club traded forward Nick Merkley, who was second on the team in scoring and first in assists, to the New York Rangers for veteran d-man Anthony Bitetto. In addition, the org traded goalie Alexei Melnichuk to the Tampa Bay Lightning for former San Diego Gulls forward Antoine Morand. On Monday, before the AHL’s deadline, the Barracuda shipped d-man Mark Alt to the Rochester Americans for forward Mason Jobst. In total, the Barracuda have deployed 48 different players (six goalies, 42 skaters) this year, which is just one shy of the most ever used in a single season. Since opening night on Oct. 17 in Bakersfield, just seven players remain on the roster and five of the 19 who appeared on opening night are no longer in the organization (Nick Merkley, Dylan Gambrell, Alexei Melnichuk, Mark Alt, Joel Kellman).
Blistering Blichy: Barracuda forward Joachim Blichfeld has 22 goals on the year and 11 of them on the power play. The third-year pro is the 10th player in franchise history to reach 20+ goals in a year and the first since Alex True (24) and Dylan Gambrell (20) in 2018-19. The Denmark native matched Danny O’Regan’s single-season record for the most power-play goals scored on Wednesday, which was set in 2016-17. Blichfeld is first on the team in points (40), first in goals, first in power-play goals, first in shots (171), and first in shootout goals (3). Blichfeld is 14 shots shy of Joakim Ryan’s (185) single-season record.
Fine Wein: Fourth-year pro Evan Weinger is having a career season; the SoCal native notched his 12th goal of the year on Wednesday and added an assist. Weinger has now set single-season career highs in goals (12), assists (12), and points (24). He is also tied for first on the team in shorthanded goals (2).
Montana Tough: Rookie d-man Montana Onyebuchi dropped the gloves last Saturday and now leads all rookies in fighting majors (11) and penalty minutes (113). Onyebuchi is 9 PIMS shy of matching Alex Gallant’s (122) rookie record which was set in the team's inaugural season (2015-16). Due to league rules, Onyebuchi had to serve a one-game suspension on Monday for accruing his 11th fighting major of the year. Every subsequent fight this season with garner a one-game suspension.
Sommer Time: On Jan. 8, 2022, head coach Roy Sommer picked up AHL victory #800 with a 6-3 win over the Henderson Silver Knights. The Oakland, Calif., native has been behind the bench for 1,733 games in the AHL, going 808-714-50-162 (W-L-T-OTL/SOL) over that span. During the 2015-16 season, the Barracuda’s first in San Jose, Sommer surpassed Fred “Bun” Cook (636 wins) for the most wins in AHL history, notching a 4-2 victory on Feb. 10, 2016, over Ontario. Sommer collected his 700th win on Dec. 3, 2017, at Bakersfield (2-1 W).