GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS ROADRUNNERS
Feb 11, 2019San Jose Barracuda (26-11-2-4 .690) vs. Tucson Roadrunners (24-15-4-1 .602)
TUESDAY FEB. 12 | 7:00 P.M.
SAP Center at San Jose | San Jose, Calif.
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES
Run and Gun: On Tuesday, the San Jose Barracuda and Tucson Roadrunners collide for the sixth of eight total matchups in 2018-19 and the final meeting at the SAP Center. San Jose is 2-3 against the Coyotes affiliate this season and 12-6-1-2 all-time. Both of San Jose’s wins over Tucson came at the Tank.
Trade Winds: On Wednesday, the Arizona Coyotes shipped former Sharks prospect/Barracuda forward Adam Helewka to the Nashville Predators along with Laurent Dauphin for forward Emil Pattersson. The Sharks traded Helewka this summer to the Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Kyle Wood. In a separate move, Tucson acquired Jeremy Gregoire from Milwaukee, older brother of Barracuda defenseman Thomas Gregoire.
Mini-Mart: On Sunday, Jon Martin potted his ninth goal of the season. Through 34 games this year, Martin has already surpassed his goal, point and assist totals he had amassed in his first 60 career AHL games. Martin is seventh on the Barracuda in scoring (19), T-fifth in goals (9), fourth in plus/minus (+14), third in PIMs (46), and eighth in shooting percentage (13.2%).
Dazzling Dezzy: On Sunday, sophomore d-man Nick DeSimone collected a pair of helpers and is now T-third on the Barracuda in points (28), T-seventh in goals (8), third in assists (20) and T-second in power-play goals (3). DeSimone Is currently riding a four-game point streak (one goal, four assists), the longest such streak of his career. DeSimone is T-14th among all AHL defenseman in points.
Sommer-Time: Barracuda Head Coach and Oakland native Roy Sommer earned his 750th AHL win on February 1 at Stockton. Sommer, who is the only coach in the 83 years of the AHL to reach 750 wins, is currently 751-642-48-78-73 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.
Backstop Bullies: San Jose’s goalie combo of Josef Korenar and Antoine Bibeau have combined for the AHL’s best goals-against average (2.50) and second-best save percentage (.914). The 20-year-old rookie Korenar is T-first in the AHL in GAA (2.28), T-third in SV% (.920), T-fifth in wins (16), and T-second in shutouts (3). Bibeau is T-12th in the league in GAA (2.63) and is 12th in SV% (.913).
Frank the Tank: Acquired from the Ottawa Senators in the Erik Karlsson trade, third-year pro Francis Perron is second on the Barracuda in points (32), first in goals (14), T-fourth in assists (17), first in power-play goals (7), first in shooting percentage (21.4%), second in game-winning goals (3), and first in multi-point games (8).