GAMEDAY: BARRACUDA VS ROADRUNNERS
Mar 24, 2024
SAN JOSE BARRACUDA (19-30-9-2, 47 pts.) vs. TUCSON ROADRUNNERS (36-20-3-2, 77 pts.)
SUN, MAR. 24 | 3:00 P.M. | TECH CU ARENA | SAN JOSE, CA
LISTEN | WATCH | GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT
Land and Sea: The Barracuda continue their four-game homestand on Sunday afternoon with the second of back-to-back games against the Tucson Roadrunners (Arizona Coyotes). The Barracuda are 1-4 versus the Yotes affiliate this season and 1-2 at Tech CU Arena after a 3-1 loss on Saturday. After Sunday, SJB has 11 games left in the regular season and four remaining on home ice.
Saturday Sizzle: Brandon Coe scored 48 seconds into the game on Saturday, but Matt Villalta would turn aside 31 straight after that point en-route to a 3-1 Roadrunners win. Josh Doan tied the score late in the second on the power play and then Colin Theisen gave Tucson its first lead at 5:10 of the third. Vlad Kolyachonok sealed the win with an empty netter. In his first AHL action since late February, Magnus Chrona was outstanding, despite taking the loss, he stopped 35 of 37.
Full Deck: Before Saturday, Barracuda rookie forward Ethan Cardwell had scored in his last three games. Among league rookies, he is now T-sixth in goals (18), and T-10th in scoring (34) and 9th in shots (133). On the Barracuda, he is first in goals and game-winning goals (3), third in shots, T-third in power-play goals (3), and fifth in points.
Trade Winds: The Barracuda sent forward Jordy Bellerive to the Syracuse Crunch last Friday for forward Joe Carroll. Carroll, 23, made his Barracuda debut on Sunday in Rockford. Before being dealt, the sophomore forward had 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) through 48 games with the Crunch, including four game-winning goals, three power-play goals, a shorthanded goal, and three shorthanded assists. Carroll was a teammate of new Barracuda defenseman Jack Thompson in Syracuse earlier this year. In addition, he was a teammate of current Barracuda forwards Scott Sabourin and Cole Cassels in Belleville a season ago and Barracuda defenseman Artem Guryev in Peterborough two years ago. Carroll scored his first goal with the Barracuda in his second game on Wednesday.
Adding Akim: The Barracuda signed forward/defenseman Akim Aliu to a PTO on Wednesday. Aliu, 34, last played in 2019-20 with HC Litvinov (Czechia). Over his 11-year-career, the Toronto, Ontario, native has appeared in 245 AHL games with Rockford, Chicago, Peoria, Abbotsford, Hamilton, Hartford, Rochester, Oklahoma City, and Cleveland, totaling 76 points (47+29=76) and 423 penalty minutes. In addition, he has skated in seven games with the Calgary Flames, notching three points (2+1=3), 26 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating.
Running Hot: The Roadrunners enter Sunday sitting in the second spot in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Colorado Eagles. Tucson can clinch a playoff berth with a win Sunday and a San Diego loss (reg/OT/SO) vs. Calgary, OR a OTL/SOL at San Jose AND a San Diego regulation loss vs. Calgary. Tucson is 7-2-1-0 over its last 10 after Saturday’s win. The Coyotes’ affiliate is second in the AHL in penalty minutes per game (16.18), ninth on the penalty kill (83.5), and have the league’s second-best winning percentage when scoring first (.922). Among AHL freshman, Roadrunners forward Josh Doan is first in goals (26), power-play goals (10) and game-winning goals (8), third in points (46), and fourth in shots (150). Among league-leaders, he is first in game-winners, T-fourth in goals, and T-fifth in power-play goals. Goaltender Matt Villalta is first in the league in minutes played (2624), and second in wins (26) and saves (1158).