We’re about a month into the AHL season, and after a promising opening weekend, the Barracuda are once again struggling. They’re currently 28th in the league in points percentage, last in the Pacific Division, and have only one win in their first seven games. Currently they’re on a five game losing streak, though three of those have gone past regulation, giving the Barracuda 5 points on the season.
We’re going to take a look at the Barracuda’s month as a whole, and see if we can find the good, the bad, and the ugly in the Barracuda’s season so far.
RECORD
Oct 13 vs Rockford Icehogs: 7-2 L
Oct 14 vs Rockford Icehogs: 7-2 W
Oct 20 vs Henderson Silver Knights: 5-4 L
Oct21 vs Henderson Silver Knights: 4-3 OTL
Oct 25 vs Henderson Silver Knights: 4-3 OTL
Oct 28 vs Coachella Valley Firebirds: 8-2 L
Oct 29 vs Coachella Valley Firebirds: 5-4 OTL
THE GOOD
The first good thing about the season so far is that the Barracuda haven’t struggled to score in many of their games, scoring as many as 7 goals in a game (their only win of the season). They’re currently ninth in the league in goals scored with 25 in 7 games, an average of about three and a half goals a game. The scoring has been pretty balanced, too, with thirteen different Barracuda scoring in those games. Only seven Barracuda have played more than half of the 7 games without a goal.
The second good thing about the season is that Danil Gushchin appears ready to be The Guy on this Barracuda team again. After only one assist in his first two games of the season, he’s currently on a five game multipoint game streak, with a two goal night and a three assist night in the past weekend’s games. Considering the Barracuda only scored six goals total against the Firebirds, Gushchin featuring on five of them is a really good sign for the Barracuda. He’s currently tied for third in league scoring with 12 points in 7 games, and he’s shooting at 8.6%, a couple of points shy of his career average, so expect his three goals to multiply in short order. He’s second in the league in shots, too, with 35, only one behind the league leader, Adam Gaudette, who’s got an extra game on Gushchin. And all this is without his partner in crime, Tristen Robins, who is still on the injury list, or William Eklund, who graduated to the big club this season.
Another bright spot is the play of Georgi Romanov, one of the two rookies the Barracuda are running in goal as Eetu Makiniemi is on limited action, working his way back from injury. He only has an .882 sv%, but he’s faced 110 shots over only four games, and he has the lone Barracuda win on the season, plus two of the three overtime losses. He’s been their best goalie by far, as Chrona has struggled in his three starts this season, allowing 16 goals on 91 shots. If the Barracuda can settle down in their own zone (and figure out special teams), the numbers for both goalies should start going up.
Honourable mentions go to Justin Bailey, a sneaky good signing this season, who has four goals in seven games, and Brandon Coe, who also has four goals. Coe struggled to get into the line-up last season, but he’s been a big piece of the offence this season, which can only be a good sign.
THE BAD
Well, where do you start? The Barracuda are 30th in the league in goals allowed. The special teams have been terrible (more on them later), but their even strength play hasn’t been great either, allowing 22 of the 35 goals (3 shorthanded goals, 10 power play goals). Team defence needs to be exponentially better, plain and simple. Romanov and Chrona have faced collectively over 200 shots, an average of almost 30 shots a game. Both goalies need to be better, but the defence has been a mess.
The Barracuda haven’t helped themselves either, taking the most penalties in their division. In my season preview, I talked about how the Barracuda need to be much better with discipline, since they don’t have the strongest penalty kill in the world, but averaging over four penalty kills a game, they aren’t even getting a fighting chance. (Contrast this to the least penalised team, the Firebirds, averaging just over two kills a game. They have one power play goal allowed on the season, plus one shorthanded goal in fourteen kills.)
Offensively, most of the players we expected to produce have been, including Gushchin, Bailey, Leon Gawanke, and more. However, a surprise slump has come from Oskar Lindblom, who was on the Sharks for all of last season, and put on waivers after this training camp. Most people expected a big push from Lindblom to make it back up to the Sharks, especially considering the state of that roster, but with only 2 points in 6 games, it looks like Lindholm’s time in North America might be coming to an end. Speaking personally, I was also expecting Ozzy Wiesblatt to have a big start to the season, but he has only one point in four games, and has already served a three game suspension for a hit to the head in the season opener against Rockford.
THE UGLY
Let’s talk special teams. Last season, the Barracuda were terrible shorthanded, and much better with the man advantage. This season, both have been struggling mightily. The penalty kill is 31st in the league, allowing 10 goals and scoring one shorthanded goal. The power play has been even worse, though. The Barracuda admittedly sit 23rd in the league on PP% thus far, but they’ve scored only four goals, and allowed three shorthanded goals, essentially wiping out their PP goal differential. They’re 20th in the league in power play opportunities, with 26, but they’re going to need to start converting much more regularly. Only five teams have scored fewer power play goals.
The last ugly thing this month is more of an intangible than anything else, but it feels like the Barracuda just can’t hold a lead. In three of their seven games, they have been leading going into the third period, and have lost all three. Also, on two separate occasions, the Barracuda have allowed seven or more goals. It feels like they’ve lost every way that they could this month.
WHAT NOW?
The Barracuda need to pull it together in November. Hopefully the return of Thom Bordeleau will buoy the team a little, adding some defensive value. I expect the young players like Henry Thrun to continue to improve, and I expect Gushchin and Bailey to continue being exceptional. The season isn’t lost yet, but when we check back in at the end of November, the metrics for everything but goals for need to be much improved.
