The San Jose Barracuda rolled into Nevada and rolled back out with a win, defeating the Henderson Silver Knights 5-2. We’re got our three stars, two takeaways, and one big question for the Cuda going forward!
Three Stars
Luca Cagnoni
Who else? Cagnoni has been nothing short of excellent for San Jose since he arrived at the beginning of the season, and only five games into his pro career, he has his first multi-goal game. He currently has four goals and two assists for six points on the season, and leads not only all rookie defencemen in scoring, but all defencemen in the AHL. He’s also second on the Barracuda in scoring, behind only fellow rookie Collin Graf (2G, 5A, 7P), and is sixth league wide in SOG. His offensive prowess is well documented (Cagnoni had 90 points last season in the WHL), but not only that, he didn’t concede a goal the entire game, so he’s getting it done on both ends of the ice.
Yaroslav Askarov
Everyone get your pitchforks; Askarov has finally conceded a goal for the Barracuda this season. Two, in fact! But just because we have come to expect 0GA from Askarov this season doesn’t make his performance vs Henderson less impressive. Askarov made 26 of 28 saves, and survived a collision with Henderson forward Tanner Laczynski. He’s continuing to look more and more like a difference maker for the Barracuda this season. After this “down” game, he’s rocking a mere .973 SV% on the season.
Collin Graf
Graf didn’t hit the scoresheet last night, but he was extremely active anyway. His three assists led the team, and though he didn’t register a shot on goal all game, he was directly responsible for the Andrew Potulraski goal. He’s currently leading all Barracuda in points with 7, as well as all rookies league wide. Graf had a cup of coffee in the NHL last season, getting 7 games with the Sharks, but he’s expected to spend much of the season with the Barracuda, which is good news for fans of the AHL team, especially if he’s going to have more games like he did last night.
Two Takeaways
Do Less Crime
The Barracuda continue to be near the top of the league in penalties taken. They’ve been shorthanded 23 times, which ties for fourth most in the NHL, and they took another four minor penalties last night, plus Scott Sabourin’s fighting major. The penalty kill remains perfect, with 23 successful kills, but the dam is going to break sooner or later, so it’s probably in Head Coach John McCarthy’s best interest to encourage some more discipline in his squad. The good news is that the power play continues to work, as they added another powerplay goal last night, going 1 for 6.
De-fence! De-fence!
The Barracuda once again outshot their opponent last night, and they’ve been averaging under 30 shots allowed a game. They are also tied for fourth in the league in fewest goals allowed, which is almost certainly due to strong goaltending, but going from last season to this season, where they allowed the most goals in the league, the defence must be doing something right to help out Askarov and Romanov.
One Question
Is This Just A Hot Start, Or Is This Who The Barracuda Are?
This is a question that’s difficult to answer. It’s only five games into a 72 game season, not even ten percent. Players will cool off, unsustainable shooting and save percentages will return to earth. Yes, they will likely regress to the mean at least a little bit. There are going to be rough nights and long games. But for a team that has languished near the bottom of their division for more than a few seasons now, it’s hard to not get excited about what’s happening in San Jose. So you might as well enjoy it for as long as you can, Cuda fans. And maybe, we’ll get lucky enough to welcome postseason hockey back to the Bay in April.
Next Up
The Barracuda face off again against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday, still in Henderson. The puck drops at 11am Pacific, and you can watch it, along with all Barracuda games, on FloHockey.tv!
