It was a weekend of ups and downs for the San Jose Barracuda, as they split the weekend against the Rockford Icehogs on the back of five Barracuda players’ debuts, the return home of Ryan Carpenter, and a three game suspension being handed down.
THE BARRACUDA
Five players made their AHL debut for the Barracuda this weekend, including both goalies; Magnus Chrona, Georgi Romanov, Ethan Cardwell, Valtteri Pulli and Matthew Sredl. Also starting their AHL rookie campaigns are Roman Kinal and Ethan Frisch, who played one and two games for the Cuda this season, respectively.
THE OPPONENT
The Barracuda have an unfamiliar opponent in Rockford, as it’s rare for teams to play out of division, especially in the Pacific. The last time these two teams faced off in the 2017-18 season, when Rockford swept the Barracuda in a two game series. Last season the Icehogs had a record of 35-28-5-4 and finished fifth in the Central Division with 79 points. They were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Texas Stars.
FRIDAY
The first period of the home opener was tightly contested, as two rookie goalies faced off against each other; Magnus Chrona for the Barracuda and Drew Commesso for the Icehogs. Anders Bjork would open the scoring on the power play with a highlight pass from Joey Anderson only nine seconds into the man advantage. Anderson would make the exact same pass only four minutes later to double the lead for the Icehogs. The Barracuda get one back off the stick of Brandon Coe, with an assist courtesy of Ethan Cardwell’s first AHL regular season point, but it’s the second period where things really fell apart for the Barracuda.
Ozzy Wiesblatt, after mixing it up in the first period, would be given 5 and a game for a check to the head of Kale Howarth. Rockford scored two goals during the ensuing major, giving them a 4-1 lead into the third period.
They added three more goals in the third period, including a shorthanded empty netter when McCarthy pulled his goalie despite the team being down 6-1. Shakir Mukhamadullin would stem the bleeding a little with his first goal of the season on the PP, but it was ultimately a disappointing night at Tech CU for Barracuda fans. Chrona’s debut wasn’t eyecatching on the scoresheet, but he impressed during stretches, and was ultimately not responsible for the loss. Of the six goals he allowed, three of them were on the power play, and he finished with 27 of 33 saves.
SATURDAY
The Barracuda were desperate to get the bad taste out of their mouths from the loss on Friday night, as they prepared to face off only 16 hours after the final whistle. Missing for the Icehogs was Howarth, after Wiesblatt’s check to the head, Zach Jordan stepping into the lineup to make his season debut. Jaxson Stauber would take the net after Commesso’s excellent AHL debut. For the Barracuda, Wiesblatt sat the first of his three game suspension for the hit on Howarth, replaced in the lineup by Adam Raska. Also missing was Jacob Peterson, who was recalled to San Jose on Saturday morning. Anthony Vincent made his season debut for the Barracuda in place of Peterson.
The first period looked very much like two teams that played not even 24 hours ago. Both goalies were strong until Ethan Cardwell extended his point streak to two games, opening the scoring and getting his first AHL regular season goal, assisted by Cole Cassels. The Barracuda took a 1-0 lead into the first period, despite being outshot 11-9.
The Icehogs came out fast to start the second, with two goals from Anderson and Brett Seney (PP), giving Anderson his first goal and fifth point of the weekend. But from there, the Barracuda took over. Justin Bailey, who had been impressive all weekend, scored the tying goal just over a minute after the Icehogs took the lead, and Tanner Kaspick and Ryan Carpenter added their own tallies to take a 4-2 lead into the third period. The shots on goal in the second period were 24-5 in favour of the Barracuda.
Cole Cassels, who might end up being a sneakily good signing for the Barracuda, added a goal to his two assist afternoon, scoring shorthanded to increase the lead to three goals. Oskar Lindblom, a surprise waiver addition from the big club, scored his first of the season to make it 6-2, and Ryan Carpenter puts a bow on his homecoming to San Jose with his second goal of the night, sealing the victory for the Barracuda and giving them a 7-2 victory. Romanov was exceptional in his debut, making 26 of 28 saves, and three Barracuda had multipoint games (Cassels 1G 2A, Carpenter 2G, Bailey 1G 3A)
STAT CORNER
Though he didn’t appear in the goal column this weekend, Danil Gushchin registered an assist on Friday’s game, and over the two games vs the Icehogs, recorded 12 shots in total (5 on Friday, 7 (!) on Saturday). Look for him to break his goalless streak sooner rather than later. When Tristen Robins returns from injury, other teams beware.
BIG FISH IN A SMALL POND
Justin Bailey was a noticable force for good on Friday, and backed that up with a four point game on Saturday. Last season he scored 19 goals for the Bakersfield Condors, and is only three seasons removed from a 25 goal campaign with the Utica Comets. The early scouting report on him is looking like an excellent AHL signing for San Jose.
NEXT UP
The Barracuda are next in action on Friday October 20th, as they travel to Henderson to take on the Silver Knights. Puck drops at 7pm Pacific.
