The San Jose Barracuda went 2-1-0 this week, gaining victories over the San Diego Gulls and the Bakersfield Condors, with a loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in between.
The Barracuda
The Barracuda went into the week looking for their first pair of back to back victories since January 24 and 26, and only their third such streak all season. Prior to this week, they sat at the bottom of the Pacific Division standings at 15-22-8-0, with 38 points. They were 5 points behind the 9th place Gulls, who they played on Wednesday evening in San Diego. Players to watch for this game for San Jose were Nathan Todd, coming off the back of a hat trick over Bakersfield, and Georgi Romanov, who made 31 of 33 saves in the same game.
The Opponents
This week the opponents were three different teams, unusually. Wednesday night they faced the San Diego Gulls, Thursday the Coachella Valley Firebirds, and Saturday the Bakersfield Condors, all away. Gulls to watch are league leader in points and old friend Andrew Agozzino and All Star rookie Olen Zellweger. Firebirds to watch are rookie defenceman Ville Ottavainen and goalie Chris Drieger, who recorded his fourth shutout of the season against Henderson the previous game. Condors to watch are Raphael Lavoie, who scored the overtime game winner against the Barracuda last weekend, and goalie Jack Campbell, who most recently made 30 of 32 saves in a 2-1 loss to Colorado.
Wednesday
Shockingly, this is only the second time these teams have faced off this season. The Barracuda were victorious in the first meeting, back in November, and they had their best showing in a while in this game, scoring six goals, the most in any game since the second game of the season, where they defeated the Rockford IceHogs 7-2.
It started poorly, as the Barracuda conceded an early power play goal from Olen Zellweger only 1:46 into the first period, but the ice tilted the other way permanently for the rest of the game, as the Barracuda scored five straight, with Ethan Cardwell’s 14th, Nathan Todd’s 14th, Shakir Mukhamadullin’s 6th, Kyle Rau’s 4th, and Jacob Peterson’s 7th. Ben King made it 5-2 for the Gulls late in the third, but Peterson added a second goal with the goalie pulled to make it 6-2. That would be Peterson’s first multigoal game for San Jose.
Georgi Romanov improved to .500 on the season, with 19 of 21 saves, and Rau recorded a three point night with a goal and two assists. Thomas Bordeleau also continued his strong season with a three assist night, and the Barracuda have back to back victories for only the third time this season.
Thursday
Games against Coachella Valley are always exciting. Unfortunately it was the wrong kind of exciting, as the Barracuda were shut out, 4-0, by the Firebirds. They continue to look for a three game win streak.
In fairness to the Barracuda, the scoreline made the game look much worse than it is. The Firebirds were up 2-0 on goals from Kole Lind and Max McCormick, and then with three minutes left, the Barracuda pulled Magnus Chrona while on the power play for a 6 on 4 advantage. Ryan Winterton and then Marian Studenic scored shorthanded empty netters to make it 4-0, but Chrona would end the night with 28 saves on 30 shots. It’s the fourth time this season the Barracuda have been shut out by their opponents.
Saturday
The Barracuda finished their tour of orange teams with bird logos against the Bakersfield Condors, winning their second straight game against the Condors and improving their season series record to 4-3-1-0. San Jose matched their season high of goals, with a 7-3 victory, spreading the goal scoring out with seven different goalscorers and only seven Barracuda skaters not recording at least one point.
After power play struggles all season, four of the first five Barracuda goals were scored on the man advantage (Cole Cassels’ 7th, Todd’s 15th, Cardwell’s 15th and Rau’s 5th). Scott Sabourin added a goal, Peterson scored his third goal of the week, and they finished off with Anthony Vincent’s first career AHL goal. Rau and Cassels both had three point nights, and Chrona made 34 of 37 saves for his second straight strong performance in net. He has had an above .900 sv% for six of the last seven games.
Stat Corner
After going 0 for 2 against San Diego and 0 for 2 against Coachella Valley, the Barracuda power play, which has struggled all season, went 4 for 5 against Bakersfield. This outpouring pushed the Barracuda from 21st in the league to 14th, with an 18.8% success rate. The Barracuda haven’t really struggled to score goals this season at even strength, but a functioning power play is never a bad thing. They just need to figure out how to inject that same life into the PK, though there are improvements there too, as they went 15 for 17 on the kill over these three games. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for San Jose’s special teams?
Big Fish In A Little Pond
Kyle Rau had two three point games for the Barracuda this week. After joining San Jose midway through the season, he has 20 points in 26 games, including 15 assists. If he can figure out how to regain his scoring touch, look for him to be a big part of the Barracuda’s playoff push attempts.
