PREVIEW: Gulls Open Road Trip With Battle Against The Barracuda
Jan 17, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
Like Willie Nelson, the Gulls are on the road again.
San Diego embarks on a four-game, six-day road trip tonight when they face their Pacific Division foes, the San Jose Barracuda, at SAP Center (7p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
Tonight is the sixth meeting of an eight-game season series between the two teams. San Diego leads the series, winning four of the first five matchups, including back-to-back wins in San Jose on Nov. 19 and 20. The Gulls own an all-time mark of 38-19-4-1 vs. the Barracuda, including 18-11-2-0 at SAP Center.
Nikolas Brouillard paces the Gulls production against the Barracuda with 2-5=7 points in five contests, followed by Brayden Tracey with 3-2=5 points. Joachim Blichfeld and Jayden Halbgewachs lead the way for San Jose with 2-2=4 points each, while Scott Reedy powers the Barracuda in goals scoring with 3-0=3 against San Diego in three games played.
San Jose won the most recent meeting, a 4-1 come-from-behind victory on Saturday, Dec. 18 at Pechanga Arena. Evander Kane led the charge, with 1-1=2 points to extend his point streak to four games. Reedy and Jaycob Megna collected shorthanded tallies while Patrick Holaway scored his first career American Hockey League goal.
The Barracuda roster looks considerably different from that game, with Kane recently waived by the organization. Additionally, Megna is with the Sharks, playing in their last seven games.
San Diego enters off a 4-3 win over the Abbotsford Canucks, its first win over the AHL’s newest team. Defenseman Kodie Curran recorded a career-high three assists (0-3=3) while Tracey posted a multi-point performance (0-2=2) and four different Gulls found the back of the net.
The offense supported Francis Marotte, who stopped 29 shots to earn his first AHL win.
“Well, you have to understand he’s playing his first three games in the AHL,” Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said following the game. “The caliber is obviously higher than the east coast league and we thought that every game he progressed a little bit. Yesterday he made some big saves and obviously there’s a growing part, but tonight he was solid. He was very solid. We had long PKs. PKs are tiring for goaltenders. In a back-to-back, that’s pretty impressive for him to be keeping the stamina. And he made a couple of saves when we needed it. Everybody’s very happy, players, coaches, everybody.”
Tracey continues his impressive season, entering the matchup with six points in his last five games (2-4=6). The right wing leads the Gulls in goals (9), assists (14) and points (9-14=25). He’s seventh among all rookies in scoring.
San Jose comes into tonight following a 5-1 loss to the Bakersfield Condors at Mechanics Bank Arena. The Barracuda allowed three first-period goals in the loss, with all six goals coming at even strength.
Reedy enters tonight leading the Barracuda in goals (16) and scoring (16-9=25). He sits fifth among all first-year skaters in points and tied with Rochester’s Jack Quinn for the lead in goals. Halbgewachs leads San Jose with 12 assists.