San Jose Barracuda forward and American Hockey League MVP Andrew Poturalski took a significant step toward a return to the lineup on Saturday.
Poturalski has been dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out since March 28th. The centerman got on the ice in full equipment for the first time on Saturday. The Barracuda’s leading scorer had recently gotten on the ice in a tracksuit.
San Jose Barracuda head coach John McCarthy still considers Poturalski week-to-week, but the coach added that he could soon be upgraded to day-to-day.
Poturalski is a key part of the Barracuda, especially on the power play. San Jose ranked first in the AHL this season, but McCarthy feels the team is stepping up in his absence.
“We miss him. He’s a dynamic offensive player,” McCarthy said last Wednesday. “In my opinion, the best in the league. Yeah, we miss him, but we’ve got other guys stepping up, filling that role.”
In game one of the second round, the San Jose Barracuda went 0 for three on the power play against the Colorado Eagles. McCarthy wasn’t happy with the first unit either, so he started the second unit at the beginning of the third period.
“We’ve got to connect on more plays. We have a plan, a structure. I didn’t think the execution was as sharp as it could be,” McCarthy said postgame. “The first one was good at that. Second one wasn’t very good. Then I thought the third one was pretty good. We generated some looks, but [we’ve got to have] more consistent execution.”
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