GOTTA SEE IT: Carriere Makes ‘Superman’ Save

Gabriel Carriere is literally flying to save the San Jose Barracuda’s season.

Early in the Barracuda’s 6-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors, Carriere put on his cape to stop Darren Brady from scoring into an open net.

Carriere with the Superman save! pic.twitter.com/UXCxq29CCK

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 24, 2025

“Awesome,” Cuda head coach John McCarthy said. “I thought he was awesome all night.”

This “Superman” save was one of 33 for Carriere, who has put the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate on his back since mid-February, when star prospect Yaroslav Askarov went down with a lower-body injury.

He’s started nine of the Cuda’s last 13 games, going 5-2-2 with a .911 Save %. In the process, he’s helping to secure the Cuda’s first non-COVID trip to the playoffs since 2019.

After a weekend sweep of the Condors, fifth-place San Jose, .590 Points %, has put some space between themselves and eighth-place Bakersfield, .508 Points %. The top-seven teams in the Pacific Division qualify for the post-season.

Carriere, 24, has been a revelation since Askarov’s injury, earning himself a contract from the San Jose Sharks along the way. He was originally signed by the Barracuda out of the University of Vermont last year.

McCarthy knew in training camp that he had a player in Carriere: “It’s his approach, really, more than anything else. He’s professional. He’s composed. Not too high, not too low, which for a goalie is a pretty good attribute to have.”

However, it took some time for Carriere, who started the season with San Jose Sharks’ ECHL affiliate Wichita Thunder, to show his stuff at a higher level.

Between the ECHL and AHL, the 6-foot-2 netminder has a 14-9-2 record and .922 Save % with Wichita, and an 8-5-2 record and .908 Save % with San Jose.

The Cuda have 11 games left in the season.

Officially, Askarov has a day-to-day lower-body injury, but he hasn’t appeared in a game for over a month, since Feb. 19. There’s hope that he’ll be able to re-join Barracuda practice next week, he has been practicing on his own. But it might be a while yet before Askarov starts again.

So Carriere might need to keep saving the day.