BARRACUDA BEST ONTARIO IN GAME 1 OF PLAYOFFS
Apr 24, 2025Los Angeles, CA – The San Jose Barracuda (1-0-0-0) claimed Game 1 of the opening round of the Calder Cup Playoffs in the Pacific Division, defeating the Ontario Reign (0-1-0-0) 2-0 at Crypto.com Arena in the best-of-three series.
Netminder Yaroslav Askarov earned his first career AHL playoff shutout in his return to the net—his first start since April 12, also against Ontario—after being sidelined with illness. He stopped all 16 shots he faced.
“We played pretty well today,” said Askarov. “For most of the guys, this was their first game in the playoffs, so I think they handled it pretty well.”
In the first, Barracuda were awarded the first power play following a delay-of-game penalty to Angus Booth. Ontario got its first power-play opportunity after a high-sticking call on Colin White, but San Jose’s penalty kill held strong, keeping the game scoreless.
In the second period, San Jose failed to convert on its third power-play chance after a Francesco Pinelli hooking penalty at 8:01. The Barracuda remained perfect on the penalty kill through two periods, going 3-for-3. Askarov continued to deny Ontario’s offensive efforts, as the Reign outshot San Jose 8-4 in the frame.
Early in the third, the Barracuda killed off a four-minute double minor assessed to Zack Ostapchuk in his team debut. Shortly after, they broke the scoreless tie with two goals in under two minutes. Pavol Regenda opened the scoring with 12:40 left to play.
“We just stuck with our plan. And, you know, for two periods it was 0-0, and then we finally broke it,” said Regenda.
Ethan Frisch, making his AHL playoff debut, recorded his first point with the primary assist. Walker Duehr was credited with the secondary assist.
Filip Bystedt extended the lead to 2-0 with his first AHL playoff goal, a power-play tally at 8:38 of the third. Colin White picked up the primary assist, and Luca Cagnoni notched his first playoff point on the secondary helper.
“It's playoffs now, it's another tone, so it's pretty exciting,” said Cagnoni.
“I thought we executed the game plan pretty well, we took care of the puck,” said Barracuda bench boss John McCarthy. “We controlled most of the third period.”