BARRACUDA ELIMINATED BY EAGLES IN ROUND TWO
May 8, 2025Loveland, CO – The San Jose Barracuda fell 3-1 to the Colorado Eagles in Game Four at Blue Arena in Loveland, CO of the Division Semifinals of the Calder Cup Playoffs, and were eliminated from the 2025 American Hockey League Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Barracuda put up a valiant effort despite missing their leading scorer and AHL Most Valuable Player Andrew Poturalski and skilled forward Thomas Bordeleau for the entire Calder Cup Playoffs, and center Colin White from Game Four, who was tied for second amongst all AHL scorers coming into play today.
"I'm proud of the group," said Head Coach John McCarthy. "We gave ourselves a chance to win the game. Overall, I like the way we played. I thought this game might have been our best of the series.
"From our leadership on down, I think we took a step as an organization," McCarthy added. "We got some younger players some playoff experience and that's a positive."
After two periods of scoreless hockey, Colorado overcame a brief Barracuda 1-0 third period lead to earn the victory and clinch the series. Eagles forward Chase Bradley backhanded a shot from the goal line that somehow snuck past Barracuda goaltender Yaroslav Askarov to tie the game at one at 5:26 of the third and Tye Felhaber put Colorado ahead with a power play goal at 13:32. Jason Polin iced the game with an empty net goal at 19:04 to seal the victory
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Igor Chernyshev, the Sharks 19-year old, 33rd overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, opened the scoring at 4:09 of the third with a persistent effort in the Eagles zone supported by Lucas Carlsson and Jack Thompson. After a Carlsson pass to Ethan Cardwell was fed on net, the rebound kicked back out to Carlsson. He quickly slid the puck across the slot and towards the net, where it deflected off Chernyshev, who was parked in front of the Colorado net. A brief review of the play upheld the goal for a 1-0 San Jose lead.
"I liked him, he had another look in the slot in the third," said McCarthy. "Bigger body, can protect the puck, really exciting player to watch."
However, the lead was short-lived when Bradley’s shot eluded Askarov, who made 29 saves in the loss. Colorado’s netminder Trent Miner ended the game with 35 saves.
The end of the second period showed a 0-0 score on the scoreboard but each team thought they had broken the stalemate during the period. San Jose’s Thompson beat Miner with a shot from the right circle but the referees deemed that teammate Danil Gushchin had caused goaltender interference and the score was waved off. Late in the period, the Eagles Nikita Prishchepov attempted a wrap around on the San Jose net but Askarov pounced on the opportunity and despite the goal horn sounding, there was no definitive evidence that the puck crossed the goal line.
The Barracuda controlled the majority of the play in the middle frame, outshooting the Eagles 14-9 and generating several quality scoring chances. San Jose received a four-minute power play following a double-minor high sticking penalty to Colorado. That led to a great scoring opportunity for Collin Graf but just seconds after Miner made the save, Graf was called for hooking and the teams reverted to four-on-four.
The first period began with both teams trading low-dangers chances, but at 7:50, Chernyshev generated San Jose’s best chance of the period. Carrying the puck behind the goal line, he made a centering pass to Cardwell who got off two quick shots on Miner.
Askarov made the period’s most dramatic stops, helping to keep the game scoreless. With the Eagles on their first power play, Askarov dove to his left to snare a shot from Colorado’s Jacob MacDonald . Later with San Jose on the man advantage, the Eagles broke out with a short-handed, two-on-none breakaway but Askarov held steady and nullified a Felhaber attempt.
The Eagles outshot San Jose 11-9 in the period, and both teams finished the stanza 0/1 on the power play.
"Unfortunately, sometimes it comes down to bounces," said Barracuda captain Jimmy Schuldt. "They were a little bit better on special teams. They executed when they needed to."