BARRACUDA SWEEP REIGN IN ROUND ONE
Apr 26, 2025Los Angeles, CA – The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Ontario Reign 2-1 in Game Two of the First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, sweeping the best-of-three series and advancing to the American Hockey League Division Semifinals. This is the first playoff series victory for the Barracuda since 2017.
The Barracuda will face the Colorado Eagles in the Division Semifinals. Game dates are yet to be determined but San Jose will host games in the series at Tech CU Arena.
“I’m happy for our group, that’s a lively locker room in there, they should be really proud of themselves,” said San Jose Head Coach John McCarthy.
Collin Graf, who played in 33 games with the San Jose Sharks this past season, netted the game winner at 17:42 of the third period, his first career AHL playoff goal. Ethan Cardwell began the sequence carrying the puck into the Reign zone along the right boards. Driving towards the net, Cardwell, fed the puck back towards the slot where Graf muscled a backhand shot past Reign goaltender Pheonix Copley. Forward Colin White fed the play out of the San Jose zone, picking up his second assist of the night.
“Cards used his speed that he’s always had, sort of drew two guys to him and made a nice centering pass,” said Graf. “I just whacked it in the net.
Barracuda Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov stopped 29 of 30 Ontario shots for his second postseason victory of the year, including negating several high-danger chances as the Reign made a heavy push in the third period.
“Askarov was great, I thought he won the game for us,” said McCarthy.
For highlights of Game 2, B-roll footage, and other related Barracuda video footage, interviews, and recordings, please click here
San Jose was forced to play much of the game short-handed as forward Donovan Houle left the game in the first period after being hit with a puck, and defenseman Luca Cagnoni left the game late in the second period after taking a high hit but returned to the game late in the third period.
“It was gritty for us because we went down a couple of guys there, a forward and a D,” said Graf. “Being really active on the bench and making sure that we’re all dialed in into who is going on, having short shifts, that helped us win.”
Despite being outshot 10-7 in the middle frame, a series of events would lead the Barracuda to a 1-0 lead. Askarov denied an Ontario odd man sequence, making a spectacular left pad save on Martin Chromiak at 6:13 to keep the game scoreless. Just over a minute later at 7:40, following a seemingly innocuous San Jose dump in, Barracuda defenseman Jimmy Schuldt kept an Ontario clearing attempt in the offensive zone, with the puck finding its way to White. White fed the puck to Anthony Vincent who was posted just inside the near circle and he beat Copley for the game’s first score.
“I just found a lane to the net and (White) got the puck to me and I just put it in the net,” said Vincent.
The Reign pulled even at 6:12 of the third period, finding their first goal of the series. Chromiak, denied earlier in the game, found himself alone in the high slot and fired a one-timer from Glenn Gawdin that squeaked through Askarov.
“In every game, there’s momentum swings and you just want to do your best on the bench as a team to not get too excited or too down on each other,” said Vincent. “I thought we handled their push and pushed back and we did a great job with that.”
“Especially the way the game went, we found a way in the third period,” added McCarthy. “We give them that goal but everybody came together, overcame the obstacle and it was fun to watch.”
Both teams manufactured several chances in a scoreless first period, while the Barracuda outshot Ontario 13-8. San Jose’s White had the best scoring opportunity just seconds into the Barracuda’s first power play when Reign forward Andre Lee took a hooking penalty 4:58 into the game. White found himself with a mostly wide-open Reign net at the far post but couldn’t corral the puck to get a shot off. Late in the period, Ontario’s Jacob Doty was tagged with a 10-minute misconduct on top of a high-sticking penalty at 19:59, allowing the Barracuda to start the second period on nearly full two-minute power play but a cross-checking penalty to Filip Bystedt just twenty seconds into the stanza negated San Jose’s advantage.
About Tech CU Arena
Tech CU Arena is a state-of-the-art, 4,200-seat arena located in San Jose. It is the home of the San Jose Barracuda. Tech CU Arena is a partnership between Sharks Sports & Entertainment and Technology Credit Union, a full-service, federally insured not-for-profit credit union headquartered in the heart of San Jose. With more than 155,000 members, Tech CU provides a wide array of financial products and services, including personal banking, financial management, private banking, commercial lending, and business banking. Learn more at www.techcu.com.
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