BARRACUDA EVEN SERIES WITH OT WIN
May 4, 2025San Jose, CA – The San Jose Barracuda emerged victorious with an overtime power-play goal against the Colorado Eagles in Game Two of the American Hockey League Division Semifinals before a sell-out crowd of 4,324 at Tech CU Arena. The Barracuda (1-for-6) and Eagles (1-for-5) earned 11 total power-play opportunities in the game between the two teams.
The series now shifts to Blue Arena in Loveland, CO for Game Three with the series even 1-1, which will be held on Tues., May 6 at 6:05 pm PDT. The game can be heard live on the Sharks Audio Network with Nick Nollenberger and Drew Remenda via the Sharks+SAP Center app, as well as streamed on FloHockey.
"That game was kind of the series," said Collin Graf. " We didn't want to go to Colorado down 0-2.”
The Eagles mustered the first two shots of the contest early in the first period, but the Barracuda quickly took over a fierce, feisty and physical opening stanza. After Colorado forward Jack Ahcan took a high-sticking penalty just 1:31 into the game, San Jose went on the attack on a power play that generated several high-danger scoring opportunities. Graf fired three of the Barracuda five shots on the man-advantage and Danil Gushchin rang a shot off the far post. San Jose’s best opportunity came perhaps at 10:05 short-handed with Filip Bystedt and Jimmy Schuldt executing a two-on-one. Bystedt successfully fed the puck across to Schuldt but Miner stood tall to keep the game scoreless.
San Jose’s Regenda put an exclamation point on the physicality in the first period, leveling the Eagles Jason Polin just inside the Barracuda blueline, and then flattening Polin again as he regained control of the puck. The Barracuda outshot Colorado 14-6 in the period.
"[Regenda] had one shift where he had those two big hits," said Barracuda Head Coach John McCarthy. "Puck protection, going in first for loose pucks type of physicality that he's shown. He's willing to go to the net-front and get inside, obviously he's the power-play net front guy. Has done a lot of good things from a physical standpoint."
The second period was dominated by special teams for both squads. The Barracuda opened the middle frame on a double-minor power play, thanks to Tye Felhaber’s high-sticking penalty on Quentin Musty at 20:00 mark of the first period. Despite playing five-on-four for four minutes, the Barracuda mustered just three shots. The Eagles generated the best offensive chance of the man-advantage when Chris Wagner muscled his way to the front of the San Jose crease. Yaroslav Askarov’s initial save trickled back to the front of the net and only a quick-rection, right leg pad thwarted a point-blank follow up from T.J. Tynan to keep the game scoreless.
The Eagles stifled a third consecutive San Jose advantage in the period before capitalizing on a hooking penalty at 11:17 to San Jose’s Braden Haché. Askarov made the first four saves against Colorado’s power play but at 13:13, with just four seconds remaining in the advantage, Colorado’s Matthew Phillips sent a pass across the slot to Calle Rosén, who picked the top corner past Askarov to break the stalemate.
But with less than two minutes left in the middle period and the Eagles enjoying their third power play, Pavol Regenda forced former Shark Jacob MacDonald into a turnover, just outside the Colorado blueline. That led to a two-on-none give and go with Colin White, who deftly fed the puck back to Regenda and he buried it top shelf past Miner.
In the third, both teams traded chances with the shot count in favor of the Barracuda 13-8. At 12:48 in the third, Colorado nearly had the go-ahead goal from a shot by MacDonald, but after a video review by the referees, the puck was deemed not to have crossed the line. With :48 seconds left in the third, Devante Stephens tripped Gushchin, and the Barracuda earned their sixth power-play of the evening. Askarov made one save on the man-advantage to keep the game even at one and helped force overtime.
The overtime game was the first time San Jose needed the extra frames to settle the score, with the last occurrence on Apr. 17, 2019 at San Diego in the Division Semifinals, where the Barracuda fell 6-5.
In the overtime session, San Jose started on the power-play with 1:12 left from the penalty by Stephens and just 27 seconds in the extra frame, Gushchin sealed the game with the team’s lone power-play strike to even the series. Gushchin led a rush into the zone, passed across the slot to Graf who gave it right back to him and with a backhanded shot at the top of the crease, the puck squeezed by Miner after glancing off of Wagner's skate. Graf and White, who registered his fifth point in the playoffs, recorded assists on the game-winning goal.
"Loved that we stuck with it, love that we got the two points," said McCarthy. "Power-play stepped up big there at the end."
Musty appeared in his first career AHL Calder Cup Playoff game, recording one shot in the game.