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San Jose Barracuda

Game 2 Takeaways: Askarov Leads Cuda to 1st Calder Cup Playoff Series Win Since 2017

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3 weeks ago

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Credit: Michael Sullivan/Ontario Reign

LOS ANGELES — The San Jose Barracuda have won their first Calder Cup playoff series since 2017.

Yaroslav Askarov stopped 29-of-30 shots, and a late Collin Graf goal put the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate over the top against the Ontario Reign 2-1.

The Barracuda swept the best-of-three series, next opponent, Pacific Division No. 1 seed Colorado Eagles in the Pacific Division Semi-Finals

This will be a best-of-five series, the first two games at Tech CU Arena, the last three at Blue FCU Arena. The winner will take on either the Abbotsford Canucks or Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Pacific Division Finals.

Game One of Barracuda-Eagles on May 2 will be the first playoff hockey game in San Jose since 2019.

Turning Point

The Barracuda appeared to be running on fumes midway through the third period, two skaters, winger Donavan Houle and defenseman Luca Cagnoni, in the locker room.

The Reign had just tied the game, a sizzling Martin Chromiak one-timer that eluded Askarov about six minutes into the final frame.

With 6:57 left in the game, Ontario had run up a 9-2 shots edge in the third period, looking poised to stave off elimination.

But then, San Jose went back to the basics, getting the puck in deep and relying, in part, on their size advantage up front to take the momentum back on the forecheck, video clip courtesy SportContract:

Big boys like Scott Sabourin, Lucas Vanroboys, Patrick Giles, Walker Duehr, Pavol Regenda, and Zack Ostapchuk, all 6-foot-2 and bigger, and the smaller but huge-hearted Anthony Vincent went to the ground game, wearing down the Reign.

Highlighted by a no-holds barred shift that ended with Vanroboys and Caleb Jones off for coincidental minors, the Cuda squeezed off three of the next four shots, including the Graf game-winner, off a speedy Ethan Cardwell pass, with 2:18 to go.

“We wanted to do that all game,” head coach John McCarthy said of the simple approach that pushed the pendulum back in San Jose’s favor. “Unfortunately, got away from it for a little bit, not egregiously, but they’re a talented team, and they took advantage of that chance [to tie the game]. Then I thought we’d really doubled down on everything.”

Bottle up this five-minute stretch: This was winning playoff hockey.

Quote of the Night

Key Stats from SportContract

The Barracuda choked the life out of the Reign in Game One, holding them to one shot in the third period in a 2-0 shutout.

No such luck in Game Two, as Ontario pelted Askarov with 22 shots in the last two periods of the game. San Jose managed just 12 shots in response.

So it was on top San Jose Sharks prospect Askarov to carry his team, and he did, turning away 21 of those 22 shots, many Grade-A chances, including this stop on Chromiak.

This was Askarov’s most breathtaking save, but it wasn’t his most important.

Seconds after the eventual Graf game-winner, Jared Wright had a breakaway, which Askarov erased.

“It’s the playoffs, you never know,” Askarov said of the back-and-forth action in that pivotal sequence. “You never know what’s going on next.”

It would prove to be the last gasp for the No. 3 seed.

Overall, per SportContract, Ontario had an 11-7 Home Plate Shots advantage in Game Two; San Jose had a 12-6 edge in Game One.

Once again, the difference tonight was Askarov.

Also shout out to the penalty kill, which was perfect once again, going 9-for-9 in this series. First-choice killer Ethan Frisch led the Cuda with 10 blocked shots (All Situations) in LA.

San Jose had 30 blocked shots over the two games, 20 in Game One, 10 in Game Two, Frisch was responsible for a third of that sacrifice.

Overtime

The relentless Vincent got the Barracuda going with the game-opening strike, off a brilliant Colin White pass.

Both Donavan Houle and Cagnoni left the game with upper-body injuries, but the blueliner returned after missing about 20 minutes of action.

Houle took a Joey Keane shot high and managed to get to the hallway under his own power. McCarthy had no update post-game, saying Houle was still being evaluated.

What a meaningful win for the San Jose Sharks organization — and for Cuda lifer McCarthy.

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