San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 Takeaways: “Be a Pig” Is Barracuda Playoff Motto, 2-0 Shutout Over Reign
LOS ANGELES — The San Jose Barracuda are already one step away from the next round of the playoffs.
The San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate shut out the Ontario Reign 2-0 in Game One of their three-game first-round series.
Pavol Regenda and Filip Bystedt scored third period goals within 1:19 of each other, and San Jose held Ontario to one shot in the final frame, helping Yaroslav Askarov secure a 17-save shutout.
Ethan Frisch breaks the ice!!!!
1-0 Barracuda#tealbitesback pic.twitter.com/qzs5a4tfiT— JD Young (@MyFryHole) April 25, 2025
The Reign typically play home games at Toyota Arena in Ontario, but because of a prior commitment to Disney on Ice, they were forced to host Game One and Two at Crypto.com Arena, the home of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. An official 1,223 took in a minor league game in a building designed for 18,145.
Game Two is on Saturday at 6 PM PT and Game Three, if necessary, will be at Toyota Arena at 7 PM PT.
Turning Point
Up 1-0 in the third period, the Cuda had a chance to put their foot on the Reign’s throats when a Taylor Ward holding penalty gave the visitors a power play 8:17 into the final frame.
Instead, Ontario nearly seized momentum back, when their second-leading scorer Glenn Gawdin (21) jumped out on a short-handed 2-on-1 with Andre Lee (26).
The defense from Luca Cagnoni 😮
The goal from Filip Bystedt 🚨@TheAHL | @sjbarracuda | @SanJoseSharks #AHL #CalderCup #TealBitesBack #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/ApzTizQ5H2— FloHockey (@FloHockey) April 25, 2025
But Luca Cagnoni (42) played the pass perfectly, Pavol Regenda might have got away with a trip on Caleb Jones (82), and the Barracuda were off to the races on a 3-on-1.
“I knew that they were gonna kind of cheat on offense like we would too, if you’re in that situation,” the star San Jose Sharks defensive prospect said. “I just didn’t want that seam [pass] to get through. Just tried to play it the best I could, broke it up pretty good.”
Angus Booth (24) sold out to stop the pass to Regenda, and Colin White (16) had the patience to hit trailer Filip Bystedt (18) for the sweet finish.
Key Stat
The Barracuda held the Reign to just one shot in the third period, even though Ontario had significant power play time in the final frame because of an early Zach Ostapchuk double-minor.
But the Reign did take the last four minors of the third period, including a Samuel Fagemo slashing that cut their four-minute power play in half.
The Barracuda went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
“That’s unreal,” Askarov said of San Jose’s overall defensive effort. “Every goalie is going to love to play [in this] game.”
“Just eating pucks, being a pig out there,” Cagnoni laughed, speaking of the kill.
Per SportContract, Jimmy Schuldt played a game-leading 26:20 and 5:29 on the PK. Ethan Frisch was the Barracuda’s second-most relied-upon defenseman on the kill, and came up with seven of the team’s 20 blocked shots.
Quote of the Night
“Be a Pig”?
Brainchild of captain Schuldt, per Regenda, it’s the Barracuda motto for this playoff campaign.
Barracuda playoff motto is “Be a Pig”.
That’s what it says on the back of the shirt, Pavol Regenda modeling pic.twitter.com/DfyQUKPiUw
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 25, 2025
Why “Be a Pig” for Barracuda playoff motto?
Regenda: “The pig [is] a sacrifice for breakfast, like you have bacon. You gotta kill the pig. So it's the biggest sacrifice, we're gonna sacrifice for each other on the ice.”
Cagnoni: “Put your body on the line for anything, for your…
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 25, 2025
Overtime
Top power play option Danil Gushchin participated in warm-up line rushes, but he was a late scratch because of illness.
He should be an option to play Saturday if his health rallies.
As for the surreal environment for a playoff hockey game?
“Empty arena, so the energy was kind of low,” Regenda admitted. “But we [were] patient. We just stuck with our plan.”
About 1,000 fans, at best, in an NHL-sized arena was a flashback to when the Barracuda played their home games at SAP Center, the home of the San Jose Sharks, from 2015 to 2023.
Seating pretty much confined to one side of Crypto Arena.
They haven't announced attendance, but eyeball guess, about 500 actual people?
That's no criticism: Wild to expect Inland Empire fans to drive westbound to downtown LA during rush hour for a 7 PM game. Would guess… pic.twitter.com/d9TPnZuno3
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 25, 2025
Cagnoni says that the Cuda created momentum with their physicality and a lot of chatter on the bench. He was especially complimentary of the fourth line of Scott Sabourin-Lucas Vanroboys-Anthony Vincent and their physicality.
AHL playoff veteran Askarov wasn’t thrown off by the atmosphere, or lack thereof: “Just keep focus [on] whatever we can control. I saw our fans, that means a lot. There wasn’t a lot, but we had some.”
Barracuda Locker Room
Barracuda forward Pavol Regenda addresses the media following tonight's victory. Regenda had the first goal of the game. pic.twitter.com/REAXVxHraW
— x – SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) April 25, 2025
Barracuda defenseman Luca Cagnoni addresses the media following tonight's 2-0 win over the Ontario Reign pic.twitter.com/XzD5znY5Iz
— x – SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) April 25, 2025
Barracuda goaltender Yaroslav Askarov addresses the media following his 17 save shutout over the Ontario Reign pic.twitter.com/xBNXGA50YP
— x – SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) April 25, 2025
Barracuda Head Coach John McCarthy answers questions following the team's 2-0 victory over the Ontario Reign.
The Barracuda lead the first round series 1-0. pic.twitter.com/Oesb47N5zd
— x – SJ Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) April 25, 2025
