The Decisive Goal

Collin Graf,who gained experience playing 33 games with the San jose Sharks this past season,scored the game-winning goal at 17:42 of the third period. This was Graf’s first career AHL playoff goal.

The play unfolded with Ethan Cardwell carrying the puck into the Reign zone along the right boards. Cardwell then fed the puck back towards the slot, where Graf capitalized with a backhand shot past Reign goaltender Pheonix Copley. Colin White initiated the play from the San Jose zone, earning 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. I just whacked it in the net.
Collin Graf

Askarov’s Stellar Performance

Barracuda goaltender Yaroslav Askarov played a pivotal role in the victory, stopping 29 of 30 shots from Ontario. His performance included crucial saves during a heavy push by the Reign in the third period.

Askarov was great, I thought he won the game for us.
John McCarthy, San Jose Head Coach

Navigating Challenges

San Jose faced adversity during the game, playing short-handed after forward Donovan Houle left in the first period due to being hit by a puck. Additionally, defenseman Luca Cagnoni exited late in the second period following a high hit but returned late in the third.

It was gritty for us because we went down a couple of guys there, a forward and a D. 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.
collin Graf

Game Dynamics

Despite being outshot 10-7 in the second period, the Barracuda took a 1-0 lead. Askarov denied an odd-man sequence from Ontario, making a left pad save on Martin Chromiak at 6:13.Shortly after, at 7:40, jimmy Schuldt kept an Ontario clearing attempt in the offensive zone, leading to a goal by Anthony Vincent, assisted by White.

I just found a lane to the net and (White) got the puck to me and I just put it in the net.
Anthony Vincent

The Reign tied the game at 6:12 of the third period with a goal by Chromiak, assisted by Glenn Gawdin.

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. I thought we handled their push and pushed back and we did a great job with that.
anthony Vincent

Especially the way the game went, we found a way in the third period. We give them that goal but everybody came together, overcame the obstacle and it was fun to watch.
John McCarthy

The first period remained scoreless, with the Barracuda outshooting Ontario 13-8. San Jose’s Colin White had a significant scoring chance during a power play, but could not convert. Penalties affected both teams, including a misconduct penalty to Ontario’s Jacob Doty and a cross-checking penalty to San Jose’s Filip Bystedt.

Looking Ahead

The barracuda will now face the Colorado Eagles in the Division Semifinals. Game dates are yet to be determined,but San Jose will host games at Tech CU Arena.