San Jose Barracuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov enjoyed the moment when the fans threw stuffed animals on to the ice during the annual Teddy Bear Toss Game at Tech CU Arena on Saturday DEC 7, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda has accomplished something they could not do at all last season. Defeat the Coachella Valley Firebirds twice in one season.

Lucas Vanroboys scored the only goal in the game as Cuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov made 36 saves en route to a 1-0 shutout victory over their Pacific Division rival from the desert on Saturday evening at Tech CU Arena.

Askarov (8-3-1-2) earned his third shutout of the season and lowered his goals against average to 1.75.

“It was kind of a slow start from us and after we just got better and better by the minute…It’s always fun to win the game, it’s even better when it’s a shutout too,” Askarov said.

San Jose has won four of its last five games. Coachella Valley has lost four of its past five games.

It was the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night at Tech CU Arena where fans threw stuffed animals on to the ice after the first goal is scored by the home team.

The fourth line magic continued for San Jose (13-6-0-1) late in the first period. Lucas Carlson picked the pocket of a Firebirds defenseman inside their own zone. Carlson set up Scott Sabourin in the slot. Sabourin’s shot was stopped but not controlled by Firebirds goalie Ales Stezka. Vanroboys became the hero of the night when he tapped in his second rebound chance into an empty net for his fifth goal of the season at the 17:26 mark.

“That was a good game,” said Vanroboys. “It kind of felt like a playoff game, good crowd today which was awesome. It was two good teams going at it.”

The game was delayed as thousands of teddy bears rained down on the ice from the 3,208 fans in attendance. It began the first intermission as the teams headed into their locker rooms while the Barracuda staff cleaned up all the stuffed animals off of the ice. The teams returned to the ice to play out the final 2:34 of the opening frame before starting the second period.

Coachella Valley (11-7-1-2) controlled play for the first eight minutes of the opening frame but weren’t able to get a puck past Askarov despite registering 12 shots on goal with multiple scoring chances.

The scoreless middle frame featured the Firebirds outshooting the Barracuda by a two-to-one margin, 14-7. Despite having two power play opportunities, Coachella Valley were kept off the board by Askarov and San Jose’s penalty kill.

“As far as the game went, I thought we did a lot of good things. And then there were sometimes where I felt we got really hemmed in. But I felt like we really buckled down and kind of came together as a group and figured it out,” Cuda head coach John McCarthy said.

San Jose held down the fort in the scoreless third period. Firebirds coach Derke Laxdal pulled Stezka with 3:26 remaining in the game to give Coachella Valley a full two-minute of six on four as Ethan Frisch went to the sinbin for tripping. It was all for not as the Firebirds left the building frustrated with a goose egg as they fell behind two points in the standings to the Barracuda.

Stezka (5-7-2) made 29 saves on 30 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-2 on the power play. Coachella Valley was 0-for-4.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Askarov 2) Vanroboys 3) Carlson.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Coachella Valley conclude their two-game weekend series on Sunday 12/8 at 3:00pm at Tech CU Arena.