Tag: Calder Cup Playoffs

The Colorado Eagles forward Matthew Phillips celebrates a first period goal against the San Jose Barracuda with his teammates along the bench at Blue Arena on Tuesday MAY 6, 2025. (Ashley Potts-Colorado Eagles)

by Marko Ukalovic

Matthew Phillips scored the game winning goal five minutes into overtime to give the Colorado Eagles a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda in Game 3 of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Tuesday evening at Blue Arena.

Former Barracuda defenseman Jayson Megna found Phillips along the right wing on a three-on-two odd man rush. Phillips skated in and beat Cuda backup goalie Gabriel Carriere with a wrist shot for his first goal of the playoffs at the 5:02 mark of the overtime period.

Colorado can close out the series tomorrow evening as they went up 2-1 in the best of the five series. San Jose is on the brink of elimination for the first time in the playoffs.

The Eagles (2-1) drew first blood less than two minutes of the first period. Phillips centered the puck from behind the net out to Tye Felhaber who beat starting Cuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov to the stick side for his second goal of the playoffs at the 1:59 mark.

Colorado doubled its lead late in the opening frame with an even strength goal. John Ludvig’s shot from the point trickled behind Askarov and a crashing Megna chipped the puck into an open net for his third goal of the playoffs at the 17:02 mark.

San Jose (1-2) cut the deficit in half with a power play goal late in the second period. Filip Bystedt had a give and go with Colin Graf. Bystedt skated out to the right faceoff circle and beat Eagles goalie Trent Miner with a wrist shot to glove side for his second goal of the playoff at the 13:05 mark.

Cuda head coach John McCarthy pulled Askarov with over two minutes remaining in the third period for an extra attacker. San Jose cashed in on the 6-on-5 when Patrick Giles sent a on net that was initially saved by Miner. During a mad scramble in front of the net Pavol Regenda poked home the puck past Miner for his third goal of the playoffs with 1:35 remaining.

Just over a minute into the overtime session, Askarov had to come out of the game with alleged cramping. Askarov was replaced by Carriere who finished the rest of the game stopping two of the three shots he faced in suffering the loss. Askarov made 25 saves on 27 shots.

Miner finished the game stopping 29 of the 31 shots to earn his second victory of the playoffs.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-2 on the power play. Colorado went 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Phillips (1G, 1A) 2) Felhaber (1G,2A) 3) Megna (1G,1A).

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado continue their best of five series in Game 4 on Wednesday at 6:05pm at Blue Arena.

San Jose Barracuda forward Pavol Regenda (center) celebrates his second period goal against the Colorado Eagles with teammates Scott Sabourin (#49) and Lucas Vanroboys #(67) at Tech CU Arena on Sunday MAY 4, 2025. (Joey Cascarano-Sport Shots)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Danil Gushchin scored the game winning goal 27 seconds into overtime as the San Jose Barracuda defeated the Colorado Eagles in Game 2 of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Sunday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose had 1:12 left in their power play to start the overtime period. Gushchin carried the puck inside the Eagles zone and created a give and go with Colin Graf. Gushchin’s backhanded attempt was saved by Colorado netminder Trent Miner. The rebound was kicked in through the five-hole of Miner by Chris Wagner as Gushchin earned his first goal of the playoffs and sent the sold-out crowd into a celebratory frenzy.

San Jose earned a split in the series as the next three games shift back to Loveland, CO. Colorado goes back home with home ice advantage for the rest of the series.

“Yeah I thought we executed pretty well, I liked our start,” said Cuda head coach John McCarthy. “Our first period was strong. And I thought penalties both ways, it got a little choppy in the second (period). I thought we pushed there at the end.”

The opening 20 minutes was scoreless as both teams displayed tight checking throughout the period. The Barracuda dominated the shot clock 14-6 over the Eagles yet neither goaltender Yaroslav Askarov nor Miner allowed a puck past the crease.

San Jose (1-1) started the second period on a four-minute power play due to Tye Felhaber taking a high sticking penalty that drew blood at the end of the first period. However, the Cuda power play did not generate enough quality scoring chances.

Colorado (1-1) drew first blood with a power play goal late in the middle frame. Matthew Phillips sent a cross-ice pass through the crease over to Calle Rosen who roofed a one-timer past Askarov for his second goal on the playoffs and second in as many games at the 13:13 mark.

The Barracuda scored a special team’s goal of their own with 1:48 remaining in the period except it was a short-handed tally. Pavol Regenda blocked a pass in the neutral and created a two-on-zero odd man rush with Collin White. Regenda finished off a nice give and go with White as he beat Miner with a wrist shot for his second goal of the playoffs.

“Whitey (White) made a good move, faked out the goalie and kind just opened it (the space for me). I’m happy for the short-handed goal. It helped in a game like this,” Regenda said.

In the third period, emotions ran high as the chippiness began to flow after the whistle. Colorado had two power play opportunities early in the period weren’t able to cash in on either one as the Cuda penalty kill led by Askarov kept the Eagles from scoring the go-ahead goal.

Devante Stephens set up Gushchin’s heroics when he went to the sinbin for tripping Danil Gushchin with 48.1 seconds left in the period.

Askarov finished the game stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his third win of the playoffs. Miner suffered his first loss of the playoffs as he made 34 saves on 36 shots.

“He (Askarov) played great, he won us the game tonight,” McCarthy said.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 1-for-6 on the power play. Colorado went 1-for-5.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gushchin (1G,0A) 2) Regenda (1G,0A) 3) Rosen (1G,0A).

UP NEXT: San Jose and Colorado battle it out in Game 3 on Tuesday May 6th at 6:05pm at Blue Arena.

Colorado Eagles Collen Rosen celebrates his first period goal against the San Jose Barracuda during Game of the Pacific Division Playoffs at Tech CU Arena on Friday MAY 2, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Colorado Eagles scored three goals in the second period en route to a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda in Game 1 of the Pacific Division Semifinals on Friday evening at Tech CU arena.

The Eagles enjoyed a first round bye as the division winner in the Pacific Division as this was their first game of the Calder Cup Playoffs. San Jose came off a two-game sweep over the Ontario Reign in its first round series.

Colorado (1-0) drew first blood late in the first period. A turnover in the neutral zone led to a counterattack. Jayson Megna found Calle Rosen in the slot and Rosen fired a one-timer past Cuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov for his first goal of the playoffs at the 16:16 mark.

San Jose (0-1) dominated the majority of the play in the opening 20 minutes as they outshot Colorado by a two-to-one margin at 12-6, including a couple of short-handed chances that were stopped by Eagles goalie Trent Miner. However, they trailed as they headed into the first intermission.

The Eagles doubled its lead with its first power play goal of the game early in the second period. Jacob MacDonald’s shot from the slot was tipped in front of the crease by Chris Wagner for his first goal of the playoffs at the 3:02 mark.

Colorado scored its third unanswered goal with its second straight power play goal when Donovon Houle took a double-minor penalty for high sticking. Rosen’s shot from the point was cleaned up by Megna for his first goal of the playoffs at the 7:19 mark.

San Jose broke through on the scoreboard with a shorthanded goal just over a minute later. Filip Bystedt stripped the puck from inside his own blue line and raced down the ice on a breakaway. Bystedt beat Miner through the five-hole with a wrist shot for his second goal of the playoffs at the 8:25 mark.

The Eagles regained their three-goal lead on a delayed penalty on the Cuda late in the middle frame. Macdonald found John Ludvig along the right point. Ludvig skated in and wired a wrist shot through a sea of traffic for his first goal of the playoffs at the 17:55 mark.

The Barracuda cut the Eagles lead in half late in the third period. Collin Graf picked up a loose puck along with the right end boards that jumped out from behind the net. Graf sent a seeing-eyed wrist shot that tied up Miner and went into the back of the net for his second goal of the playoffs at the 13:16 mark. Lucas Carlsson was credited with the only assist on the play.

San Jose made it a one-goal game at the 17:41 mark with a 6-on-5 goal as they pulled Askarov for an extra attacker. Patrick Giles centered a pass over to Colin White who blasted a one-timer past Miner for his first goal of the playoffs.

Colorado iced the game with two empty net goals in the final two minutes of the game of the game. Megna scored his second goal of the contest at the 18:29 mark and Ty Felhaber scored his first goal of the playoffs with 29 second remaining.

Miner finished the game stopping 25 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his first win of the playoffs. Askarov made 18 saves on 22 shots as he suffered his first loss of the playoffs.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-3 on the power play. Colorado went 2-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Megna (2G,1A) 2) Rosen (1G, 1A) 3) MacDonald (0G, 2A).

UP NEXT: Game 2 of the best of five series continues on Sunday May 4th at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.