Tag: Yaroslav Askarov

Barracuda Shut Out 4-0 by Reign; San Jose’s clinches spot for post season

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San Jose Barracuda forward Scott Sabourin (49) and the Ontario Reign defenseman Otto Salin (10) skate behind the net at Tech CU in San Jose on Sat Apr 12, 2025 (San Jose Barracuda photo)

By Mary Walsh

A day after clinching their spot in the Calder Cup playoffs, the San Jose Barracuda lost 4-0 to the Ontario Reign on Saturday. Martin Chromiak, Riley Walsh and Taylor Ward scored for the Reign. 18 year old Carter George made 33 saves for the win in his professional debut. Yaroslav Askarov made 24 saves in the loss. The loss makes home ice in the playoffs less likely for the Barracuda.

Ontario jumped to an early lead with a goal at 1:50 of the first period. Martin Chromiak’s shot from the point made its way through traffic into the net. Assists went to Joseph Cecconi and Reilly Walsh.

Reilly Walsh scored right off an offensive zone faceoff win, giving the Reign a 2-0 lead. An assist went to Kaleb Lawrence.

The shot count was very close in the first, 10-9 Barracuda. San Jose finished the first period on a power play with 1:26 left on that to start the second period. The Barracuda did not score on that power play or the five-on-three that they had at the end of the period.

They did give up one goal during four-on-four play that ate up the final seconds of a late Barracuda power play.

Riley Walsh got a shot off from high in the slot after Jack Studnicka set him up with a pass from below the goal line. An assist also went to Andre Lee.

The Reign made it 4-0 midway through the third period on a power play. Charles Hudon passed the puck across the ice to Taylor Ward for a shot that got by Askarov before he could get across. Assists went to Hudon and Martin Chromiak.

Pavol Regenda led the Barracuda in shots with 4. Jake Furlong, Jimmy Shuldt, Ethan Cardwell and Filip Bystedt each had three shots.

The Barracuda next play on Friday in Calgary against the Wranglers at 2:00 PM PDT.

Kraken Sink Sharks 6-2, Montour Scores Twice

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The Seattle Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour celebrates scoring his second goal against the San Jose Sharks in the second period at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thu Jan 30, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 6-2 to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Chandler Stephenson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brandon Montour (2 goals), Jaden Schwartz, and Eeli Tolvane scored for Seattle. Joey Daccord made 26 saves for the win. Carl Grundstrom and Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made seven saves on 11 shots before being replaced by Alexandar Georgiev, who made 20 saves in the loss.

The Kraken took an early lead at 3:55 of the first period. Chandler Stephenson got a break away courtesy of a series of good passes to get the puck out of Seattle’s zone. By the time the puck got to Stephenson, he was almost at the Sharks blue line and there was no one between him and Askarov. The shot went by Askarov on the glove side. Assists went to Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen.

Carl Grundstrom tied the game at 17:55. Grundstrom skated to the net from the right side, passing back and forth with Will Smith, before taking the shot. Assists went to Smith and Mikael Granlund.

The Sharks outshot the Kraken 11-8 in the first period. There were no penalties called in the first.

Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 2-1 at 2:03 of the second period. Bjorkstrand scored from just outside the blue paint off a pass from Chandler Stephenson. Assists went to Stephenson and Vince Dunn.

Brandon Montour scored the third Seattle goal less than a minute later. S Wright stole the puck from the Sharks and passed it over to Montour, who was just skating into the zone. Montour took the shot from high in the slot and beat Azkarov on the glove side.

Jaden Schwartz made it 4-1 at 5:58. Jamie Oleksiak’s pass found Schwartz breaking away at the Sharks’ blue line. No one got in front of him as he skated in and shot at the puck past Askarov.

The Sharks pulled Askarov after that one and put Georgiev in net.

Brandon Montour scored his second of the night on a power play at 7:52. Montour caught a cross-ice pass from Jared McCann before shooting from the hash marks into the far side of the net. Assists went to McCann and Chandler Stephenson.

In the second period, several calls gave the Kraken two power plays and the Sharks one. The Kraken outshot the Sharks 17-9 in the second.

Tyler Toffoli got one back for the Sharks at 8:06 of the third period. Macklin Celebrini got a pass through to Toffoli in the center of the ice. Toffoli got a wrist shot through traffic in front of the net for his 18th of the season. Assists went to Celebrini and Henry Thrun.

Eeli Tolvanen made it 6-2 at 12:18. The Kraken took the puck from the Sharks on a zone entry and went to the other way. Tolvanen used Cody Ceci as a screen for his shot, Ceci being the only Shark to catch him as he skated into the zone. Joshua Mahura got an assist on the goal.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday back in San Jose against the visiting Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 6-3 to Briuns, Smith Gets Two Points in Homecoming; Loss is San Jose’s Third Straight

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The Boston Bruins right wing Oliver Wahstrom goes airborne and San Jose Sharks right wing Carl Grundstrom both slam into the boards in the second period on Mon Jan 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

Vinni Lettieri, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand and Elias Lindholm scored for the Bruins. Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves for the win. Barclay Goodrow, Will Smith and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 27 saves in the loss.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for several Massachusetts natives on the Sharks team, including Will Smith, Collin Graf and Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky. It was their first time in Boston as NHL players and coach.

“I thought for the majority of the game I liked our game. We just got very immature in the third period,” said Ryan Warsofsky. “Just a young team that got scrambly. You know, they put us on our heels and we couldn’t relieve the pressure by making some plays. We got back to kind of flipping pucks to the middle of the ice and they feed off of that stuff.”

Vinni Lettieri scored the first goal at 9:27 of the first period. Lettieri tipped Jordan Oesterle’s shot from the blue line. Assists went to Oesterle and Oliver Wahlstrom.

Barclay Goodrow tied the game with a goal at 13:16. Ty Dellandrea dumped the puck in from the centerline. Nico Sturm chased it down and then passed it back to a trailing Goodrow for the shot.

Boston outshot San Jose 11-6 in the first period. The Sharks pushed back in the second, outshooting Boston 14-10.

David Pastrnak gave the Bruins their second lead with a power play goal at 7:02 of the second period. Pavel Zacha carried the puck around behind the net and then sent the puck to Pastrnak in the circle. Patrnak scored with a snap shot. Assists went to Zacha and Elias Lindholm.

Will Smith tied it again at 8:52. Smith took the puck away from John Beecher, then carried it back across the blue line and passed it back and forth with Mikael Granlund before shooting it by Korpisalo on the short side.

Fabian Zetterlund gave the Sharks their first and only lead of the game at 15:18. Zetterlund carried the puck all the way from the Sharks’ zone, took a shot, caught his own rebound and put it in the net. An assist went to Will Smith.

Charlie Coyle tied the game again at 8:22 of the third period. Skating to the net, Coyle caught a pass from the boards and snapped it in. Assists went to Matthew Poitras and Brad Marchand.

Coyle scored again at 14:11. Shooting as he crossed the goal line, his shot went off of Askarov and in. Assists went to Poitras and Mason Lohrei.

Brad Marchand made it 5-3 with an empty net goal at 18:45. Assists went to Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo. Elias Lindholm made it 6-3 with a second empty net goal at 19:35. Assists went to Coyle and Andrew Peeke.

The Sharks next play on Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators at 5:00 PM PT.

Sharks Fall 4-3 to Canucks, Demko 12-0 Against Sharks

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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) puts the stop on a shot by the San Jose Sharks in the first period at Rogers Center in Vancouver on Mon Dec 23, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks Monday in the last game before Christmas. Brock Boeser, Kiefer Sherwood and Elias Pettersson scored for the Canucks, with Pettersson scoring twice. Thatcher Demko made 26 saves for the win. William Eklund, Cody Ceci and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves in the loss.

The win was Thatcher Demko’s 12th against the Sharks, maintaining a perfect record against San Jose. While the Sharks improved their third period performance, a brief collapse in the second period was the difference in the game. After the game, Barclay Goodrow talked about that collapse:

“A couple pucks we didn’t get deep, I failed to get behind their D, they turn it up, it’s in the back of our net. That created momentum for their team and next thing you know they’ve scored three. Obviously if we don’t have that little stretch in the game it might be a different outcome.”

Shortly after being hit hard into the boards by Tyler Myers, William Eklund scored the first goal of the game. On a five-on-three power play, Eklund took the shot from the faceoff circle through traffic. Assists went to Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini. The goal was scored at 11:36 of the first period.

Brock Boeser tied the game at 14:10. Skating to the net, he tipped in a shot from Quinn Hughes. An assist also went to Vincent Desharmais.

Though Eklund played through the period, he did not return after the first intermission.

The Sharks outshot the Canucks 10-6 in the first period. Each team took two penalties and a fighting major.

Kiefer Sherwood gave the Canucks a lead at 16:42 of the second period. Sherwood skated into the Sharks zone and shot around Henry Thrun. Assists went to Teddy Blueger and Nils Hoglander.

Elias Pettersson scored Vancouver’s third goal of the game at 17:08 of the period. The Sharks challenged the goal for goaltender interference. While Connor Garland made some contact with Askarov, the NHL upheld the call on the ice, putting the Sharks on the penalty kill.

The Canucks made it 4-1 on that power play. Elias Pettersson Had too much time to pick his shot and he used it to put the puck in the top corner. Assists went to J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes.

Vancouver outshot the Sharks 14-6 in the second period. Early in the third period, Henry Thrun took a shot to the face and had to leave the ice for repairs. He did return to the game with a gash on hi8s forehead. Elias Pettersson took one shift in the third period and then left the game.

Cody Ceci made it 4-2 with a shot from the point at 4:21 of the third period. Demko almost stopped it but it trickled through. An assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.

With just under 2:30 to go, the Sharks pulled Askarov for an extra skater. With six seconds left in the game, Luke Kunin caught a rebound and shot it in from a tight angle. Assists went to Celebrini and Toffoli.

The Sharks outshot the Canucks 14-4 in the third period.

The Sharks next play on Friday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in OT to Oilers, Give Up another Lead in the Third

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Edmonton Oilers Connor Brown (28) scrambles for the puck against the San Jose Sharks Cody Ceci (4) in the second period at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sat Dec 21, 2024 (Canadian Press via AP photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime Saturday. Zach Hyman, Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers. Calvin Pickard made 20 saves for the win. Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 39 saves in the loss. Askarov’s 23 saves in the second period were the most saves in one period by a Sharks goaltender since the 2015-16 season.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of the goaltender: “He was outstanding. He’s the reason we got a point. He was seeing the puck really well, quick. He made some really big saves.”

The Sharks took the lead twice in the first period, then held it until the last minute of overtime. Warsofsky talked about how the game got away from the Sharks: “We got slow, we got put on our heels, we didn’t defend quick enough. We didn’t skate to make them move the puck a little quicker.”

Luke Kunin opened the scoring 3:23 into the game. Alexander Wennberg chased the puck all the way down the ice into the Oilers’ corner, then passed it back to the trailing Kunin for the shot. Assists went to Wennberg and Timothy Liljegren.

Zach Hyman tied the game at 7:07. Connor McDavid carriws the puck around behind the net and then sent a pass across the slot to Hyman. Assists went to McDavid and Evan Bouchard.

Jan Rutta gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 8:21. Jake Walman carried the puck through the neutral zone and down as far as the faceoff circle before making a pass back to Rutta at the top of the slot. Rutta scored with a snap shot down up the middle. Assists went to Walman and Macklin Celebrini.

The Sharks were outshot 9-7 in the first period, and then 23-7 in the scoreless second period. In the first period there was a single penalty called, and that was against Edmonton. In the second period, the Sharks took the only penalty.

At 19:42 of the third period, with their goaltender pulled, the Oilers tied the game. Skating down from the point, Mattias Ekholm caught a pass from Corey Perry and shot through traffic. Assists went to Perry and McDavid.

Leon Draisaitl scored gane overtime winner 18 seconds into overtime. Daraisaitl carried the puck into the zone and then passed it across the ice to Bouchard. Bouchard gave it to McDavid, who passed it back to Draisaitl for the shot.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Vancouver against the Canucks at 6:00 PM PT.

Sharks Blow Out Kings 7-2, Celebrini With 2 Goals

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Macklin Celebrini center (71) who scored two goals for the San Jose Sharks celebrates his third period against the Los Angeles Kings at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Nov 25, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharls defeated the Los Angeles Kings 7-2 on Monday. Nico Sturm, Macklin Celebrini, Fabian Zetterlund, Alexander Wennberg and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the win. Brandt Clarke and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. David Rittich made 14 saves in the loss.

The game generated some very good numbers for San Jose. Macklin Celebrini became just the third 18 year old Sharks player to have a multi-point game. The first was Jeff Friesen, the second was Patrick Marlowe. Additionally, the last time the Sharks scored five goals in a period at home was in 2015.

After the game, Mario Ferraro talked about how the game felt early: “They had a good start to the game. They were hemming us in quite a bit at the beginning. And then I think [Sturm] finishing that off just helped calm us down, calm the game down a bit.” It took the team a while to turn that calm into scoring but they got there.

The above-mentioned goal came at 1:47 of the first period. Nico Sturm scored with a wrist shot off of a breakaway and a pass from Mario Ferraro. Askarov also got an assist.

That was it for scoring in the first period. The teams finished even in shots on goal at six. The Sharks had one power play and another a few seconds before the end of the period.

The Sharks did not score on that power play to start the second. Soon after it elapsed, the Kings tied the game. Brandt Clarke took a shot from inside the right faceoff circle, after the Kings entered the zone with a lot of puck movement. Assists went to Adrian Kempe and Anze Koptar.

Anze Kopitar gave the Kings a lead at 8:58 with a backhand shot, cleaning up a stray puck after Adrian Kempe’s shot did not go in. An assist also went to Warren Foegele.

Fabian Zetterlund tied the game back up at 13:59. His attempt to center the puck from below the goal line went off of a Kings defender and into the net. Assists went to William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini.

In the second period, the Sharks started on the power play but took two penalties after that and were outshot by Los Angeles 12-5.

1:03 into the third period, Macklin Celebrini carried the puck up the ice and into the zone and then scored with a shot into the top corner. Assists went to Henry Thrun and Jan Rutta.

A little more than a minute later, Timothy Liljegren made it 4-2. His shot came from just above the faceoff circle. An assist went to Will Smith.

Los Angeles challenged that goal for goaltender interference. Mario Ferraro did skate through the crease but he made no contact and was out of the crease before the shot happened. The goal stood up, putting the Kings on the penalty kill. Ealry in that power play, Warren Foegele was called for tripping Celebrini, giving the Sharks more than a minute of five-on-three power play time.

Celebrini scored a power play goal with a slap shot off of a William Eklund pass. Will Smith got the secondary assist.

Alexander Wennberg made it 6-2 with a power play goal at 10:46. Wennberg deflected a shot from Jake Walman on the blue line. Wennberg won the face off to get the puck to Walman as well.

Luke Kunin made it 7-2 at 18:39. He chased down a stray pass in the neutral zone and then carried it through traffic to the net for the shot.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose against the visiting Ottawa Senators.

Sharks Fall 3-2 in Shootout to Blues; Forth loss for SJ in five games

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The St Louis Blues left wing Jake Neighbours (63) scores the game winning goal in the shootout past San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) at the Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thu Nov 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in a shootout to the St.Louis Blues Thursday. Nathan Walker, Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 22 saves for the win. Alexander Wennberg scored twice for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 29 saves in the loss.

Despite the loss, postgame comments were still fairly upbeat. Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov said, of the team’s effort: “The boys played really good in front of me and battled before the end of the game. I appreciate it and I am happy to be part of this team.”

Sharks goal scorer Alexander Wennberg said, of his contribution to the game: “It’s nice to, when the team needed, to kind of like step up and then score the goals. But it’s a full team effort, it’s not one player. I mean obviously we’re all working together, six on five, we have a game plan so it’s just a full team effort.”

The Blues scored on the first shot of the game, 11 seconds in. Nathan Walker was in front of the net to catch a pass from Radek Faksa on the boards. Askarov had just gotten back to the net after playing the puck and was not ready to stop the shot.

The Sharks tied the game with their third shot, on the power play at 8:23. Mikael Granlund carried the puck behind the net before sending it ahead to Alexander Wennberg. At the side of the net, Wennberg took a shot. That did not go in, but he reached behind the goaltender and nudged the puck over the line. Assists went to Granlund and Macklin Celebrini.

St. Louis outshot the Sharks 15-7 in the first period. The Sharks took one penalty and the Blues took two.

The game remained tied until 11:47 of the second period when Jordan Kyrou tipped in a shot from Pierre-Olivier Joseph. That was the Blues’ third shot of the period. Assists went to Joseph and Robert Thomas.

The Sharks were much closer in shots in the second period, with six to the Blues’ seven. There were no penalties called in the second.

The Sharks tied it up in the final seconds of the third period with their goaltender out for an extra skater. Alexander Wennberg scored at 19:51 with a shot through traffic. Assists went to Granlund and Celebrini.

The shots were even at nine in the third period. In Overtime, the Sharks had two shots and the Blues had one. In the shootout, the Sharks sent out Mikael Granlund, Machlin Celebrini and William Eklund. The Blues sent Brayen Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours. Only Neighbours scored

The Sharks next play on Saturday at 5:00 PM PT in San Jose against the Buffalo Sabres. It’ll be Joe Thornton night where the Sharks will be paying tribute to the hockey legend retiring his number. Thornton played in the NHL from 1997 to 2022. Thornton played for the Sharks from 2005 to 2020. The Sharks will be raising his sweater number 19 to the rafters next to former teammate Patrick Marleau whose number 12 is also retired.

Barracuda Shut Out Wild 5-0, Cagnoni Scores First Pro Goal

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San Jose Barracuda goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) holds his glove up to his ear to indicate “I can’t hear you” as he gets the love from Barracuda fans at Tech CU in San Jose after shutting out the Iowa Wild on Sat Oct 19, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Barracuda defeated the visiting Iowa Wild 5-0 on Saturday. Donavan Houle, Anthony Vincent, Colin White and Luca Cagnoni scored for the Barracuda. Yaroslav Askarovin made 25 saves for the shutout win. Jesper Wallstedt made 33 saves in the loss.

San Jose was short-handed one time in the first period and led Iowa in shots 15-10.

The Barracuda scored the first goal of the game at 11:44 of the second period. Anthony Vincent was knocked into Wallstedt early in the play. While the Wild expressed their anger at Vincent for falling into their goalie, Vincent took his time getting up and created quite a distraction in front of the net. Meanwhile, Donavan Houle found the puck and scored. Assists went to Ethan Frisch and Valtteri Pulli.

San Jose led in shots 15-7 in the second period. They were not short-handed in the second except for the first minute as their late first period penalty carried-over. They did have three power plays but did not score with the man advantage.

Anthony Vincent scored an insurance goal 4:10 into the third period. Donavan Houle won a battle along the boards to push the puck into the slot where Vincent caught it for the shot.

Houle got credit for his second of the game short-handed at 6:20. His shot was stopped but the Wild defense knocked the puck in the net while trying to move it back out.

Colin White made it 4-0 with another short-handed goal at 13:09. Collin Graf intercepted a drop pass near the Barracuda blue line and got the puck to White before skating into the Wild zone two-on-one with White.

Luca Cagnoni scored San Jose’s fifth goal of the night on the power play at 18:10. Cagnoni scored his first goal as a pro with a shot from just below the blue line and through traffic. Kasper Halttunen and Filip Bystedt got the assists.

The Barracuda will play again on Sunday at 3:00 PM PT in San Jose against the Wild.

Barracuda Shutout Reign 5-0, Askarov Makes 22 Saves

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San Jose Barracuda goaltender Yarsolav Askarov (30) was huge in the Barracuda’s shutout over the Ontario Reign at the Toyota Arena in Ontario on Sat Oct 12, 2024 (San Jose Barracuda X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Ontario Reign with a 5-0 shutout on Saturday. Anthony Vincent, Kasper Haltunen (two goals), Collin Graf and Joey Keane scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the win. Erik Portillo made 18 saves for the Reign.

The Barracuda took the lead at 6:27 of the first period with a goal from Anthony Vincent. Vincent redirected a shot from the point by Joey Keane. Assists went to Keane and Donavan Houle.

Lucas Vanroboys of the Barracuda and Shawn Element of the Reign fought at 9:15. Braden Hache took a holding penalty at 11:13, The Barracuda neatly killed of that penalty. At the end of the first, the shots were 6-5 San Jose.

Kasper Halttunen made it 2-0 on the power play at 2:34 of the second period. Filip Bystedt passed the puck across the ice to Haltunen in the faceoff circle. Haltunen’s shot went off of Portillo and into the net as the goalie tried to get across. Assists went to Bystedt and Andrew Poturalski. It was Haltunen’s first AHL goal.

After that, the Barracuda spent some time on the penalty kill. Tristen Robbins was called for slashing at 5:43. Jake Furlong was called for tripping at 11:20. Braden Hache was then called for checking to the head at 18:40. The Barracuda penalty kill was perfect.

At the end of the period, the shots were still very close, 16-15 Ontario.

57 seconds into the third period, the Reign pushed the puck over the line in a scramble at the Barracuda net. But the whistle had already gone and no goal was awarded.

With more than ten minutes gone in the third period, the Barracuda had killed another penalty but had no shots on goal for the period. With the team’s first shot of the period, Collin Graf skated in with a breakaway and lifted the puck over a prone Portillo at 12:24. An assist went to Tristen Robbins.

Haltunen scored his second power play goal at 16:39 of the third. He took the shot off a big rebound right into the slot. Assists went to Luca Cagnoni and Andrew Poturalski.

The final few minutes of the game were riddled with penalties and misconducts. Taking advantage of a turnover in the chaos, Joey Keane added another goal for the Barracuda, making it 5-0 at 18:21. An assist went to Bystedt.

By the end of the period, the Barracuda had balanced the shot count back to 23-22 San Jose.

The Barracuda will face the Reign again on Sunday at 3:00 PM PT in Ontario.