BARRACUDA CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON WITH OT WIN
| Final | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
San Jose, CA – The San Jose Barracuda (40-28-2-2) defeated the Bakersfield Condors (37-23-10-1) 4–3 in overtime at Tech CU Arena on Saturday night. With the win, the Barracuda snapped a six-game losing streak to close out the regular season.
San Jose controlled much of the opening period, outshooting Bakersfield 17–8 and breaking through on the power play. Kasper Halttunen (16) opened the scoring at 11:20, finishing a setup from Filip Bystedt to give the Barracuda a 1–0 lead after one.
The second period featured a flurry of offense, with four combined goals. Isaac Howard (24) evened the game at 8:48, but Quentin Musty (21) restored San Jose’s lead at 14:51. Bakersfield answered again late in the frame as Viljami Marjala (17) tied the game at 18:00, but the Barracuda responded just 30 seconds later when Kyle Crnkovic (1) buried his first AHL goal to send San Jose into the third period ahead 3–2.
After a tightly played third, the Condors forced overtime on a late power-play goal from Atro Leppanen (11) at 17:30. In the extra frame, the Barracuda sealed the win when Jarod Crespo (1) scored at 4:24, scooping up a rebound and finishing a forehand-to-backhand move in tight.
San Jose and Bakersfield each recorded 35 shots on goal. Gabe Carriere made 32 saves in the victory, while Connor Ungar stopped 31 shots in the loss. Both teams finished 1-for-4 on the power play.
The Barracuda begin Calder Cup Playoff action on Wednesday in Henderson against the Silver Knights at 7 p.m. All playoff games will be broadcast live on the Sharks Audio Network and AHLTV on FloHockey.