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ASKAROV BLANKS REIGN 5-0 IN SEASON OPENER

Oct 12, 2024

Ontario, CA – The San Jose Barracuda (1-0-0-0) got 22 saves from Yaroslav Askarov and a pair of goals from Kasper Halttunen in his AHL debut, blanking the Ontario Reign (0-1-0-0) 5-0 on Saturday night at the Toyota Arena. The shutout win was the first in a season opener in franchise history and Askarov’s 10th of his AHL career. The Barracuda failed to beat the Reign last season in eight attempts.

In the first, the Barracuda recorded seven of the game’s first eight shots and at 6:27 they managed to break the ice when Anthony Vincent (1) tipped in a point-shot from Joey Keane. At 12:16, while on the power play, Sam Fagemo blasted a one-timer from the left-wing, but Askarov got over to the far post and turned it away with his right pad to keep it 1-0. With under a minute left in the period, the Reign nearly scored again but Sam Helenius hit the post on a two-on-one.

Up 1-0, the Barracuda would add to their lead in the second as Filip Bystedt fed Halttunen (1) on the power play and the 19-year-old ripped in his first AHL goal in his AHL debut. San Jose would take three minor penalties, but Askarov stopped all 11 shots he faced and the game remained 2-0 SJ after 40 minutes.

The Barracuda would erase any doubt in the third period when Colin Graf (1) got behind the defense and went backhand-to-forehand at 12:24 for his first AHL goal in his AHL debut. Then on a five-on-three, Halttunen (2) would snap in his second of the game to give the Barracuda a 4-0 lead. Keane completed the three-goal third at 18:21 as he beat Erik Portillo on the glove side from the slot.

The Barracuda finished the game going six-for-six on the penalty kill and two-for-five on the man advantage.

BOX SCORE

The Barracuda close out the opening weekend at Ontario on Sunday (3 p.m.) before heading home for its home opener on Sat, Oct. 19 against the Iowa Wild (7 p.m.) at Tech CU Arena. For individual, season, group, and premium seats, go to sjbarracuda.com/tickets. Sunday’s game can be watched on AHL TV on FloHockey and you can listen at SJBarracuda.com/listen and on the Sharks Audio Network.

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