ROMANOV BRILLIANT AGAIN, CUDA FALL IN SHOOTOUT
Apr 6, 2024Ontario, Ca. – Georgi Romanov made 41 saves on Saturday night at the Toyota Arena, but the San Jose Barracuda (21-33-9-4) would fall 3-2 in a shootout to the Ontario Reign (38-21-3-4).
In the first minutes of the opening period, the Barracuda were completely under fire but a Reign turnover at the offensive blueline led to a two-on-one and Ethan Cardwell fed a pass to Danil Gushchin (17) and the Cuda forward would snipe it in on the low short-side. Romanov would go on to make 13 saves in the period, including multiple high-danger denials on the AHL’s leading goal scorer Sam Fagemo.
In the second, the Barracuda would wait a minute and 46 seconds to extend their lead as Tristen Robins (5) poked in a loose puck that got behind Erik Portillo after Kyle Rau had slowly rolled a shot off the post. The Reign managed to get the goal back around three minutes later as Franky Pinelli (10) worked into the low slot from left to right and finished it off with a backhand to make it 2-1 at 4:46. After that point, Romanov would make 10 consecutive saves to preserve the 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
In the third, the Reign outshot the Cuda 16-10, and at 16:22, Andre Lee (7) managed to shoot the puck off Romanov’s mask and through the five hole to tie the score.
After no more goals were scored in regulation, the game would go to OT. In the extra session, the Barracuda outshot the Reign 3-2 but halfway through the overtime, Ontario thought it had won it as Fagemo snapped the puck far side off the rush. But after a discussion amongst the officials, it was deemed goalie interference as Cole Krygier ran into San Jose’s netminder.
The Reign would eventually seal the win in a shootout as Taylor Ward scored the only goal in the top of the third round.
The Barracuda return home on Wednesday to faceoff with the Henderson Silver Knights (7 p.m.) at Tech CU Arena, beginning their final homestand of the season. For tickets and more information about Fan Appreciation Weekend on April 12 and 13, go to sjbarracuda.com.