San Jose Barracuda eyes response after series-opening loss to Colorado

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Barracuda trailed by three goals by the 7:19 mark of the second period and never fully recovered in a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Eagles in Game 1 of their AHL Pacific Division semifinal series on Friday before a sold-out crowd at Tech CU Arena.

The Barracuda, the Sharks’ top minor league affiliate, allowed an even-strength goal to Calle Rosén in the first period and power-play goals to Chris Wagner and Jayson Megna in the second.

San Jose trailed 4-1 in the third period when forwards Collin Graf and Colin White scored to cut Colorado’s lead to one with 2:19 left in regulation time. But Megna and Tye Felhaber scored empty net goals for the Eagles, who took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five playoff series that continues Sunday at 6 p.m. in San Jose.

“Overall, I thought it was a pretty evenly played game,” Barracuda coach John McCarthy said.

Forward Filip Bystedt also scored for San Jose, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 18 of 22 shots in his first playoff loss this year. The sixth-seeded Barracuda swept the No. 3 Ontario Reign in their best-of-three first-round series last week. Colorado won the Pacific Division and is the top seed.

“It’s a long series and that’s just game one,” said Barracuda forward Patrick Giles, who assisted on White’s goal. “We were saying, regardless of the score, we are going to play our game and carry that into game two.”

The Barracuda were playing their first home playoff game at the 4,200-seat Tech CU Arena, which opened in 2022. The last time San Jose hosted a postseason game was in April 2019, when the team played its home games at SAP Center.

After Sunday, the series shifts to Loveland, Colorado, for Game 3 on Tuesday and Games 4 and 5 on Wednesday and May 11, respectively, if necessary.