Photo: Mike Zitek
Playing without their two top-scoring forwards, San Jose got third-period goals from Pavol Regenda and Filip Bystedt and 17 saves from Yaroslav Askarov to secure a 2-0 win over Ontario in Game 1 of their Pacific Division first-round series on Thursday night.
The contest was played at Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, which will also host Game 2 on Saturday evening.
Regenda redirected a wrister from defenseman Ethan Frisch past Reign goaltender Pheonix Copley with 12:40 to go in regulation to snap the scoreless tie, and Bystedt followed just 1:18 later to give San Jose a two-goal cushion.
Luca Cagnoni assisted on both San Jose goals and the Barracuda allowed just one shot on goal in the third period, shutting down the Ontario offense and helping Askarov earn his first career Calder Cup Playoff shutout.
Andrew Poturalski and Danil Gushchin were both missing from the San Jose lineup in Game 1. That duo combined for 58 goals and 124 points during the regular season.
(San Jose leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 24 – San Jose 2, ONTARIO 0
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – San Jose vs. Ontario, 9:00 (at Los Angeles, Calif.)
*Game 3 – Mon., Apr. 28 – San Jose at Ontario, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
