Lane Pederson snapped home the go-ahead goal with 1:15 to play as the Tucson Roadrunners began their Pacific Division semifinal series with a 4-2 win over San Jose at the SAP Center on Thursday night.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Saturday evening.
Playing the first postseason game in franchise history, Tucson never trailed in the contest, getting goals from Dakota Mermis and Ryan MacInnis to take 1-0 and 2-1 leads.
Dylan Strome added an empty-netter with 13.1 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Alexander True and Sasha Chmelevski scored for the Barracuda, who had entered the playoffs having won their last six regular-season games.
Adin Hill stopped 36 shots for the win in his playoff debut. Antoine Bibeau made 20 saves in the loss for San Jose.
Pacific Division Semifinals – Series “G” (best-of-5)
P1-Tucson Roadrunners vs. P4-San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 19 – Tucson 4, SAN JOSE 2
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 21 – Tucson at San Jose, 10:00
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 25 – San Jose at Tucson, 10:05
*Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 27 – San Jose at Tucson, 10:05
*Game 5 – Sat., Apr. 28 – San Jose at Tucson, 10:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
