BARRACUDA ROLL WRANGLERS, 4-1
Mar 31, 2024Calgary, AB – The San Jose Barracuda (21-32-9-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Sunday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome and never looked back, downing the Calgary Wranglers (34-24-5-3), 4-1, behind 30 saves from Georgi Romanov. With the win, the Barracuda finished the year going 5-3 versus the Wranglers and 2-2 on the road.
Danil Gushchin extended his point (2+6=8) and assist streak to six games as he finished with a pair of points (1+1=2) and now has 13 multi-point games this year. Ethan Cardwell also potted his 20th goal of the season, becoming the sixth rookie in the league to reach 20 goals this year, and the eighth freshman in franchise history to reach the 20-goal mark.
In the first, the Barracuda outshot the Wranglers 14-9, despite taking the only two minor penalties of the period. At 6:56, Cardwell (20) wired a shot over the glove of Oskar Dansk from atop the left circle to break the ice. Then, during four-on-four play, Gushchin found Jack Thompson (6) coming down the right side and the Cuda d-man ripped a shot through a sprawled-out Yan Kuznetzov and past Dansk at 11:11 to make it 2-0. For Thompson, it was his first goal in his 10th game with San Jose.
In the second, Calgary outshot the Barracuda 9-0 before the Barracuda reeled off eight straight shots themselves. On their eighth shot, Gushchin carried the puck down the left wing and snapped the puck through the five-hole of the Wrangler’ netminder at 9:48 to make 3-0. After the goal against, Calgary head coach Trent Cull would replace Dansk with Connor Murphy.
In the third, Sam Morton (3) finally got the Wranglers on the board at 3:40 but Nathan Todd (18) sealed the win with an empty-netter at 16:22.
The Barracuda continue their five-game road trip in San Diego on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and return to Tech CU on Apr. 10 versus the Henderson Silver Knights. For tickets and more information about upcoming games, go to sjbarracuda.com.