GUSHCHIN SCORES TWICE IN 6-2 LOSS TO FIRST-PLACE WRANGLERS
Nov 16, 2024San Jose, CA - Danil Gushchin scored twice on Saturday night at Tech CU Arena, including a goal 90 seconds into the game, but Los Gatos native Devin Cooley made 31 saves to pick up his ninth win of the year, as the Calgary Wranglers (12-3-0-0) upended the San Jose Barracuda (8-5-0-0), 6-2. Collin Graf and Andrew Poturalski collected assists on both Gushchin goals to extend their point streaks to five games.
Just a minute and 30 seconds into the first, Graf spotted Gushchin (1) in stride going to the net and Gushchin went forehand-to-backhand to give the Barracuda an early 1-0 lead. After Cooley made an outstanding left-pad save later in the period on Jimmy Schuldt, the Wranglers rushed up ice and Walker Duehr slid a pass over to a wide-open Jonathan Aspirot (1) and the Calgary blueliner ripped it in for his first of the season. After the Barracuda were called for their second penalty of the period, Duehr (9) snapped in a one-timer as Dryden Hunt fed him in the slot at 18:59 to give the Wranglers a 2-1 lead.
Just 1:49 into the the second, Calgary would tack on another goal when Rory Kerins (11) lifted the puck under the crossbar from the top of the crease for his team-leading 11th of the year. Then, William Stromgren put it right on the tape of Sam Morton (3) who directed it in on the backdoor to give the Wranglers a 4-1 lead a 5:54. The Barracuda would tilt the ice back into their favor after Jeremie Poirier took Calgary’s first minor penalty at 12:07 but failed to beat Cooley despite multiple chances and the game remained 4-1 after 40 minutes.
In the third, Gushchin (2) made it 4-2 at 17:39 with a one-timer from the right wing but the Wranglers would seal the win with an empty-netter from Adam Klapka (4) at 18:28 and David Silye (1) at 19:10.
With the victory, Cooley is now 9-2 on the season. Yaroslav Askarov (6-3-0) made 19 saves on 23 shots and suffered the loss.
The Barracuda and Wranglers run it back on Sunday (3 p.m.) at Tech CU Arena for Frenzy’s Pirate Party. For more information on tickets, go to sjbarracuda.com/tickets.