By: Eric He

photo credit San Jose Barracuda

The San Jose Barracuda were defeated by the San Antonio Rampage 4-3 on the road Wednesday night, unable to pull off the overtime win. But they did earn a crucial point that pulled them percentage-points closer to the Checkers for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Down 3-2 in the third period, the Barracuda evened the score midway through the third on a power play goal by Bryan Lerg, his second of the night. But the game headed to overtime, where Gary Nunn beat Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell a little over two minutes in to win the game for San Antonio.

It was deflating considering the Barracuda had jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Just 15 seconds into the game, Lerg found the back of the net to give San Jose a 1-0 advantage. Then, midway through the first, Petter Emanuelsson notched his third goal in four games and it was a two-goal lead for the Barracuda heading into the second.

But the Rampage responded with three unanswered goals. Borna Rendulic connected on a power play in the second period and Ben Street tied the game at 2-2 less than a minute into the third. A wraparound goal by Brandon Gormley four minutes later gave the Rampage their first lead.

The Barracuda battled back, but it was not enough as they fell to 4-8 in overtime games this season. There are four games left in the regular season as the push for the playoffs continues, with San Jose endeavoring to claim the final berth in the Western Conference.