Calgary Wranglers forward Adam Klapka (#43) looks for the puck as he positioned himself near San Jose Barracuda goalie (#31) Georgi Romanov during the Barracuda’s 4-1 win at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday MAR 31, 2024. (Calgary Wranglers)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda had goals from four different goal scorers as they defeated the Calgary Wranglers in 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

San Jose earned its 21st win as they split the weekend series with the Wranglers and won the season series 5-3. Despite the loss, Calgary has clinched a playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

San Jose (21-32-9-2-53 points) drew first blood with an even strength goal early in the first period. Joe Carrol found Ethan Cardwell inside their own zone. Cardwell skated in along the left wing and beat Wranglers goalie Oscar Dansk for his team-leading 20th goal of the season at the 6:56 mark.

The Barracuda doubled its lead with a four-on-four goal just under five minutes later. Jack Studnicka began a counterattack as he found Danil Gushchin in the neutral zone. Gushchin skated near the left boards before sending a backhand pass down to a trailing Jack Thompson. The recently acquired defenseman’s wrist shot deflected off Yan Kuznetsov’s stick to the far side post and into the back of the net for his first goal in a ‘Cuda uniform and sixth overall of the season at the 11:11 mark.

Calgary (34-24-5-3-76 points) did not manage much offense in the opening period as they only had nine shots on goal compared to San Jose’s 14.

San Jose scored its third unanswered goal of the game at the halfway through the second period. Ethan Frisch sent a long pass out to Danil Gushchin in the neutral zone. Gushchin skated past a Wranglers defender before beating Dansk with a wrist shot through the five-hole for his 16th goal of the season at the 9:48 mark.

That would end the afternoon for Dansk (11-11-3) as head coach Trent Cull he replaced Dansk in the net with Connor Murphy, who made the start on Friday. Dank gave up three goals on 22 shots.

The Wranglers got on the scoreboard early in the third period with an even strength goal. Adam Klapka centered a pass from the left board over to a wide-open Sam Morton who beat ‘Cuda goalie Georgi Romanov with a wrist shot to the right corner for his third goal of the season at the 3:40 mark.

Nathan Todd concluded the scoring with an empty net goal late in the final frame when Jordan Oesterle misplayed the puck along the end boards. Todd collected the puck from behind the net and wrapped around the puck into the net for an unassisted goal, his 18th of the season at the 16:22 mark.

Romanov (8-8-7) finished the game stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced to earn his eighth victory of the season. Murphy stopped all 10 shots he faced in mop up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-1 on the power play. Calgary went 0-for-3.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Gushchin 2) Thompson 3) Romanov.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its five-game road trip on Wednesday 4/3 as they take on the San Diego Gulls at 7:00pm at Pechanga Arena at San Diego.