San Jose Barracuda forward Ethan Cardwell (#56) celebrates his go-ahead goal in the third period during the Barracuda’s 6-5 win over the Henderson Silver Knights at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday APR 10, 2024. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Ethan Cardwell picked a great time to record his first multi-goal game of the season.

Cardwell scored a shorthanded goal with just over five minutes remaining in the third period as the San Jose Barracuda took down the Henderson Silver Knights in a 6-5 victory on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

Cardwell’s heroics were set up by Tanner Kaspick as he gave the puck up to Cardwell just outside the ‘Cuda zone. Cardwell fired a wrist shot on Silver Knights goalie Jesper Vikman who made the initial save but gave up a juicy rebound. The rookie forward cleaned up his own rebound with a shot to the short side for his second goal of the game and his team leading 23rd goal of the season at the 14:31 mark.

“You’re not typically looking to get one (a goal) when you’re short-handed with a couple of minutes to play,” said Cardwell about his game winner. “But sometimes, a squirrel finds a nut. I just kind of put one (a shot) on net and was hoping to kind of catch him off guard and the rebound popped up perfectly and I was able to put it home.”

The teams combined for six goals in the final frame that went back and forth from start to finish.

San Jose snapped its three-game losing streak with four games left in the regular season. Henderson has lost four of its last five games.

San Jose (22-33-9-4) drew first blood near the halfway mark of the first period with a power play goal. Nathan Todd found Jack Thompson at the point. Thompson blasted a slap shot that was tipped past Vikman by Cole Cassels for his 11th goal of the season at the 8:31 mark.

Thompson leads all defenseman in the AHL in power play with 22 (3G, 19 A).

Henderson (27-34-3-5) evened the game late in the first period with a short-handed goal. Bryan Froese skated into the Barracuda zone, found Jonas Rondbjerg along the right slot. Rondbjerg’s wrist shot hit off the shaft of Filip Bystedt’s stick and past ‘Cuda goalie Magnus Chrona for his ninth goal of the season at the 14:33 mark.

The Silver Knights gained its first lead of the game with a power play goal early in the second period. Mason Morelli tried to center the puck from the left boards. The puck pinballed around before Jakub Brabenec picked up the loose puck and fired a wrist shot past Chrona for his sixth goal of the season at the 5:01 mark.

The Barracuda answered back with its second power play goal of the game at the halfway mark of the middle frame. Thompson found Danil Gushchin along the left wing. Gushchin threaded a seem pass back door to Nathan Todd who buried a wrist shot for his 19th goal of the season at the 10:17 mark.

San Jose regained the lead late in the second period with an even strength goal. Todd waited to Tristen Robins to get untangled with a Silver Knights defenseman. Robins skated in all alone on Vikman before beating him with a backhand to forehand shot that trickled behind Vikman into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season at the 14:09 mark.

The Barracuda scored its third unanswered goal in the period just before the second intermission. Ethan Cardwell created a give and go with Gushchin inside the Silver Knights zone. Cardwell skated down the wing before firing an off-balanced shot through the five-hole of Vikman for his team leading 22nd goal of the season at the 19:18 mark.

Henderson scored two unanswered goals to even the game at the start of the third period before a blink of an eye. Mathieu Cataford sent a puck back up to the point where defenseman Daniil Chayka beat Chrona to the stick side with a slap shot for his first goal of the season at the 1:58 mark.

Then 42 seconds later Daniel D’Amato centered a pass from behind the net over to Morelli who fired a one-timer past Chrona for his 12th goal of the season at the 2:40 mark.

Both goals were a result of the Silver Knights outworking the ‘Cuda to the puck and winning battles inside the Barracuda zone.

“It was crazy coming to the third period with a 4-2 lead. It got a little windy out there and they got a few pucks in (the net). (The) boys just kept going and I’m proud of the way we stepped up after that and got us the win,” ‘Cuda center Filip Bystedt said.

Morelli scored his second goal of the game and Henderson’s third unanswered goal in the period with in the first five minutes. Grigori Denisenko threw the puck toward the front of the net from the left boards. Morelli picked up the puck and wrapped it around the net for his 13th goal of the season at the 5:29 mark.

“Obviously we didn’t like the way we came out (to start the third period. Maybe we thought the game was over (when it was 4-2), I don’t know. We battled back and were able to get the win,” ‘Cuda head coach John McCarthy said.

Gushchin scored the equalizer for the Barracuda thanks to a nice individual play by Gushching. Donovan Houle found Gushchin up the ice at the red line. The rookie skated in from the right wing and beat Vikman with a wrist shot snipe to the short side top shelf for his 18th goal of the season at the 12:02 mark.

Henderson pulled Vikman for a six-on-four advantage with under a minute remaining with Cassels in the sinbin for holding. However, the ‘Cuda penalty kill held their ground to hold on for the win.

Chrona (6-16-5-0) finished the game with 31 saves on 36 shots to earn his sixth victory of the season. Jesper (6-7-2-1) made 21 saves on 27 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-3 on the power play. Henderson was 1-for-5.

San Jose finished 3-3-2 in the season series with Henderson.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Cardwell 2) Morelli 3) Gushchin.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Texas Stars in a weekend series on Friday 4/12 at 7:00pm at Tech CU Arena.