San Jose Barracuda vs Abbotsford Canucks (via sjbarracuda/flickr)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- Riding a seven game winning streak, Abbotsford Canucks was looking to keep the win streak alive and extend it to eight. Most recently, they defeated the Manitoba Moose 5-4. San Jose was coming off of a 4-3 overtime loss to the San Diego Gulls.

On Friday night the Canucks were able to extend their winning streak to eight games with a 5-1 win over the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena in San Jose.

Abbotsford got out to an early lead, scoring three times in the first period. Three different Canucks registered goals; Cooper Walker, Phillip Di Giuseppe, and Chase Wouters, each scored a goal in the first.

They extended their lead to four-nothing, five minutes into the second. Jujhar Khaira registered his fifth goal of the season. To extend their lead even further, Phillip Di Giuseppe scored his second of the night to move the score to 5-0. That was on Abbotsford’s fourth power-play opportunity. Di Giuseppe’s first power-play goal of the season.

To avoid the shutout, Joey Keane netted his second of the season. Guschin registering the main assist, he now extended his point streak to nine games.

Although the Barracuda got outscored five to one, the shots were close all game. The only time the Barracuda were in full control of the game was in the second period where San Jose out-shot Abbotsford 17 to 14. Other than that, Abbotsford outshot San Jose in the first 13 to 8, and in the third each team took 13 shots.

The difference in Friday night’s two teams were the power-play opportunities. Abbotsford had six power-play chances while San Jose only had two. Many of San Jose’s penalties came from fights. In the third period, there were six fighting penalties. Both Braden Hache and Lucas Vanroboys from the Barracuda were given game misconducts at 16:33 of the third period.

Nikita Tolopilo was the winning goalie, nearly recording a perfect game, making 38 saves on 39 shots. Gabriel Carriere got the start for the third game in a row. Carriere made seven saves on ten shots until getting pulled and Dell came in. Dell gave up one goal, making 29 saves on 31 shots.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1. Philip Di Giuseppe
• 2. Chase Wouters
• 3. Tristen Neilsen

The Barracuda will be back in action Saturday at 7:00pm PDT against Abbotsford, looking to avoid the sweep.