San Jose Barracuda vs Calgary Flames on Friday April 18th at Scotiabank Saddledome (via sjbarracuda/instagram)

By Madison Montez

The San Jose Barracuda got big jump on the Calgary Wranglers and took for the first game of this two set 8-3 on Friday.

The Barracuda opened up the scoring early on the first shot of the game at 2:23 of the first period. Luca Cagnoni broke a franchise record for most goals by a defensemen, scoring his 15th of the season. Calgary tied the game at 1-1, courtesy of Martin Frk. A puck off of Pavol Regenda gave San Jose their lead back, Regenda with his eighth of the season.

37 seconds into the second, San Jose got out to a three to one lead. Filip Bystedt scored his 12th of the year on a wide open net. The Barracuda struck again a minute later when Patrick Giles scored his ninth of the season.

With a 4-1 lead, San Jose chased out Devin Cooley, Walterri Ignatjew came in with 18 minutes left of the second. Braden Hache extended the lead to 5-1 scoring from the left point, his third of the season. San Jose blew the game open when Scott Sabourin hit the ten goal mark to improve the score to 6-1.

On a takeaway by the Wranglers, Calgary cut into San Jose’s lead, Carter Wilkie scoring his second goal of the season.

Going into the third period, San Jose didn’t take their foot off of the gas pedal. Scoring their second powerplay goal, Luca Cagnoni scored his second of the day. Calgary kept fighting with William Strömgren scoring his 14th goal to cut the lead to 7-3. To seal the win, Anthony Vincent scored his tenth goal to make the score 8-3.

San Jose was on a scoring frenzy all game, but Calgary dominated the shots on goals. After the first period, San Jose outshot Calgary 9 -4. After the second period, Calgary outshot San Jose 16-9. To end the game, San Jose outshot Calgary 12-7 in the third.

Both teams stayed out of the box for most of the game. San Jose committed only two penalties and Calgary wasn’t able to capitalize. Calgary committed four penalties and San Jose was able to capitalize on half of them.

For San Jose, Gabriel Carriere got the start with Aaron Dell backing up. Carriere, recording the win, made 26 saves on 29 shots. For Calgary, the Bay Area native Devin Cooley got the start. Cooley, recording the loss, made eight saves on 12 shots. Ignatjew who entered the game during the second period, made 14 saves on 17 shots.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1. Luca Cagnoni
• 2. Danil Guschin
• 3. Scott Sabourin

The Barracuda will close out the regular season tomorrow against this Calgary team. Playoffs are still being decided but San Jose will host the second round at home at Tech Cu Arena.