San Jose Barracuda forward Micheal Misa lines up to take a faceoff against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tech CU Arena on Friday DEC 5, 2025. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

San Jose Barracuda defenseman Lucas Carlsson scored the game winning goal with 57.8 seconds left in overtime to give the Cuda a 4-3 win over the Tucson Roadrunners on Friday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won seven of its last eight games and 11 out of their last 14. Tucson has lost three games in a row.

Carlsson’s heroics were set up Filip Bystedt who fed Carlsson with a pass back up to the point after a faceoff win. Carlsson blasted a slap shot past Roadrunners goalie Jaxson Stauber for his seventh goal of the season.

San Jose Sharks rookie center Michael Misa made his return to the ice after healing from a right ankle injury he suffered back on November 5th. Misa is on a conditioning assignment with the Barracuda. He didn’t need much time to shake off the rust as his first shot of the game rang off of the post early in the first period.

Each team had a power play opportunity in the opening frame, but neither were able to capitalize as the first 20 minutes was scoreless. Tucson had a slight edge in shots 13-9.

San Jose (13-6-1-1) drew first blood with an even strength goal early in the second period. Anthony Vincent fed a pass back to the point to Kasper Halttunen. The Finnish rookie skated in between the faceoff circles before launching a wrist shot top shelf past Stauber for his fifth goal of the season at the 7:56 mark.

Tucson (8-10-3-0) evened the game late in the middle frame with an even strength goal. Max Szuber received the puck off of the end boards. Suzber’s backhand pass made it out to the slot where Ben McCartney beat Cuda goalie Jakub Skarek with a quick wrist shot through the five-hole for his seventh goal of the season at the 17:48 mark.

The Roadrunners gained its first lead of the game with a power play goal early in the third period. Cameron Hebig’s shot from the between the faceoff circles was initially stopped by Skarek but Kevin Rooney cleaned up the rebound on the short side for his sixth goal of the season at the 5:21 mark.

Tucson’s lead didn’t last long as San Jose countered with the equalizer on the next shift. Misa found Luca Cagnoni along the right board. Cagnoni skated around a Roadrunner defender with a spin-o-rama before depositing the puck off of a skate past Stauber from a tight angle for his fifth goal of the season 18 seconds later.

The Roadrunners gained its second lead of the game after a failed clearing attempt by the Cuda. Noel Nord intercepted the puck at the blueline and spun around with a backhand pass out to a wide-open Sammy Walker for a breakaway opportunity. Walker got Skarek to go down before roofing a backhander for his fourth goal of the season at the 8:17 mark.

Once again it didn’t take San Jose long to tally their second equalizer of the game. Igor Chernyshov intercepted an errant pass in the slot and buried a wrist shot from point-blank range for his team leading 11th goal of the season 40 seconds later.

Skarek finished the game stopping 30 of the 33 shots he faced to earn his fifth win of the season. Stauber made 30 saves on 34 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: Both teams finished 1-for-3 on the power play.

The Three Stars of the Game:

1) Carlsson (1G,0A)

2) Chernyshov (1G,0A)

3) Walker (1G, 1A)

UP NEXT: San Jose and Tucson conclude their two-game weekend series on Saturday December 6 at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.