San Jose Barracuda defenseman Mattias Havelid (middle) congregates with his teammates Filip Bystedt (left) and Lucas Carlsson (right) during the Barracuda’s 5-1 win over the Calgary Wranglers at Tech CU Arena on Friday Jan 30, 2026. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda scored every which way but loose in a balanced scoring attack with their 5-1 victory over the Calgary Wranglers on Friday evening at Tech CU Arena

San Jose has won three out of its last four games. Calgary has lost eight out of its last nine games.

Calgary (16-17-8-2-42 points) drew first blood late in the first period. A shot from the point by Zayne Parekh was initially Barracuda goalie Laurent Brossoit but Sam Morton crashed the net and cleaned up the rebound for his seventh goal at the 16:19 mark.

San Jose (23-13-1-2-49 points) had trouble with their puck management in the opening 20 minutes as turnovers inside their own zone led to two quality chances by Calgary only to have Brossoit bail them up with saves on each chance.

The Cuda had two short-handed breakaway chances in the final minute of the period, one by Igor Chernyshov with 48 seconds left and one by Patrick Giles with 12 seconds remaining only to have Wranglers starting goalie Ivan Prosvetov stone away both shots.

Donovon Houle evened the scored early in the second period with an unassisted goal, his first of the season. Patrick Giles had the puck checked away from him along the right board. Houle, who played in his 100th game in a Cuda uniform, picked up the puck, made a move toward the net before unleashing a wrist shot top self at the 7:14 mark

San Jose gained its first lead in the middle frame with a power play goal. Luca Cagnoni found Filip Bystedt along the goal line. From a near impossible angle, Bystedt snuck a wrist shot behind Prosvetov into the back of the net for his 12th goal of the season at 11:48 mark.

Calgary took exception to Bystedt putting in his own rebound on the play as they created chaos behind the goal after the goal was scored with a bunch of pushing and shoving. They continued to muck up the play the rest of the contest as San Jose’s agitation was too tough for to handle.

The Barracuda scored an insurance goal short-handed to start the third period thanks for a gaffe by Calgary. While coming out of his own zone, Jeremie Poirier made a drop pass with no behind him. Anthony Vincent collected the puck in the middle of the ice and beat Prosvetov with a wrist shot to the glove side for just his second goal of the season at the 3:21 mark. It snapped a 32-game schneid for Vincent.

San Jose cashed in on their fifth power play opportunity with its second goal on the man advantage. Cam Lund picked up the puck along the right boards. Lund skated around back up to the slot before beating Prosvetov with a wrist shot to the far side for his eighth goal of the season at the 7:12 mark. Lund has scored a goal in three straight games.

The Cuda scored its fifth unanswered goal just 15 seconds later on the next shift. Nolan Allen scored his first goal in a Barracuda sweater when his slapshot from the left point found its way in for his third overall goal of the season.

Brossoit (6-4-0) finished the game stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced to earn his sixth win with San Jose. Prosvetov made 37 saves on 42 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Calgary went 0-for-4.

Jack Thompson returned to the lineup since he suffered an injury back on December 31st, 2025.

Collin White celebrated his 29th birthday on the evening.

San Jose held its First Responders Night at The Reef.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Vincent 2) Bystedt 3) Lund.

UP NEXT: San Jose and Calgary conclude their two-game series on Saturday January 31st at 6:00pm at Tech CU Arena.