San Jose Barracuda forward Jimmy Huntington (#40) celebrates his second period goal with teammate Anthony Vincent (#76) against the Coachella Valley Firebird on Wednesday FEB 4, 2026. (San Jose Barracuda)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Barracuda defeated the Coachella Valley Firebirds 2-1 in a battle for fourth place in the Pacific Division on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won four games in a row and five on home ice as they went undefeated on its four-game homestand (4-0). Coachella Valley has lost four of their last five games.

A scoreless first period featured a fight between John Hayden and Oliver Wahlstrom at the 16:12 mark. Coachella Valley (23-15-5-0-51 points) out shot San Jose 13-11 despite the Cuda having the only power play opportunity. Barracuda goalie Laurent Brossoit was perfect in the opening frame.

San Jose (25-13-1-2-53 points) drew first blood early in the second period with an even strength goal. Jimmy Huntington scored an unassisted goal, his eighth of the season at the 3:29 mark. Huntington skated down the left wing and centered a puck to the crease where the puck deflected off of a Firebirds defender and into the back of the net.

The Barracuda doubled its lead just under three minutes later. Cam Lund centered the puck through the crease with Igor Chernyshov crashing the net. With Firebirds goalie Victor Östman out of position, Jack Thompson collected the puck and fired it into an open net for his third goal of the season at the 6:11 mark. Braden Hache received the secondary assist.

Jani Nyman spoiled Brossoit’s shutout bid with his ninth goal of the season with 1:18 remaining in the game with a six-on-five goal. Tyson Jugnauth set up Nyman who beat Brossoit with a one-timer as the Cuda netminder was slow to get up earlier on the play when he was taken out with traffic in front of the crease.

Brossoit (7-4-0) finished the game stopping 37 of the 38 shots he faced to earn his seventh win of the season. Östman (9-9-3-1) made 41 saves on 43 shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the game 0-for-3 on the power play. Coachella Valley went 0-for-2.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Brossoit 2) Huntington 3) Östman.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels north of the border with a two-game weekend series with the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday February 6th at 7:00pm at Abbotsford Centre.