San Jose Barracuda forward Igor Chernyshov (#92) attempts a shot on net as San Diego Gulls defenseman Nikolas Brouillard defends on the play at Tech CU Arena on Wednesday MAR 4, 2026. (San Jose Barracuda)

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda jumped out to a three-goal lead and then hung on at the end to defeat the San Diego Gulls 3-2 on Wednesday evening at Tech CU Arena.

San Jose has won four out its last five games and has taken over sole possession of third place in the Pacific Divison. San Diego has lost four of their last five games.

San Jose (32-16-2-2-68 points) drew first blood early in the first period. Lucas Carlsson sent a puck down low behind the net. Kasper Halttunen’s wrap around attempt went right to the stick of Patrick Giles who roofed a backhander into an open net as Gulls goalie Calle Clang had no idea where the puck was. Giles seventh goal of the season came at the 3:09 mark.

Clang was injured and appeared to have suffered a lower body injury with 12:04 remaining in the period. He left the ice on his own power and was replaced by backup goalie Tomas Suchanek who made his ninth appearance of the season.

San Jose doubled its lead with 24 seconds remaining in the period. Giles intercepted a clearing attempt by San Diego along the right board. Giles found Quentin Musty and the rookie forward slid a backhander past Suchanek for his 10th goal of the season.

San Diego (24-17-8-4-60 points) wasn’t able to generate many quality chances during the period as Cuda goalie Laurent Brossoit stopped all eight shots he faced in the opening frame.

A scoreless second period had San Jose hold San Diego to just five shots despite the Gulls having a power play opportunity. The Barracuda outshot the Gulls 12-5 in the middle frame.

The Barracuda scored its third unanswered goal early in the third period. Igor Chernyshov started a counterattack at center ice that led to a two-on-one odd man rush. Filip Bystedt sent a cross-ice pass over to Oliver Wahlstrom who tapped the puck into an open net for his team leading 20th goal of the season at the 2:22 mark.

San Diego spoiled Brossoit’s shutout bid over three minutes later. Sasha Pastujov found Tristan Luneau in the slot and the Gulls defenseman lifted a backhander past Brossoit for his fifth goal of the season at the 5:42 mark.

The Gulls made it a one goal game when Tyson Hinds scored his fourth goal of the season at the 13:27 mark. Judd Caulfield skated out from behind the net and ran into Hinds. The Gulls defenseman collected the puck and beat Brossoit with a wrist shot.

Brossoit (12-5-1) finished the game stopping 20 of the 22 he faced to earn his 12th win of the season. Suchanek made 24 saves on 26 shots in relief of Clang.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished 0-for-1 on the power play. San Diego went 0-for-2.

The Three Stars of the Game: 1) Wahlstrom 2) Halttunen 3) Giles.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to the Midwest to take on the Milwaukee Admirals in a two-game weekend series on Friday March 6th at 5:00pm at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.