Barracuda Rally Past Wranglers with Four-Goal Third, 5-3

Photo: David Moll / Calgary Wranglers

CALGARY — A strong two-period effort slipped away in the third as the San Jose Barracuda scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Calgary Wranglers 5-3 at Scotiabank Saddledome in the opener of a four-game homestand.

Calgary opened the scoring early when Aydar Suniev tucked away his 11th goal of the season just 2:10 into the first period, assisted by Sam Morton and Carter King. Lucas Carlsson answered late in the frame to send the teams to intermission tied.

The Wranglers regained control in the second. Rory Kerins restored the lead at 5:18 off a setup from Clark Bishop, and Nick Cicek extended it at 14:00 with a wrister from the blue line through heavy traffic, beating a screened Laurent Brossoit. William Strömgren and Kerins collected assists as Calgary carried a 3-1 advantage into the third. Kerins finished with a multi-point night, recording a goal and an assist.

San Jose shifted momentum early in the final period. Braden Hache cut the deficit to one at 3:19, and Anthony Vincent tied the game less than two minutes later before adding his second of the night at 10:49 to give the Barracuda their first lead. Carlsson sealed the comeback with an empty-net goal at 19:23.

Despite limiting San Jose to 9 shots against in the third, Calgary could not halt the momentum swing, surrendering control of a game they had dictated through much of the first two periods.

Arsenii Sergeev made 25 saves on 29 shots (.862) for Calgary, while Laurent Brossoit stopped 28 of 31 shots (.903) for San Jose.

The Wranglers return to Scotiabank Saddledome tomorrow night for the second half of the weekend set against the Barracuda.