Defenseman Brandon Montour scored the tie-breaking goal with 14 minutes, 48 seconds to play, ensuring the San Diego Gulls’ victory over the San Jose Barracuda.
Montour later assisted on Nic Kerdiles’ insurance goal 7:37 as the Gulls defeated the Barracuda, 5-3, Saturday evening at Valley View Casino Center. San Jose had tied the score on Petter Emanuelsson’s goal 27 seconds into the third period. The Gulls (36-22-2-2) took a 3-1 lead on second-period goals by Antoine Laganiere, Corey Tropp and Ondrej Kase with Kase’s goal coming on the power-play.
John McCarthy cut the Gulls lead to 3-2 with a shorthanded goal with 3:39 left in the second period. Barclay Goodrow opened the scoring 3:20 into the first period for the Barracuda, the San Jose Sharks American Hockey League affiliate.
Matt Hackett stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced in his first appearance for the Gulls since March 18. Anton Khudobin, who had been the Gulls No. 1 goaltender, was recalled by the Anaheim Ducks, their NHL parent club, on Friday.
Troy Grosenick made 19 saves for San Jose (29-24-7-3) before a crowd announced at 9,651. The Gulls killed off both of the Barracuda’s power-play opportunities and scored on one of their three power-play attempts. Brian McGrattan, the Gulls oldest player at 35, and San Jose left wing Alex Gallant received five-minute major penalties for their second-period fight.
The Gulls will play host to the Stockton Heat, the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, Sunday at Valley View Casino Center, seeking their fourth consecutive victory.
— City News Service
