Early goals and goaltending lift Barracuda to 3-2 win over Gulls

San Jose struck early and rode timely scoring and steady goaltending to a 3-2 win over the San Diego Gulls at Tech CU Arena on March 4, 2026. Patrick Giles opened the scoring at 3:12 and Quentin Musty made it 2-0 with 24 seconds left in the first period, setting the tone for the Barracuda’s 3-0 cushion before San Diego’s third-period push.

Oliver Wahlstrom extended the lead to 3-0 at 42:22 of the third period, but Tristan Luneau got San Diego on the board three minutes later at 45:42. Luneau’s goal was his fifth this season and his third point in his past two contests, with assists from Sasha Pastujov and Matthew Phillips that “increasing their team-leading point counts.” Tyson Hinds narrowed the gap to 3-2 at 53:27 with a wrist shot that “put a wrist shot through to the back of the net,” assisted by Judd Caulfield and Nathan Gaucher, marking the first time the defenseman has scored in consecutive games this season following his shorthanded goal in the prior contest.

Goaltending swung the game’s complexion. “Tomas Suchanek took over in the crease early in the first period after Calle Clang made an early departure from the game.” Suchanek “faced 26 total shots, allowing only two through to keep San Diego in the game,” a stat line that kept the Gulls within striking distance while the Barracuda protected a narrow lead. The official winning and losing goaltender was not listed in the excerpts provided here.

Special teams played a decisive role late in the night. “San Diego successfully killed off San Jose’s AHL leading powerplay tonight.” The Barracuda had gone 3-for-6 on the powerplay in their previous two games, but the Gulls ended that momentum by shutting down San Jose’s man-advantage opportunities in this matchup.

The result moved San Jose to 32-16-2-2 while San Diego’s record sits at 24-17-8-4, per the San Jose Barracuda release. The teams will be back in action Friday, March 6, 2026, with The Rink Live listing the Barracuda meeting the Admirals at 7 p.m. CST and the Gulls taking on the IceHogs at 9 p.m. CST; San Diego’s site notes the Gulls will return home for a back-to-back series against the Rockford IceHogs starting Friday, Mar. 6 at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m. PST).

Timing metadata varies across feeds: team and venue reports use March 4, 2026 as the local game date, The Rink Live’s header includes March 3, 2026, and Sofascore shows Mar 5, 2026 at 3:00 AM UTC, indicating timezone or feed differences. For the local narrative and records, March 4, 2026 at Tech CU Arena is the primary reference.