Clang Makes 35 Saves, Gulls Top Barracuda 5-2 for Third Straight Win

Calle Clang was the last line of defense, but on Monday night at Tech CU Arena, he barely needed to be. The Gulls outscored, outhustled, and outworked the Barracuda in a 5-2 victory that gave San Diego its third straight win and moved the club to within two weeks of the April 19 regular-season finale with momentum at their backs.

Clang finished with 35 saves on 37 shots, earning his 17th win of the season and his third in as many starts. San Jose pressed hard enough to generate volume, but the Swedish netminder neutralized the Barracuda's best chances and kept San Diego afloat through a rough patch in the first period when the Gulls briefly fell behind.

Mathew Phillips opened the scoring just 2:10 into the first, finishing at the left post on a slick setup from Roger McQueen. That assist gave McQueen points in both of his first two AHL appearances, a detail that will not go unnoticed by the Anaheim organization. San Jose answered with two straight goals to lead after one, but the Gulls erased the deficit before the second period was 10 minutes old.

Sasha Pastujov tied it on a delayed penalty, burying his 20th goal of the season; the first time in his AHL career he has crossed that threshold. Within two minutes, Nathan Gaucher converted the go-ahead goal, and Sam Colangelo added the insurance marker on the power play to push the lead to two. Gaucher capped the night with an empty-netter, his 14th goal of the season and his fifth over his last three contests.

The production was spread across lines and situations. Pastujov, who leads all Gulls skaters at 20-34=54 points with an 0.81 points-per-game pace, also picked up an assist to give him 14 points in his last 11 games. Colangelo recorded his second straight multi-point game with a goal and a helper. Phillips moved to 14-33=47 points on the season, second on the club. Gaucher now has seven points over his last three AHL games.

McQueen's impact deserves its own mention. In only his second professional game, the young forward did not just show up on the scoresheet; he created the game's first goal by reading a neutral-zone pass, carrying speed into the San Jose zone, drawing two defenders, and delivering a precise feed to Phillips at the post. That kind of instinctive play at the AHL level in a road game, in your second appearance, is not something scouts annotate quietly.

With San Diego stabilizing its Pacific Division standing and Clang posting back-to-back strong performances, the Gulls enter the final stretch of the regular season as a team pointed in the right direction. Three wins in a row will not guarantee anything in April, but this roster has the goaltending depth and the offensive spread to make noise when it matters most.