William Stromgren's 48-Second OT Goal Lifts Wranglers Past Barracuda 4-3

William Strömgren scored 48 seconds into overtime on a breakaway to lift the Calgary Wranglers to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena. Strömgren finished with three points - two goals and one assist - and was a game-high plus-four in the win.

San Jose opened the scoring at 6:23 of the first period when Oliver Wahlstrom wired home a power-play goal off a Kasper Halttunen feed for his 17th of the season. Calgary answered early in the second: Daniil Miromanov tied it at 1:41 after a feed from William Strömgren, with former Barracuda Nick Cicek credited with the secondary assist on that sequence. Strömgren put Calgary ahead at 4:38 of the second after Rory Kerins forced a turnover high in the Barracuda zone and sprung the play; Wranglers sources list that strike as Strömgren’s ninth of the season. Martin Frk extended the lead to 3-1 at 10:18 of the second with a rush from his own zone and a bar-down snipe from the right circle. Wahlstrom pulled San Jose within one at 13:29 of the second on another power-play tally, his 18th, described in one report as him picking up a loose puck. Jack Thompson set up Brendan Hoffmann at 16:46 of the third to knot the game at 3-3; team accounts variously note it as Hoffmann’s first in the AHL and note he was signed to a PTO.

Goaltenders faced heavy work. Laurent Brossoit made 39 saves on 43 shots for San Jose, with Sports Radio noting it was his third consecutive start, while Ivan Prosvetov stopped 33 of 36 for Calgary. San Jose outshot Calgary 13-10 in the first period, Calgary owned the second-period shot edge 17-11, and Calgary outshot San Jose 14-12 in the third; the final shots were 43-36 in favor of Calgary. The three stars named after the game were 1) William Strömgren, 2) Oliver Wahlstrom, and 3) Ivan Prosvetov.

Special teams shaped the night. San Jose went 2-for-5 on the power play and, per the Barracuda’s game recap, was 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. Sports Radio noted San Jose entered the game first in the league on the power play while Calgary ranked last and wrote, "As a result, Calgary went 0-7 and San Jose went 2-5."

Calgary collected its third straight win and, by the Wranglers’ account, notched its first victory over San Jose this season. San Jose’s loss snapped the Barracuda’s six-game winning streak in games decided in overtime; pregame OT records listed San Jose 6-1 and Calgary 6-10 in overtime decisions. Wranglers coverage captured the finish in plain terms: "With speed and a clear lane, Strömgren broke in alone and made no mistake, tucking the winner past Brossoit to seal it."

The teams will meet again to finish their eight-game season series in Calgary this week; San Jose’s recap noted the pair close out the season series on Tuesday and Wednesday in Calgary, and third-party scheduling notes list the next matchup as Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. CST. San Jose returns to Tech CU Arena next on Saturday, Feb. 28 against the Tucson Roadrunners for Canadian Beach Party Night.