San Jose, Ca. – The San Jose Barracuda (1-2-0-0) fell to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (1-2-1-0) 6-3 on Wednesday night at Tech CU Arena. In the loss, Kasper Halttunen scored his first of the year and third in the AHL. 
In the first, Coachella Valley took a 1-0 lead at 10:29 when Oscar Mølgaard (1) capitalized on the power play, with a setup from Logan Morrison and Jagger Firkus.
San Jose evened the score early in the second as Anthony Vincent (1) scored his first goal of the season at 4:33, swinging a centering pass from the right corner off a Firebird and in. Four minutes later, the Barracuda took a 2-1 lead with a goal from Lucas Carlsson (1) as he ripped a shot under the arm of Coachella’s Nikke Kokko. Less than two minutes later, Halttunen (1) gave the Barracuda an insurance goal, one-timing home a Filip Bystedt feed after Coachella failed to clear their end. The Firebirds responded quickly as Morrison (1) cut the lead down to one with an assist from David Goyette and Firkus. At 14:24, Coachella Valley tied the game 3-3 with a goal from Mitchell Stephens. The Firebirds took a 4-3 lead a minute later with a goal from Firkus after a Barracudas giveaway. The three goals were scored on consecutive shots.
In the third, the Firebirds scored again and extended their lead to 5-3 with a goal from Kaden Hammell (1), his first in the AHL. With under a minute remaining, Morrison scored on an empty netter to seal the 6-3 Firebirds win.
Jakub Škarek stopped 28 of 33 shots, while Kokko made 24 saves on 27 shots. The Barracuda won’t face the Firebirds until December 17 at Acrisure Arena.
You must be logged in to post a comment.