Ryan Carpenter broke a 2-2 tie with 4:43 left in regulation and San Jose grabbed a pivotal 5-3 win in Game 3 of the Pacific Division semifinals at Stockton Arena on Friday night.
The Barracuda lead the best-of-five series, 2-1, and can wrap it up in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon (4 p.m. PT).
Carpenter won an offensive-zone faceoff back to the right point, then swatted home the rebound of Tim Heed‘s shot to give San Jose the lead for good. Timo Meier converted on an odd-man rush 86 seconds later to provide a big insurance marker.
Michael Kostka‘s point shot through traffic pulled the Heat back within one with 27.9 seconds remaining, but Buddy Robinson‘s empty-netter 13 seconds later sealed the win for the Barracuda.
Barclay Goodrow and Daniel O’Regan also scored for San Jose, and Troy Grosenick finished with 30 saves.
Mike Angelidis and Brandon Bollig had the other goals for Stockton.
Pacific Division Semifinals – Series “G” (best-of-5)
P1-San Jose Barracuda vs. P4-Stockton Heat
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 21 – SAN JOSE 4, Stockton 0
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 23 – Stockton 6, SAN JOSE 4
Game 3 – Fri., Apr. 28 – San Jose 5, STOCKTON 3
Game 4 – Sun., Apr. 30 – San Jose at Stockton, 7:00
*Game 5 – Tue., May 2 – Stockton at San Jose, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
.@CarpyDeuces breaks the tie and gives the @sjbarracuda a late 3-2 lead. #SJvsSTK pic.twitter.com/E1ZVgzvoVu
— AHL (@TheAHL) April 29, 2017
