PALM DESERT, Calif. (Interstat) — San Jose Barracuda scored twice in the first period and never trailed Friday, beating the Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-2 at Acrisure Arena. Andre Gasseau opened the scoring at 5:10 of the first, and Brett Leason made it 2-0 at 6:38. Lukas Dragicevic pulled the Firebirds within one at 13:02, but Libor Hájek and Donavan Houle scored in the second for a 4-1 Barracuda lead. Ethan Cardwell added a third-period goal, and Jani Nyman scored late for Coachella Valley. Top star Alex Barré-Boulet had two assists and three shots on goal for San Jose, while Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves on 24 shots. Leason had one goal and four shots, Hájek one goal and two shots, Cardwell one goal and four shots, Gasseau one goal and six shots, and Houle one goal and two shots. Dragicevic had one goal and three shots, Nyman one goal and two shots, and Filip Bystedt one assist and two shots. Attendance was 5,796. San Jose improved to 3-4, and Coachella Valley fell to 3-6.