It took an overtime period and a shootout to render a decision, but the San Antonio Rampage (10-9-0-1) finally overtook the Oklahoma City Barons (8-10-0-3) 3-2 after Jared Gomes delivered the shootout’s only goal on Friday, Nov. 29 in front of 7,037 fans that packed the AT&T Center.

Gomes beat Barons goalie Jason LaBarbera on his stick side as the first shooter, and Rampage goalie Jacob Markstrom shutout the Barons to seal the victory.

With LaBarbera playing well early on, it would have been easy to overlook the play of Markstrom. With just five minutes left in overtime and the Barons on a two minute power-play, Markstrom stopped all seven shots, finishing the game 34-for-36 on saves.

“He’s an elite goaltender,” Rampage Head Coach Tom Rowe said. “He kept coming up with big saves when we needed them.”

After a scoreless first period, Markstrom was tested and gave up a power play goal with only 6:44 left in the second period.

Offensively the Rampage continued to outshoot the Barons but simply could not find the back of the net.

“We were getting tons of scoring chances and not burying them,” said Rampage Right Wing Bobby Butler.

Everything changed in the third period as the seemingly impenetrable LaBarbera simply wore down after the volume and quality shots that were being launched his way.

After a slick backdoor pass from Gomes, it was Butler who banged in the equalizer past LaBarbera’s glove side right in front of the net, tying the game at one goal apiece.

After the frustration of having every shot until that point blocked, Butler seemed to think of that goal as the turning point saying after the game. “It definitely felt good to get one past him,” Butler said.

Just three minutes later the Rampage capitalized on the momentum as center Jon Matsumoto was able to redirect a blue-line slapshot from defenseman Denny Urban to give the Rampage a 2-1 lead with just 9:43 left in the third period.

As the end of the game neared the Rampage were stunned by a quick Barons goal that sent the game into overtime.

The Rampage takes on the Iowa Wild on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.