AHL San Diego Gulls

Blandisi's Third-Period Shortie the Winner for Gulls

Published on December 1, 2018 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


Joe Blandisi scored his first career shorthanded goal with 5:17 remaining in the third period to lead the Gulls to a 2-1 win over the Manitoba Moose at Valley View Casino Center. With the win, San Diego improved to 20-7-2-0 all-time against the Central Division, including 12-3-1-0 on home ice. The Gulls held the Moose to 14 shots, the fewest shots allowed in club history (previous: Mar. 24, 2017 at Bakersfield).

Blandisi's unassisted goal marked his second of the season (2-6=8), and the second shorthanded goal of the season for San Diego (also Sam Carrick, Oct. 6 at Tucson).

Max Jones scored his fourth goal of the season at 15:46 of the first period. Isac Lundestrom picked up the lone assist, his fifth of the season (0-5=5) in six games.

Jared Coreau stopped all 10 shots faced in 39:03 of relief to earn his third win of the season. Kevin Boyle stopped 2-of-3 shots in 20:00 of action before departing the game due to illness.

Tonight's attendance was 8,858. The Gulls will visit the San Jose Barracuda on Monday, Dec. 3 at SAP Center (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Joe Blandisi

On the game

It was a war out there. This was my first weekend playing Manitoba in my career. I've never felt this intensity before between us two. I didn't know there was a rivalry, but it was a war out there. They don't like us and we definitely don't like them. It's fun to be a part of though.

On his shorthanded goal

There was a lot of room out there and I know as a power-play guy that you're always thinking offense when you're on the power play. When I saw that opening space, the offensive players tend to take a step off so I thought I would take advantage of it. I'm known to be a passer, but I took the shot and I was lucky enough for it to go in.

Max Jones

On the game

Last game we struggled a lot in every zone. Tonight, we just focused on the system. With doing that, it helped us a lot. We just started to play our game more. When we were worried about systems, our game followed that.

On his goal

It was definitely a heavy game tonight, I felt that right from the start. Guys were getting hit and that's the way I like to play. I found that puck in the corner and my first instinct was I'm going to roll off this guy and get right to the net and that's what I did. There was a lot of space in front for me to get another whack at it.

On the intensity

It was a really fun game, I haven't had one of those games in a while. I think that second period was probably like the longest period that I've ever had in my life. It was all fun, the game was pretty heavy and there was a lot of emotion was flying around out there tonight. I think we enjoyed that tonight.

Head Coach Dallas Eakins

On the game

We needed it, that's for sure. We were sleepy on Wednesday night. Tonight, I am extremely proud of our group. They stuck together. I thought, instead of playing with each other, they played for each other tonight. I thought that was really evident in the game and a big reason why we won.

On the intensity

Everything went so fast. There are lots of moving parts when there are that many penalties and guys being ejected and in the box that long. There was a lot of emotion. What was interesting is a lot of the emotion was coming from guys that we've had here before. [Logan Shaw] is over there and he's bringing a lot of emotion and [Ryan White], who we had here last year. So it was former Gulls, who have that grit and are pushing back on us. It makes for a fun night. Those are the games you want to play in, the gritty ones. I'm really proud of our group for the response that we had.

On team defense

We were relentless on the puck. It was something we talked about, something we responded to. I thought Kevin [Boyle] made the saves when he had to in the first period and [Jared] Coreau came in and was excellent. That's what we need. We need to help our goaltenders and we need our goaltenders to stand tall like they did tonight.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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