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AHL San Diego Gulls

Boyle Lifts Gulls to Fifth Straight Win

January 5, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The Gulls won their fifth straight game and extended the longest standings point streak in the AHL to 10 games with a 4-3 win over the San Jose Barracuda tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego. San Diego is 8-0-0-2 (18 of a possible 20 points) their last 10 games in addition to a season-long five game win streak overall and five straight wins on home ice, also a season high. The five-game win streak is tied for the longest current such streak in the AHL (also Iowa).

San Diego's 36 points (16-11-1-3) marks the best start to a season through the team's first 31 games in club history. The Gulls earned 35 points in each of the three previous seasons to date through 31 games.

The Gulls also improved to 4-1-0-0 through the first five games of a 10-game season series with San Jose. The Gulls have defeated the Barracuda, first in the Pacific Division and second among teams in the AHL in points percentage (.700), on four straight occasions dating to Dec. 15, outscoring San Jose 19-8 in that span.

Kevin Boyle stopped 27 shots to set a club record and personal best with his seventh straight win dating to Dec. 15. During his seven-game win streak, Boyle has posted a 2.12 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. The longest win streak in club history surpasses his previous high of six consecutive victories from Jan. 27-Feb. 17, 2018.

Joseph Blandisi registered a season high three points (1-2=3) to extend his point streak to three games (2-4=6). The goal marked his seventh this season and he now has 20 points (7-13=20). Tonight marked his sixth multi-point effort this season in addition to 7-11=18 points his last 16 games.

Troy Terry scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season for his second multi-goal game. Terry has three multi-point efforts his last four contests (4-2=6) and has scored 6-9=15 points his last 13 games. Terry has recorded at least one points in 23 of his 28 games this season.

Adam Cracknell scored his first goal as a Gull and 13th point overall (4-9=13) with San Diego and Toronto. Chase De Leo picked up his 16th assist of the season on the goal. De Leo has 3-10=13 points his last 14 contests. Keaton Thompson also earned an assist on the Cracknell goal, his third of the season.

Sam Steel recorded an assist on the second Terry goal, his ninth assist and 15th point of the season.

Andrej Sustr tallied his second assist of the season on the Blandisi goal, while Trevor Murphy added an assist as well, his third point in four games since joining San Diego (1-2=3).

Tonight's attendance was 10,253. San Diego will begin a four-game road trip beginning Sunday, Jan. 6 at Ontario (3 p.m.). The road trip will also see the Gulls visit Stockton (Jan. 9), Milwaukee (Jan. 12) and Iowa (Jan. 14).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Kevin Boyle

On the game

It's huge. I think it's even that we're keeping our momentum going and we're not showing any signs of slowing down. The confidence is there and we're coming out, especially in the third period, it's usually our best period over these past few weeks. We're playing well and we just need to keep it going.

On the point streak

We're having fun, I think that's the biggest thing. We're enjoying coming to the rink every day and we're enjoying going to battle with each other and for each other. I think that's huge and it's great to see in the locker room and out on the ice. It's incredible just to see the passion that guys are playing with.

Troy Terry

On the game

It's kind of a benchmark for us and they're at the top of our division. One of the games that we beat them, the first time that we beat them, we were maybe last in our division or we were down there. To beat them was when we knew that this isn't us and we have the capability to get out of where we were. We've kept building and to be able to keep having success against them, it speaks volumes to where our team is at.

On the 10-game point streak

From a strategy standpoint, we're playing with the puck more in their end. That's something that I personally had to work on, being smart with the puck and making sure we're getting it in behind them and playing down there. I think the biggest thing is when weren't playing well, we were losing those games. Even when we were playing well, we weren't closing out games or finding ways to win. We learned and figured that out as a team. Now, even when we don't have our best game, we're able to find ways to win. When we have our good games, we're able to close teams out.

Head Coach Dallas Eakins

On four consecutive wins over San Jose

It gives confidence to our groups. We've had a real strong, hard mindset over the past month. We've continued to try to add fire to that and even more hardness. Our competitiveness is very high right now. This division is interesting, there is no easy night. So it doesn't matter if it's San Jose or one of the other teams, it's going to be a hard game. We're just proud to get the two points.

On the team's toughness

It's our mindset. We've tightened the screws. We've gone back and evaluated, 'what does hard mean.' Our group really embraced it. I love our grittiness and competitiveness right now. That's right through our lineup. It's not always about being super physical, but we are all over pucks. Our guys who are physical are doing that. We have guys going to the net and we must have had seven or eight guys dive in front of shots. We have a lot of good things going on and the important thing now is to not become complacent with it or even resent the hard work that we've done. We'll put this one in our pocket, enjoy it for a couple hours and then get back to work tomorrow.

On Kevin Boyle

He's stopping the puck. He looks controlled and big in the net from the bench. I think he's tracking the puck very well. I see his confidence in the morning skates and in practice. It's a real mindset thing from Kevin and he's leading our team really well.

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