AHL San Diego Gulls

Dostal Scores, Carries Gulls over Colorado

Published on March 3, 2022 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls earned their third straight victory Wednesday night, defeating the Colorado Eagles 5-2 at Budweiser Events Center. The Gulls have won five of their last seven games (5-2-0-0) and six of their last nine contests overall (6-3-0-0).

Lukas Dostal scored his first career goal to become the first goaltender in Anaheim Ducks organizational history (NHL or AHL level) and 16th goaltender in AHL history to score a goal in a game (17th including playoffs). He also became the seventh Gulls goaltender to record a point in a game. Dostal stopped a career high 51-of-53 shots for his third consecutive victory, marking the second time in club history that a goaltender recorded 50 or more saves in a game (last: Feb. 17, 2018 - Kevin Boyle, 53 saves). Dostal's shutout streak came to an end at 11:32 of the third period on a Shane Bowers goal for a total of 114:21 over the course of three games (Feb. 25 - Mar. 2) to mark the second longest shutout sequence in Gulls history (137:13 - John Gibson, Oct. 21-30 (spanning three games)). He stopped 73 consecutive shots in the streak. During his current three-game winning streak (3-0-0), Dostal has posted a 1.34 goals-against average and stopped 105-of-109 shots for a .963 save percentage.

Vinni Lettieri opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 9:48 of the first period for his eighth goal of the campaign. Lettieri now has 1-3=4 points over his last three games and 2-8=10 points in his last eight games overall.

Danny O'Regan continued his season-high point streak into a third game (3-2=5) with his 10th goal of the season to move into a tie for second on the Gulls in goals and scoring with 10-15=25 points.

Nikolas Brouillard collected his 17th assist of the season to tie for the team lead while moving into a tie for second on the Gulls lead in points (25). Brouillard leads Gulls blueliners in goals, assists and points with 8-17=25, while ranking tied for fourth in goals among AHL defensemen leaders and tied for 19th in points.

Hunter Drew recorded his fourth multi-assist game of the season (0-2=2) and third multi-point game over his last five games (2-5=7). Over his last seven contests, Drew has posted 4-5=9 points to rank tied for fourth on the Gulls in scoring with 10-14=24 points.

Trevor Carrick earned his fourth multi-point effort of the season with 1-1=2 points and has points in back-to-back games (1-2=3). Jack Badini scored his second goal of the season at 9:37 of the second period, while Brent Gates Jr. earned his eighth assist on the year.

The Gulls begin a weekend back-to-back with the Colorado Eagles Friday, Mar. 4 at Budweiser Events Center (6:05 p.m. PT).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Head Coach Joel Bouchard

On Lukas Dostal:

What a night. He's on a roll. You know, I think that his emotion was way high tonight to be honest. We build this game for our team like a playoff game and I cranked the guys up. There was a lot of emotion out there. The guys played hard. We put ourself in trouble, but I felt that Lukas was the one that kept his emotion in check. As a goalie, that's what we want. He didn't get riled up into anything. He stayed composed and that's why he was able to execute that play at the end. Cause he was so composed all game through. And really, I have not seen an emotional game like that all year. So, for him to be performing under these condition it was a really good performance.

On what he liked outside of Dostal:

It's tough to play here. The altitude, guys were a little short winded a bit at the beginning. Something we underestimate. We came in with a playoff attitude, playoff performance. It's the only team we haven't beaten in our (division). It was just like, a lot of emotion. We felt if we didn't have emotion tonight, we were not going to be in the fight against a fast team and a good team at home. And you're right, the special teams did exactly what we asked them to do. But that emotion got a bit carried away at times and that's what we're gonna revisit. I'd rather tame a tiger than paint stripes on a cat, right? You gotta be proud of the way the guys...they didn't channel it great at times, but at least they've got more swagger than three-four months ago, right?

On containing Colorado:

It wasn't terrible. It wasn't spectacular. I think it was fair. I think guys meant well. Guys were in the fight. We had guys that had a great performance. The backend was solid, really solid. They're tough to play against. I think our youth showed up front at times. That being said, I like that guys were emotional about it. Like I said, they were in the fight, so it wasn't perfect. And you're right about (Colorado's) speed and our puck management. So it wasn't terrible. If it was terrible we wouldn't have been in that position. Was it great? No. It was fair with good intention.

On treating games like a playoff series:

I'm treating every game like a playoff game. If we want to be good in the playoff we might as well play now. Cause that's the way it is. This group is new from the beginning of the year. We're finding our ways. We're fighting together. You don't turn that switch when playoff come. It doesn't work that way. You gotta start playing that playoff mindset, that playoff game early in the season. We started way back, guys. We've started way back. Playoff is a word that you sometime use a just couple weeks before. I've been banging that word for weeks. Cause if you want to be prepared for the playoff, you gotta prepare for it in the season.

Lukas Dostal

On when he saw the opportunity to score on the empty net:

When they dump it. So, the puck was kind of, like I think it hit the glass and just moved over quite slow. I saw all the guys on the redline so I just thought like, 'Yeah, let's try it, let's stop the puck and then I took a look and the guys were like on the blueline so like if it's not going to go to the goal, then this is going to end up in the neutral zone. So, but luckily, I got really under the puck and I just shot it over so it was fun moment.

On if he has ever thought about scoring an empty net goal before:

I actually tried once when I played back in Finland. We played like a local rival game against Tappara when I played for Ilves so they are two teams in the same town so we were leading like 1-0. I think there was five seconds left and I just got a puck, and the guys were, again, on the blueline so once I tried to like hit the net and I miss it probably like 15 centimeters so it was like really, really close. It was the end of the game so we won 1-0 so it was like still like cool moment, but I was a little bit sad because it was really close then, but now, it went through.

On where this game ranks among special moments in his career:

I mean it was one game, obviously, and there's lots of shots and you know, you kind of get comfortable there. I'm just happy that I could do my job, help the boys and this is important, an important win for us. This is the third in a row, I believe, is it third in a row? You know, it's important for the confidence and for the kind of good feel so hopefully we're going to continue with it on Friday and Saturday.

On how locked in he feels right now:

Yeah, just trying to do my best. You know, obviously just trying to do my best and when there's lots of shots, you just feel good about it and like, you know the guys also like they block the shots, they like will box out the guys so sometimes I just have clear view on the blueline. It's a team sport, they're helping me. Sometimes I help, sometimes they help me.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2022


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