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AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Break Preseason Ice with 4-2 Win

October 8, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls opened the 2021 preseason with a 4-2 win against the Ontario Reign at Toyota Arena. The Gulls are now 9-5-0-2 all-time in 16 preseason games, including 5-0-0-2 at Ontario.

Alex Limoges (1-1=2) and Jacob Perreault (1-1=2) each posted a team-high two points in the win.

Brogan Rafferty scored the game-winning goal at 9:30 of the third period in his Gulls preseason debut.

Vinni Lettieri capped off the scoring with an empty-net goal with ten seconds remaining in the third period.

Nikolas Brouillard earned an assist.

Olle Eriksson Ek stopped 26-of-28 shots en route to the 4-2 win.

The Gulls will conclude their 2021 exhibition schedule against Ontario Monday, Oct. 11 at Honda Center (7 p.m.). The game and parking are free of charge. For more information and to reserve tickets, please visit SanDiegoGulls.com/Preseason.

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Alex Limoges

On the team's first preseason action

Yeah, that's right. That was kind of our goal to start quick. I think we did a good job preparing as much as we could and it was fun. I thought we played a hard game and came out strong. Of course it's tough to play a full 60 minutes in the first game, but I thought there were some really good parts. Definitely a good core to build around.

On what the team did right

(Head Coach Joel Bouchard) put a great system into place. I think he preaches a lot of offense, and we got a lot of creative guys in the room. So, when we get in there we just want to play with the puck and throw everything at the net.

On his game

I thought I played alright. It was fun to get rewarded there, but I think we just stuck with it and I thought we finally got the bounces in the third period there.

On not getting any bounces in the first two periods

Honestly not too frustrating. I think their goalies played well and their team played well. But it was fun. With a new system, a new team, seeing how we're doing. Doesn't matter what the score is. Just going out and trying to play the right way the whole time. And that's what happens I guess. We stuck with it and they came. It's something we shouldn't get frustrated though. We just keep going and know that it's going to be there.

On his breakaway move

No, my plan was to go the one-hand backhand the whole time. It's funny I actually was taking my pregame nap and I was kinda dreaming, like, if I get a breakaway I want to do this today. So, you know I did it in development camp and it worked. So I thought I might as well try it here. And I thought that's kind of the jump that we needed, the extra energy. And we scored right after that and kinda shut out the rest. It was fun. It was fun for it to work otherwise I would have looked terrible.

Head Coach Joel Bouchard

On the team's play throughout the game

Yeah, you know what, the win is always nice but it's more of the process that I'm working right now. It's the first game. We got a couple of practice before and some guys only had one practice with us. I thought for the most part we were really organized and the effort was there. And I told the guys after the game the three things I'm most happy is the effort is there, everybody get good moment...nobody can leave the game saying they really struggled, and third their attitude was outstanding. Their buy in...we're challenging them, I'm a challenging coach. I'm asking for a lot of details, but they embrace it and I really like the camaraderie and the guys pushing together. That was what I'm most happy about.

On puck possession

You know what, it was a 1-1 game, and this is hockey. Anything can happen either way. I thought we got a little young there for a while. We got frustrated cause the scoreboard didn't really...it wasn't what we would like. But that's not always going to be a way about it. We really settled nicely in the third period. And like I said, lot of new guys, lot of young guys coming in, but I as a coach, I have to realize that we're gonna get there. And it's very positive I think for a first outing. Hey, it's a preseason game. Lets go back tomorrow. Lets revisit what we did and then lets try to get better as we move on.

On puck pursuit

That's their job. When we don't have it, we gotta get it back. If you want to score goal, we need the puck. If you don't have the puck, you're not going to score many goals. It's a mindset. You gotta realize the last two days before...it's been tough on the guys to have to push them. I could see there was a bit of a...you know the three days of training camp and the stress may be getting into them. They did hunt puck, they did work hard. Now let's see if we can work even smarter and better down the road.

On what he'd adjust going into Monday's preseason contest

Everything. Everything. I think the effort was there and we had a lot of good moments and guys did really well in a short period of time together. But as a coach, I'm right back at (it). We haven't won anything. We're still in a process of building this group and everybody being on the same page. I think that's the most important for me. There's no gray zone. They know what we're doing. Again, for a first game it's not that bad, but we're gonna get better.

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