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AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Double-Up On Firebirds, 4-2

January 10, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls earned a 4-2 win over Coachella Valley Firebirds Wednesday night at Pechanga Arena San Diego, their first over the Firebirds this season. San Diego's overall record now stands at 10-16-5-0.

Andrew Agozzino scored his eighth goal and earned two assists of the season for his seventh multi-point effort of the season, giving him the team lead in points (8-18&) and assists.

Jaxsen Wiebe scored his second goal in as many games, establishing his first AHL goal and point streak (2-0=2).

Colton White scored his first goal of the season, giving him 1-6=7 points on the campaign.

Glenn Gawdin deposited an empty net goal, his ninth goal of the season. He now ranks second among Gulls skaters in goals.

Chase De Leo tallied his eighth assist, giving him 5-8=13 points in 13 games played this season. He sits one assist shy of tying Corey Tropp for the second-most assists in Gulls AHL history (93).

Nick Wolff and Ben King also picked up assists.

Tomas Suchanek stopped 34-of-36 shots en route to his fifth win of the season. Suchanek also picked up an assist on Gawdin's goal, his first career AHL point.

The San Diego Gulls return to Pechanga Arena San Diego this Friday for the first of back-to-back matchups with the Iowa Wild (7 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Center Andrew Agozzino

On his three-point night:

It feels good to contribute, no matter what building it's in. But when it's at home, it's always a little better feeling, in front of the home fans. So, it's nice to get one at home, for sure.

On how the team rebounded from a slow start:

I think we've realized that, you know, it wasn't a great first period for us and it is tough to come on after a week off play, but we got better as the game went on. Second period, I thought was, maybe top to bottom one of our better periods of the season. It just kind of rolled into the third period for us, they make a little push but they're a good team, we expected them to. So, to be able to close that out was a big win for our team.

On the team's physical playstyle:

For sure, I mean, that brand of hockey beat the Western Conference champions of last season, so that's a brand that it's hard to do nightly, and we're learning to do that. I think if we can find that consistency, it'll be real big for our group.

On how much the team wanted the win over Coachella:

Anytime you play a top team, there's a lot of them in our division, it's important to beat them. You know, if we want to climb the standings, we've got to (beat) the teams ahead of us.

On preparing to face the Iowa Wild this weekend:

We want to take advantage of the last bit of this mini homestand, and make our games count at home, obviously. So, we've got to refocus, realize what we did well tonight to make us come out on top and kind of get back to that.

Defenseman Colton White

On his first goal of the season:

It was a great play by (Gulls forward Ben King) and (Agozzino) and (Gulls forward Chase De Leo). There was a nice entry, and I was lucky enough to be the beneficiary of it.

On how the team rebounded from a slow start:

We started off a little slow, but we still had our chances, and we were still generating a little bit. We just had to weather the storm they had in the first period and then once the second period rolled around, we got to our game a little bit quicker.

On penalty kill improvements:

Yeah, I think we're just a little more detailed with our shot blocking, our clears and then just guys knowing their roles and their jobs. So, it was nice to see and it's nice to get rewarded for the guys.

On the team's physical playstyle:

Yeah, I think we've been a little inconsistent with it. But whenever we do play that way, we always seem to have success. So, we'll just have to continue to try and find some consistency.

On preparing to face the Iowa Wild this weekend:

We'll just review some videos, see what we can do better and just keep sticking with that and get ready for Iowa.

Head coach Matt McIlvane

On tonight's win over Coachella Valley:

Feel the exact same way. I thought that the start, our first shift wasn't great, then we had a little bit of energy that came out with some enthusiasm and a lot of decent hunting in the first period. Then, we got a little sloppy and it looked like the rust from not playing was there. Decision making was a little bit slow, reads are a step behind, and then in the second period, I thought we got aggressive and started to get physical. Once we got that point, you know, I thought we had a good second period. I thought our special teams were strong, you know, really all the way through the game. The penalty kill was great. The reality is we gave up big chances today and Tomas had the answer every time, so, credit to him. Great team win and it's good to get that.

On the team's physical playstyle:

It's a focus for our group, because we know it makes us successful. When we are physical, when we're aggressive, when we're hard to play against, it's a harder brand of hockey to play against and that's what we're trying to instill in our group. The guys did a great job with it and I'm happy that they got the result.

On the penalty kill:

I thought the PK was strong. That's an excellent power play over there. I thought that we were in a lot of control of our penalty kill, you know, with those special teams units. Credit to those guys, all the time that they spent on it and now we have something good to build on.

On preparing to face the Iowa Wild this weekend:

The good thing is we don't have to wait another week to play. We'll have a great practice tomorrow and then we'll get ready for Iowa.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2024


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