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AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Down Roadrunners, 5-1

February 15, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls beat the Tucson Roadrunners 5-1 tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego, improving their overall record to 14-36-0-0 and 7-17-0-0 at home.

Gage Alexander made 29 saves on 30 shots tonight, allowing only one goal in his American Hockey League debut.

Rocco Grimaldi posted his fourth multi-goal game (2-0=2) of the season, surpassing the 20-goal mark for the second consecutive season and for the third time in his AHL career. The right wing leads the Gulls in goals (21) and points (46) and is second in assists (25).

Glenn Gawdin registered a goal and an assist - including his 12th tally of the season - to finish the game second in goals on the Gulls. In addition, he's collected 1-3=4 points in his last five games.

Drew Helleson also recorded two points (1-1=2), earning the first multi-point effort of his AHL career.

Dmitry Osipov posted his first assist in a Gulls sweater, notching points in consecutive games (1-1=2) for the first time this season.

Nikolas Brouillard recorded his second assist in two games (0-2=2), tallying his team-leading 26th helper of the season. Brouillard's 6-26=32 points leads team defensemen and is second in points among San Diego skaters.

Pavol Regenda capitalized on an empty net, scoring his second goal in three games.

Hunter Drew, Brent Gates Jr., Brayden Tracey and Bryce Kindopp also contributed assists in the victory.

The Gulls face the Ontario Reign for their annual Star Wars Night this Saturday, Feb. 18 at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m. PST).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Goaltender Gage Alexander

On when he knew he would make his first AHL start

I found out yesterday. (Gulls Goaltending Coach Jeff Glass) Glasser gave me a text in the afternoon and just kind of got ready.

On the emotions heading into tonight's start

Yeah, I mean the nerves are definitely going. I mean, whenever you get a chance to show what you got at this level...you gotta show it, and you got to take that opportunity. So, I was a little bit nervous until I got my first save and just kind of dialed it in from there.

On facing a heavy workload in the first period

Yeah, it was definitely nice settling in like that into a game. I mean, the guys made it easy on me tonight. I mean, they boxed out well. They made me see pucks all night. So, shout out to them.

On the best part of his game

I think just my compete. I think I battled on every puck tonight, and I think I think that's what I'm known for. I just want to keep improving and just keep working hard.

On the importance of scoring first

Yeah, I mean, the first goal in every game is important, right? Especially in your home barn. So, I think guys made it really easy on me and we stuck to the game plan tonight and it turned out well.

On what he's heard about the San Diego fan base

Yeah, everyone said it's really good here. All of them showed a lot tonight as well. So, I think it was pretty cool playing in front of them for the first time.

Head Coach Roy Sommer

On the play of goaltender Gage Alexander

It was an outstanding performance. I mean, his first American League game, you know, allowed one goal and made some great, you know, back-door saves and kept us in the game and gave us an opportunity to win. And that's kind of what you asked for in a goaltender and he filled all those boxes for us tonight.

On what he saw that led to Alexander's success

You got to talk to (San Diego Gulls Goaltending Coach Jeff Glass) Glasser about that. He's the goalie coach. I just know, though, he's looked really good in practice. The last couple days, you know, like they run a little PP (power play) stuff at the start. And I was going, 'Man', he was making some saves and then, you know, just his overall demeanor has been real good. He's had a good attitude and he's worked at it. You know, I thought he tracked pucks pretty good tonight, but hey, the big thing is pucks were hitting them. You know, got a big win for us tonight. And that's two in a row at home.

On the importance of scoring first

You know, nice play. We win the draw, (Rocco) Grimaldi wins the draw, over to (Drew) Helleson and to Drew and then, you know, he just got the puck to the net with a good tip and you know, kind of went from there. And you know, we had to kind of treaded water there for a little bit I thought in the first period, you know, especially the first 10 minutes. They kind of came at us a little bit but, you know, after that we got our legs under us and you know, played pretty solid.

On what stands out from the win over Tucson

I think our compete through the three periods and there wasn't a lot of panic in anyone. I thought we had some good forechecks going in the d(efensive) zone. For the most part, we kept everything (to) the outside; a lot of the shots came from the perimeter, which is kind of what we were talking about. So that was a good thing.

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