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San Diego Gulls

Gulls Downed by Roadrunners, 4-1

April 7, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls fell to the Tucson Roadrunners 4-1 Saturday night at Pechanga Arena San Diego. San Diego's overall record now stands at 24-32-8-0.

Konnor Smith scored his first AHL goal in his professional debut, the second game in a row a Gull has done so (Sam Colangelo, Apr. 3 vs. SJ).

Judd Caulfield extended his point streak to four games with his 14th assist of the season.

Calle Clang stopped 35-of-39 shots.

The San Diego Gulls wrap up the season series with the Tucson Roadrunners tomorrow night at Pechanga Arena (5 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Defenseman Konnor Smith

On his first professional game:

It felt great getting out there. My season back in the OHL just ended three days ago and then I was on a plane the next day. It was it was great to get the call up and great to step on the ice today and show San Diego what I got.

On his first goal:

I saw there was a bobble puck at the blue line and we got on the other side of it and we ended up having a three on one and (Gulls forward Judd Caulfield) made a great play around the D-man and I just jumped into the right spot. But it would have been nice to get the win today too.

On playing in San Diego in front of a big crowd:

It was great. It was so loud. Greatest fans I've been a part of. In the Bayshore, we have 2,800 people at most and coming out here. Some of the boys said tonight was going to be a pretty good, pretty big crowd and they weren't lying. It was definitely loud there and it was great.

On what they need to address tomorrow against Tucson:

Obviously, we need to play a little bit more physical and limit the shots as well. There are quite a bit of shots against so let's just dial in the small details and really focusing on the on the D-zone and being one as a team.

On recovery with another game less than 24 hours out:

Rest and recovery is the biggest part. Go home, get a good bite to eat and get some rest and show up tomorrow for a big game.

Head coach Matt McIlvane

On what Tucson did that slowed down what the Gulls wanted to do:

They're gritty, and they're committed to their game plan, and they've got everybody doing it. They've got great team speed, and they defend hard, they defend well. The game was not easy for us today, scoring didn't come easy for us today. We didn't play disciplined enough with or without the puck to have a result.

On Konnor Smith's first pro game and goal:

Konnor surprised me pleasantly right from the beginning. His very first puck touch, he made a great reverse and broke pressure, got us up the ice. I thought he showed poise and presence the entire game and great little net tribe that ends up in a goal.

On combating Tucson's physicality going into tomorrow's game:

We look for ways to slow down their pressure. The other part of that is being poised under pressure and getting enough support around the puck to be able to break it and be able to get moving up the ice. We've solved it in the past. Today, I thought we were a little bit hectic with the puck.

On facing Tucson again tomorrow:

I don't think we forget about this one. I think we use this one. I mean, when you give up that many shots, there's something off in your game. There's something that we can learn from. You know, for me, our team game wasn't strong enough today to deserve a result. We've got less than 24 hours to make a change.

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