AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Downed by Wild

Published on March 18, 2023 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls fell 6-2 to the Iowa Wild tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego, bringing their overall record to 19-40-1-0 and 9-21-1-0 at home.

Michael Del Zotto started the scoring for the Gulls on the power play at 5:43 of the middle frame. Since his first game with the Gulls on Dec. 22, Del Zotto leads all active San Diego skaters in assists and points (6-19=25), while leading all team blueliners in goals.

Chase De Leo assisted on the play, earning 0-3=3 helpers in his last two games and 7-9=16 points in his last 12 contests. De Leo leads the Gulls in goals and scoring with 5-9=14 points since his return to the lineup on Feb. 18.

Brent Gates Jr. scored his first goal of the season, registering 1-1=2 points in his last two games. Dating back to last season, Gates Jr. has 2-1=3 points in his last three contests against the Wild.

Chase Priskie also posted an assist, extending his point streak to a career-best fourth game (4-1=5).

Andrej Sustr recorded a helper in the effort for points in back-to-back games (1-1=2), while Brayden Tracey earned his 16th assist of the season.

Gage Alexander made 17 saves on 22 shots.

San Diego closes out its set of back-to-back games tomorrow in a matinee match up against the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena at 3 p.m. PST.

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Left Wing Chase De Leo

On the loss to Iowa

Yeah, it's tough. I liked our second period, we had a good push, came out firing and got to find a way to do that for a full 60 minutes. I know it sounds cliché, but we're obviously capable of doing that for 20. So, just got to put three periods together and I think we'll have better chances.

On the matchup with Coachella tomorrow

Like I said, we had a bad start, but we kind of rebounded in the second period, had a good push. Kind of got away from our game in that first period, turning pucks over at the blues. We got to know what works for our team. And I think that we kind of got into our old habits there to start the game. And then in the second, we kind of got back to how we've been playing recently, which is a lot better.

On leading by example as team captain

Yeah, honestly, I'm just happy to be back healthy playing in the lineup. It's not any fun being out, being away from the boys and watching from the stands. So, I always try to just lead by example and hope they follow. Work hard every single day and it's all you can control pretty much is just your work ethic and a good attitude. So, try to bring that every day and hope the rest of the team follows.

Head Coach Roy Sommer

On the loss to Iowa

You know, I didn't think we were very good at you know, especially, parts of the first period. I thought we broke the puck out well. I thought they did a really good job in the neutral zone, and we turned pucks over, which we weren't doing previously. And we weren't getting anything behind them. And you know, we were kind of going east (to) west and our game when we played well was in north (to) south. And you know, we start playing that way in the second period, I think we out shot...shots were 17 to nothing, and we were coming, we tied the game up. You know, then we take the penalty, they score. That kind of set us back a little bit and, you know, like I was saying before, I think the goal that really hurt us was, you know, we gave up that one with, you know, two seconds left at the end of the second. Kind of dug us a hole but, again, we came out. I mean, you hold the team like that down to seven shots in their last two periods, you're playing pretty good hockey. I thought we deserved a better fate. But you know, hey, they capitalized on theirs. Their goalie was good.

On what the team can take from the loss into Coachella tomorrow

I think you know we got to play like we did in the second period, you know, not wait for them to see what kind of they're gonna do. You know, we got to play our game. Coachella is, you know, a team that gets on you and they score quick in that rink, and if you're not ready to play, all (of a) sudden you're down two (or) three goals and they just kind of sit on it. So, we got to make sure we're ready to go when the puck's dropped tomorrow in that building.

On the team's veterans having offensive success

They're showing up on the scoreboard, on the score sheet at the end of the game, and they're leading by example out there. You know, they're the hardest working guys in practice and, you know, the other guys are following up and doing what they're doing and putting in the work that they're putting in.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2023


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