AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Edged in OT

Published on February 1, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The Gulls fell 5-4 in overtime to the Ontario Reign today at Pechanga Arena San Diego. Despite the setback, San Diego has points in four straight games (2-0-2-0), and has earned points in nine of the last 10 games (7-1-2-0) and 13 of their last 17 (9-4-3-1).

The Gulls scored two power-play goals (2-for-5) and have now scored seven power-play goals the last seven games, operating at 23.3 percent (7-for-29).

Daniel Sprong recorded a season-high three points (1-2=3) in his fifth multi-point effort this season. Sprong leads San Diego with 16 assists and has tallied 2-5=7 points his last seven games and 5-9=14 points his last 14 games.

Blake Pietila netted his first multi-goal game (2-0=2), his ninth and 10th goals. He has recorded four points his last three contests (2-2=4).

Andrew Poturalski opened the scoring at 9:02 of the first period (power-play goal), his second goal this season. Poturalski returned to San Diego's lineup Jan. 31 vs. San Jose after missing 33 games due to injury. Max Comtois earned an assist on the goal, pushing his point total to seven his last eight games (1-6=7).

Sam Carrick recorded an assist to push his point streak to four games with his team-leading 32nd point (18-14=32), marking 1-4=5 points over that span.

Chase De Leo picked up his third assist and has points in consecutive games (0-3=3). Josh Mahura picked up his 10th assist of the season and Scott Moldenhauer added his third helper.

Kevin Boyle made 30 saves in the overtime setback and is now 4-2-2 with a 2.44 GAA and .928 SV% his last eight games

San Diego will visit the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at SAP Center (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Blake Pietila

On Ontario's late tying goal

Six-on-five and a point shot. I don't know if it got deflected or not. It was unfortunate, but it's something we have to definitely work on. I don't think that's the first time that we got scored on six-on-five. It's something we have to look at and clean up.

On the importance of a strong second half

We've been on a pretty good stretch here, we've been playing well as of late. Even tonight, we had a pretty solid effort. One breakdown at the end kind of cost us. In overtime, they made a nice play. They're a hard team to play against, and that was an important game for us, but we just have to regroup and get back after it on Monday.

On his two goals

I was just on the receiving end of two nice passes and I was just hanging around the net. [Sam Carrick] made a great play on the first one, and then [Chase De Leo] went behind the net and I was all alone in front, so those ones are pretty easy to put in when you have guys passing like that.

Chase De Leo

On Ontario's third period

They're a good team. I feel like we've been chasing them for a while and that's the spot that we want, so we have to forget about this one. We'll do some video on it and clean up some mistakes that gave them momentum.

On positive takeaways

I thought we played well as a team. I think that we, compared to the last game, limited our turnovers, which shot us in the foot in that last game. I liked our battle and our compete level. It was a must-win game, as there's tough games in our division right now. We started behind the eight ball, so every point matters. We are going to forget this one, move on and just keep grinding.

On the power play

The biggest thing in this league is special teams. It's a difference maker in a lot of leagues. In the last minutes of the game is the time to bear down and capitalize. Or vice-versa, if you're on the penalty kill then try to keep it out of your net. It's nice to get rewarded on our power play, but we need to find a way to get those two points.

Head Coach Kevin Dineen

On Ontario's tying goal

Well you want fresh bodies out there all the time, so you want 30 second shifts. That one dragged on there a little bit. They got the puck in the zone and then there is a level of desperation on both sides there. We could've had a little more composure in that moment. It's a tough learning experience for us.

On gaining three of four points this weekend

We've managed to really collect points here over the last three weeks and we're going to keep on scratching and clawing to get our points. Other than the way the game played out, and in all honesty, a huge game for them as well to get that extra point. Makes our challenge a little tougher for us, but I feel like we're up for it.

On the power play

Well we're getting pucks on the net and I think our net presence has been good. We have guys that are going to the net and making a conscious effort to get in front of the goalie's eyes and that leads to some good rebound-type goals which we've seen over the last two games.

On Blake Pietila

You could tell right from the first shift, the jump that he had, he had a bounce to his step and we just kept finding him for more and more ice time. It was certainly a good game for him. He had a long NHL All-Star break, and then an AHL All-Star break and that's not easy; some time off the ice. He came back and had a good, strong performance tonight.




American Hockey League Stories from February 1, 2020


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