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AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Find Net in Third to Stop Tucson

April 24, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls defeated the Tucson Roadrunners 3-1 Saturday night at Pechanga Arena San Diego. The Gulls matched a season high with three goals in the third period enroute to the comeback victory to extend their point streak into a third game (1-0-2-0).

Brent Gates Jr. scored his 11th goal of the season at 15:04 of the third period. Hunter Drew and Brayden Tracey earned assists on the play. Tracey's helper marked his 20th assist of the season, becoming eighth rookie in Gulls AHL history to record 20 assists in a season (last: Troy Terry (25) and Sam Steel (21), 2018-19).

Jacob Perreault netted the game-winning goal, his third of the season, with 3:37 left in regulation. His 14 goals on the year rank third among Gulls leaders.

Greg Printz registered his 10th goal of the season for points in consecutive games (1-1=2) and 2-2=4 points in his last six contests. He became the 12th player on the Gulls roster to record 10 or more goals this season to tie for the most double-digit goal scorers in the AHL (Belleville - 12).

Bryce Kindopp and Buddy Robinson each earned assists. Kindopp has collected assists in two of his last three games (0-2=2) while Robinson has helpers in back-to-back games (0-2=2).

Lukas Dostal stopped 22-of-23 shots for his 18th win of the season, marking one victory shy from tying Kevin Boyle (19) for most wins in a season by a Gulls rookie goaltender. With the win, he improved to 3-0-0 against Tucson this season with a 1.48 goals-against average and .941 save percentage.

The Gulls close out their 2021-22 home schedule with their final meeting of the campaign against the Stockton Heat Tuesday, Apr. 26 at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Head Coach Joel Bouchard

On how nice it is to get a win:

It was a rough game, overall. You know, I felt we had a lot of games we played really well the last little while although we lost. Always almost goes that way- it's like a payback game. I give credit to the guys, they never backed down tonight. It wasn't an easy game, the execution wasn't quite there. We needed that win and it's fun to do it the way we did. We grind it out and we got it out.

On what finally clicked for the team in the last five minutes of the game:

I think the third period was our best period. We pressured, we kind of went with the attitude to say, 'Hey listen, let's be ready. We're going to get chances.' I felt we had chances in the second, but we weren't quite ready, maybe a little distracted. So, in the third, I thought we gave ourselves a chance. We hit the post on Lopina and we had a few scoring chances too with Blake McLaughlin that went down. So, we had the chances in the third and finally, we beared down on a couple of them.

On Perreault's goal:

Well, I think he's missed a lot of hockey lately and then he came back and what I like is that we went on the forecheck right away there and Bryce Kindopp juts battled his way to the slot. Then, everybody converged and then he grabbed that puck and that's what I like is that it went on and off the stick-that's what we were working with guys on and J.P. (Perreault). Again, we needed that win and we have three games left before the playoffs so we're sticking with our plan and I'm going to keep pushing the guys.

On Lukas Dostal:

That's what we want. We know he's part of our team and we gave a few chances that he had to make saves (on), but we stabilized pretty good after. He kept us at a 1-0 game and I think he's the difference tonight where as well as we played in the third, if we dig ourselves a hole a little deeper, it would've been tougher. Like I said, we had three weeks that were pretty tough. We're going to reset tomorrow and go back on Monday for the last stretch for the season. We muscled through a game that was not easy for us to play.

On if difficult lessons become easier with a win:

Yeah, and I think that the lesson tonight is that things didn't go our way when we dug deep and we give, we hang around and hang around and hang around and we find a way to get it done. What I like is that we learned from our six-on-five last game and I thought we made a couple of decisions that I'm pretty happy with the puck and I like that when we take the lead, we played them deep for a few minutes like stuff we talked about. Sometimes you're not going to have you're A-game, but it you keep your principles, then you give yourself a chance.

Brent Gates Jr.

On getting the win tonight:

Yeah, for sure. We've been working hard. We had some good games, some good stretches within games, just haven't been able to piece it together for a full 60. Tonight I think we can all agree it wasn't our best game as a whole, but we found a way and stuck with it. Dos (Lukas Dostal) was pretty awesome. We figured it out and found a way to get the win. It's awesome.

On his goal:

Yeah, I mean good entry by Trace (Brayden Tracey) and Drewsy (Hunter Drew) and for him to jstust get it on net, I saw it fall right away and just went to the net and just tapped it in. It felt good to find that one, but you got to give credit to the other guys for making a good play.

On creating traffic in front of the net:

I think we just tried to simplify it when things aren't necessarily going our way. We got to get back to our basics and our fundamentals and one of those things is getting to the net and getting pucks there. So, I think we came out in third with a mindset that whatever happen we're going to keep it simple and give it our best shot and it worked out for us.

On gaining confidence heading into the final week of the season:

For sure, regardless of what can or can't happen in the standings at this point is huge for, like you said, a younger group to just feel good going into the playoffs. The more teams we beat under, get under our belt, the more confidence you get. So every game's just as important from a confidence standpoint, and we're obviously still working out some wrinkles in our game. This was a great opportunity to do that.

Jacob Perreault

On his game winning goal:

Bryce (Kindopp) was grinding it in the corner and then somehow it got to the net. I saw the puck kind of trickle down twice to me, the first time it his someone else's stick, bounced against his blade and then just went back to my stick. I juts tried to get it on net and it went through so I was pretty happy about that.

On his hockey sense and knowing where to be in those situations:

I knew Bryce (Kindopp) was going to make a play at the net, like still I was just trying to go there for the rebound like not too close to the goalie so I could have time to react to it. I was just trying to be in the right spot and got pretty lucky that it went around me right in my wheelhouse.

On the difference in the team's execution between second and the third periods:

Yeah, I think they came out a lot quicker than us, but you know, we had a battle in us. We fought until the end and good things happen then.

On the uplifting lesson of this game:

I mean it's good, I mean we have pretty a good team. I think we can go far in the playoffs even if, you know, we're not first in the league, we've got the heart to go a long way in the playoffs. That's our mindset that's been the last couple weeks and trying to get to our 100% game once we get to the playoffs for the first round.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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