Sports stats



AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Have Chance to Clinch Second in Finale

May 15, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls defeated the Colorado Eagles 4-1 tonight at Budweiser Events Center in the penultimate game of their regular season schedule. The Gulls special teams were perfect on the night, scoring a power play goal on their only opportunity while stopping both Eagles power-play chances. San Diego has killed 14 straight penalties over their last four games and 17 of their last 18 (94.4%). On the season, the Gulls rank third on the penalty kill (150-of-177, 84.7%) and seventh on the power play (34-for-171, 19.9%), and are one of four AHL teams to rank in the top ten on both special teams units.

Head Coach Kevin Dineen served behind the Gulls bench for his 100th game in the win. In two seasons under Dineen, the Gulls have posted a 55-36-7-2 record and a .595 points percentage.

Olle Eriksson Ek stopped 25-of-26 shots for his eighth victory on the season, tied for the fourth most among rookie goaltenders. Eriksson Ek recorded his first professional point with the secondary assist on Limoges' first period goal, becoming the first Gulls rookie netminder to earn an assist and marking the 11th goaltender assist in team history.

Alex Limoges recorded his fifth multi-point effort (1-1=2) in his last 11 games and now has 10-5=15 points over that same span. Since joining the Gulls on Mar. 25, Limoges leads AHL rookies in scoring (11-10=21) and co-leads all league leaders in goals.

Bryce Kindopp scored his ninth goal of the season at 7:29 of the second period to mark points in six of his last seven games (4-4=8).

Vinni Lettieri tallied his 14th goal of the campaign. Andrew Agozzino added the lone assist on the play.

Nikolas Brouillard tallied his third goal of the season at 8:50 of the second period.

Josh Mahura earned an assist.

The San Diego Gulls will conclude their regular season schedule with their final game against the Colorado Eagles tomorrow, May 15 (6:05 p.m.) at Budweiser Events Center.

POSTGAME QUOTES

Josh Mahura

On his assist on Limoges' goal

I was kind of just holding on to it. Lucky enough, the middle play opened up there and I was able to hit Alex (Limoges), cutting through the D. He had a great finish there and it was a great start for us.

On getting off to a good start

Yeah we knew it was an important lead for us. Ending the season strong, going into the playoffs - we wanted to be playing our best hockey so we're happy with the result tonight and looking forward to it tomorrow.

On special teams

Special teams is always important in a game, especially when there are penalties going both ways. You have guys on the PK selling out, looking to block shots and clear the puck. Guys on the power play trying to create stuff so it's definitely an important part to our game.

On the postseason race

Obviously, we want to play at home and it has to do with tomorrow so we're excited and we're going to be ready to go.

Assistant Coach Sylvain Lefebvre

On the win

We wanted to dictate the momentum of the game right off the bat. I thought we did that. Obviously, getting a goal on our power play to start the game makes things a lot easier. I thought we took the game to Colorado instead of sitting and waiting for them to set the tempo.

On playing the Eagles three games in a row

We know they're a team that works hard. They skate hard and they get it on the forecheck. They reload hard. Whenever you have the puck and you're going on offense, you have to look behind you because they're coming hard at you. Their defensemen play stingy hockey. They step up in the neutral zone. We wanted to be better on the forecheck tonight, create more turnovers and more offensive zone time. I thought our o-zone time was pretty good. Our movement was good with the defense and the forwards.

On the penalty kill

It's hard work. Guys are working hard. They're working together and they're working as a unit of four. They're willing to block shots. We're clearing pucks. We're winning faceoffs. We're doing a lot of good things. We're getting first saves and clearing rebounds. As much as possible, we try to keep the play to the outside. Colorado has probably the best power play in our division, especially with a guy like Tynan, who is really good on the halfway and can make plays. We wanted to be aggressive but not reckless.

On tomorrow's game

Our motivation is to win the game tomorrow. We want, as much as possible, to put the chances on our side to finish second and have home ice-advantage in the first round. That's our goal tomorrow.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from May 15, 2021


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.

OurSports Central