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AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Taken Down by Firebirds 5-1

March 9, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls fell to the Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-1 Friday night at Pechanga Arena San Diego. San Diego's overall record now stands at 20-25-8-0.

Ben King netted his 13th goal of the season, giving him three in his last three games (3-0=3).

Chase De Leo collected his 20th assist of the season. He now has 11-20=31 points in 35 games this season.

Anthony Costantini also recorded an assist, his second of the campaign.

Tomas Suchanek made 18 saves. Alex Stalock made eight saves in relief.

The San Diego Gulls return to Pechanga Arena on Wednesday, Mar. 13 to face the Ontario Reign (7 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Center Andrew Agozzino

On the difference between the two contests against the Firebirds:

I think they were a little more opportunistic. We had a great start. They got a couple goals, on the power play, and then early in the second period and kind of took over the game from there, which is unfortunate, because that was one of our better starts we've gotten in a while.

On not capitalizing on scoring chances:

I think we had more good looks than we thought in the first period. We had a breakaway, we had a couple from the slot, couple goal mouth plays that were laying around the crease. So, the opportunities were there early. That kind of dried up as they took over the game, but I think we could have made good on a few of them that might have changed the game.

On the start to the first week of the homestand:

I think there's really no margin for error. We need to win a lot of games down the stretch here. It's a good opportunity on this homestand, to hopefully go 5-1 on it, and try and put ourselves back in that race.

On if they feel an underdog mentality heading into the last quarter of the season:

For sure. I think when you're playing teams in the standings that are above you, you definitely are an underdog but when we play well, I think we've proven that we can play with good teams. You saw it shorthanded on Wednesday night. Whether that's there or not, I think we know we can beat good teams, we just have to play sixty minutes. We can't play twenty or forty or fifty-five, it has to be all three periods.

Head coach Matt McIlvane

On tonight's loss to Coachella Valley:

I really liked our start. I thought our first period was very strong. Unfortunately, they scored on the power play. It felt like from that point, there is an early turnover in the second period and the wind left our sails in the second. We couldn't find a way to get our game back on track. A team like Coachella, we let them behind us five times in the period and that is way, way too many and we are running the risk with every single one of those. We can play way more detailed than that and be way more disciplined in our game plan. The third period you end up chasing the game by a mile and just trying to find something to build on. All in all, just a very disappointing second period.

On the difference between tonight's loss and Wednesday's win:

Our second period today, we didn't show up and it was pretty much from the first shift on. We couldn't find a way to rebound. It's been a long time since we've gotten beat like this, and it's a tough one to swallow.

On how the team can get back on track before next Wednesday's game:

We're going to reset and we're going to have some very hard practices, because we're going to compete and we're going to get ready to make sure that doesn't happen again.

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American Hockey League Stories from March 9, 2024


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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