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AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Win Over Reign In Overtime, 2-1

February 26, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls beat the Ontario Reign 2-1 in overtime today at Toyota Arena, bringing their overall record to 15-38-1-0 and 8-19-0-0 on the road.

Rocco Grimaldi recorded his second consecutive two-point performance (1-1=2), scoring his league-leading 27th goal of the season to win the game in overtime. The right wing notched 10 goals this February, tying former Gulls captain Sam Carrick (Nov. 2019) for the most goals earned over a single month in the team's AHL history and setting a career best for goals earned in month (previous: 9, Dec. 2017).

In addition, the Rossmoor, Calif. native posted eight goals in his last six games and 10 of the Gulls' 22 goals in February, accounting for 45.5% of the team's goal-scoring during the month. Grimaldi also added his 27th assist of the season in the effort, increasing his tally to 27-27=54 points to rank eighth in the AHL and top the Gulls leaderboard in all scoring categories.

Drew Helleson started the scoring for the Gulls at 3:43 of the opening frame, netting his fifth goal of the season.

Chase De Leo posted the primary assist on the play, extending his point streak into a sixth game (4-3=7). De Leo earned a point in each of his five games (2-3=5) since returning to the Gulls lineup on Feb. 18.

The Gulls return to Pechanga Arena San Diego for a mid-week matchup against the Henderson Silver Knights this Wednesday, Mar. 1 (7 p.m. PST).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Right Wing Rocco Grimaldi

On what the team did differently compared to last week's overtime loss against the Reign

Just stuck with it. Got to give a shout out to Olle (Eriksson Ek) - what a game. We've hung him out to dry a lot this year and I know it's been a tough year for him. His best friend, his roommate gets traded last week so I'm sure that's just like another dagger in the heart, and he comes in last game, plays awesome. Comes in this game and I think it was his best game of the year - stands on his head make some unbelievable saves. I don't know if we should have won that one so hats off to him. He played a heck of a game, we stayed with it and got the two points.

On how the team's third period power-play helped get them back on track

The first power play we got was garbage, so we were pissed off about that. Then, second one we started just kind of keeping it more simple, just putting pucks to the net. Unfortunately, there was no rebounds - he (Reign goaltender Cal Petersen) was always swallowing them up, but at least we were getting pucks to the net and trying to cause some chaos. So, I thought they had a really good third, they were buzzing around. They were really doing some good stuff in the o-zone (offensive zone) and Olle (Eriksson Ek) was hanging on and the d(efense) were hanging on. Thankfully, we hung on and got the two points.

On his overtime goal

I mean, they had the same three guys that started the game, or the overtime, so they were a little tired and the three of us had just gotten out. So, I don't know if they recognized that, so we had a little bit of an advantage. We did a good job just being calm. They were kind of working around a little bit, weren't getting any good opportunities, but they were moving. We did a good job switching off guys. Then, (Lias) Andersson tried to go at me one-on-one. I just got to stick on it and went for a breakaway and, thankfully, no one was close enough, and put it in.

On his 10-goal, 13-point month

It has to do with what I've been doing off the ice - just the studying of the game, trying to figure out ways to score. I went on like a 10 or 11-game stretch there where I wasn't scoring, and it wasn't going well. I needed to sit back and reevaluate and see what was going on. Now, I kind of found myself, and I'm not satisfied with just a good month or a good stretch. It's the ebbs and flows of a long season - you have good, you have bad. When you have good, you can't be too cocky about it and overconfident. You've got to keep doing what I'm doing off the ice to do what you want on the ice, and keep moving forward and try to help our team win every night.

Defenseman Drew Helleson

On the win over Ontario

It was a great effort by everyone. I thought Olle (Eriksson Ek) had a great game. It was really fun to see him play well, and us play well in front of him. That was just an awesome, awesome all-around team win there.

On the play of goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek

Yeah, we all love Olle; he's a great guy. Really well-liked guy around the room, and so whenever we can play good for him and score some goals to help him get some support there, it's big. And you know, like I said, he's really well like guy in the room and it just feels good when you play well in front of him.

On the team's mindset as they approached overtime tied at one

It was really good. I thought the passion was there. Everyone was still up and, like you said, we all really wanted to win the game and I think that was pretty, pretty obvious.

On the mood following the win

It's awesome in there. It's a good vibe after a win for sure.

On how the team kept Ontario's offense at bay

They're a really fast team, really good line rush team. Our forwards did a really good job in the neutral zone of slowing them down and then on the back check as well. They're really good; their d(efensemen) jump into plays a lot. So, it's really important for the forwards to come back, helps us keep a good gap. And like I said, they're one of the faster teams in the league, so that's really important.

Head Coach Roy Sommer

On the team's win against Ontario

They battled from the drop of the puck. I thought we had a stretch, I think after they scored the power play (goal) in that third, where we got a little...kind of antsy and you know, they had some good zone time on us. But, other than that, I thought we played a hell of a game. You know, a team that has all that firepower, kept him down at 22 shots, we took one penalty, which is something we've been kind of preaching on, which is a good thing. And then you know how much more can you say about Rocco (Grimaldi) and (Chase) De Leo. Their game tonight, you know, they started us off, put the puck back to (Drew) Helleson for the goal and got us on the board early and then we hung on to that and actually played a really good period, defended the middle of the ice. And then Rocco, you know, they have a turnover on a breakaway, and you know, game over. So, you know, good for him.

On Rocco Grimaldi's game-winning overtime tally

Yeah, you know, he's had a couple of those. Actually, our OTs (overtimes) have been pretty good. We haven't had a lot of them this year, but we've lost one and won the other ones and, you know, he's been a big part of two of them. Two of the wins. It was good. You know, I thought overall, it was a great team effort. It was pretty well a 60-minute game. And, you know, Olle (Eriksson Ek), you know, made some great saves for us and, you know, finally got a win for the guy. You know, I would have felt really bad if we would have lost that in OT the way he battled tonight.

On the performance on goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek

I think the biggest one was I think we had a bad pinch in the first and they had a breakaway, and you know, he ended up stopping that and, you know, kept things alive for us. He just made big stops at the opportune time and didn't give them anything. And again, you know, credit (the defense), we had some good blocks. You know, I think one in the second, they one timer with an open net, and I think Reggie (Pavol Regenda) made a kick save on it. He had some help, but I thought he was real focused tonight.

On the team's defensive effort

That's the big thing. I think the thing was, I thought we did a really good job through the neutral zone. Slowed them up. You let that team come at you with a lot of speed and that's some of the problems we had in some of the previous games, but the last couple of times we played them, we've kind of shut them down through the middle and made them dump pucks. It's something they don't like to do.

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