AHL San Diego Gulls

Hot Start Leads Gulls over Colorado, 7-3

February 21, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls matched a club record with their seventh consecutive home win (7-0-0-0), defeating the Colorado Eagles 7-3 tonight at FivePoint Arena. The Gulls have allowed just 15 goals through seven home games, the fewest in club history. San Diego also leads the AHL in wins (7) and points (14), and ranks second in goals scored (28).

Andrew Poturalski matched single-game career-highs in scoring and assists with 1-3=4 points, including his first game-winning goal with the club. Poturalski became the first Gull to collect four points in a game since Troy Terry (Mar. 11, 2020; 2-2=4). Poturalski ranks tied for sixth among league leaders in scoring (2-5=7) and assists.

Vinni Lettieri scored two goals (2-0=2), including the game's opening goal 28 seconds into the first period, marking the sixth fastest goal to open a game. Lettieri's two goals mark his third multi-point game and second multi-goal effort of the season. Lettieri ranks tied for second in the AHL in goals (5) and tied for sixth in points (5-2=7).

Jamie Drysdale posted two points (1-1=2) in his third multi-point performance in his last seven games. Drysdale paces league defensemen in points(3-5=8), co-leads in goals and ranks tied for third in assists.

Trevor Zegras netted two goals (2-0=2) in his first career multi-goal effort. Zegras co-leads the AHL in scoring (4-5=9), ranks tied for fourth in goals (4) and tied for sixth in assists (5).

Kodie Curran recorded his second goal of the season at the 3:36 mark of the first period and added his second +3 rating of the season. Curran has collected a point in three of his four games (2-1=3) with San Diego this season.

Antoine Morand notched two assists (0-2=2) for his first career multi-point game. Morand has three assists (0-3=3) in his last three games.

Sonny Milano collected an assist. Milano owns points in each of his first two games with San Diego (0-2=2).

Andrew Agozzino, Sam Carrick, Trevor Carrick and Alex Dostie also each recorded an assist.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 36-of-39 shots to improve to a 2-0-0 record.

The Gulls will take the road to play the Henderson Silver Knights for three consecutive games, beginning this Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Orleans Arena (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Anthony Stolarz

On the win

Obviously, they had a little more offensive firepower with Tynan and Sherwood getting sent down. I think we did a really good job of isolating them and limiting their chances. A couple bad bounces resulted in their goals but I think us keeping the puck in the offensive zone dictated the game and slowed them down a bit.

On the goaltending rotation

It's definitely a different scenario with everything going on this year. I'm just taking it in stride and just trying to go out there, get better and improve my game every day. Going up and down, I'm playing games here but practicing with Anaheim, so I'm getting a little of the best of both worlds. My mentality is just going out there and trying to improve my game. If I get an opportunity, just try to make the most of it.

On the team's offense

I think for us, it's our skill. You look around, top to bottom we have guys who can put the puck in the net. You look at our defensemen, with how many points and how many goals they're getting, they can create so much offense. As a goalie, you love seeing that. Usually, when the puck is in the offensive zone, the other team is tired and they just have to chip it out. Then we can go back in and start the cycle all over again.

David Urquhart

On the game

It was a great response. We really liked the guys who were driving the bus on that. It was the leadership group, some of the veteran players and some of the guys logging important minutes. Those are the guys that stepped up. That's what you really like to see on back-to-back nights. That second one can be a tough game. When those guys step up, it's easy for the rest of the guys to follow.

On the top two lines

It is some guys who have played a while in this league. They know how to get it done. The pace at the start of the game, they really set the tone with some short shifts and getting pucks to the net. That was something that lacked last night, getting on the inside. For us to respond that way tonight was really good to see.

On the team's composure

Something we talked about on the bench was playing between the whistles. When you get in a game like that, you don't want to give life to the other team in any way shape or form. A lot of time for teams that are down in these games, that life will come in the form of trying to create something after the whistles. We continued to play hard between the whistles and stuck to the structure.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2021


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