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AHL San Diego Gulls

Mistakes Hamper Gulls in Loss

January 9, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


San Diego fell 3-2 to the Iowa Wild tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego. Despite the setback, the Gulls have posted a 26-10-4-1 record against the Central Division all-time, earning points in 31 of 41 games overall.

Sam Carrick pushed his AHL goal streak to four games (5-0=5) with his 13th of the season at 15:55 of the second period (power-play goal). He has posted 12 goals in his last 13 games with the Gulls (12-2=14, +12). Chris Mueller earned the lone assist on the power-play tally, his first point of the season with San Diego since his acquisition by the Anaheim Ducks from Tampa Bay Lightning Dec. 30. Mueller has collected 11-13=24 points with San Diego and Syracuse this season.

Blake Pietila notched his seventh goal of the season at 2:39 of the second period. Hunter Drew picked up the primary assist, his third assist the last five games (0-3=3). Justin Kloos recorded his 19th point of the season with an assist on the Pietila goal, pushing his point total to seven his last six games (4-3=7).

Anthony Stolarz made 39 saves.

San Diego's season-long five-game homestand continues Friday, Jan. 10 vs. Iowa (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Blake Pietila

On the game

The whole game we didn't have our best effort. Too many turnovers and too many breakdowns in the neutral zone and in our end. Stolarz kept us in it and he's our best player. Just one mistake too many. It was just one of those nights. I don't think it was for lack of effort. I thought guys were working. It was just sloppy play and the puck wasn't bouncing for us.

On getting back into the win column

Have a good practice tomorrow and get back to crisp, good passing. Hopefully we come out Friday to a good start and get back to how we played against Bakersfield.

Sam Carrick

On the third period

We had our chances. Anytime you start the period on a power play you want to generate some momentum. We weren't really able to do that. A little bit of frustration was shown and that came to bite us in the end.

On the game

It was a pretty sloppy game in general. That's what the frustration comes from. Guys we know can make the play, but for whatever reason the puck was bouncing around and we weren't able to execute as well as we'd like to tonight. It's frustrating because we care and we want to turn it around and string together some wins. I think it's a good sign that guys are getting frustrated because it shows that we want to win.

On his power-play goal

We won the faceoff and I shot it with a good net-front screen. Those are the plays we are looking to do more of. For me, it starts on the breakouts. That's one area we can be a little better. Getting the breakout, getting set up and then we can make our plays from there.

On the tough stretch of games

Our season is on the line, that's the way we have to look at it. From here on out these are "playoff games" that we have to look at. The standings are so tight and this is a team that's not in our division. These could be huge points for us down the stretch. We have to turn this around now and it's going to start Friday.

Head Coach Kevin Dineen

On the third period

We didn't start the game well. We got ourselves in order and we had a pretty good tempo to our game. We scored a power-play goal which we were looking for. We lost one game, we went down in the third period. To me, our group, we just have to understand, we have to be a team with an identity and it's not a consistent identity right now. I feel like sometimes, teams come into San Diego, it's sunny out and it's nice. We want to make it miserable for them to be here on the ice and we haven't done a good enough job of doing that. That is the overall feeling right now, we have to be a harder team to play against.

On using frustration to turn things around

We believe in our players. We have a strong belief in our players. We've got skill in there, we've got some great character. It's a matter of putting everything together. We believe in this group of players. We just need a consistent effort and it's a thought process. You're playing in a good league and every time you step on the ice, it's a pleasure to play and it's a hard game to play. Go out and take advantage of it. We haven't done that enough on a consistent basis.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2020


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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