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AHL San Diego Gulls

Roadrunners Top Gulls, 7-4

December 31, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The Gulls concluded their 2019 calendar year schedule with a 7-4 loss to the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Arena. Despite the setback, San Diego has earned points in three of the last four games (2-1-1-0).

San Diego scored their 10th shorthanded goal of the season, tying Providence for the AHL lead. The Gulls have scored their 10 shorthanded goals over the last 22 contests, with the penalty kill nearly matching the opposition power play 10-14 in that span (68-of-82 success rate on the penalty kill). Overall, San Diego's penalty kill ranks second in the AHL with a goal differential of -9 (19 power-play goals against, 10 shorthanded goals), behind only Charlotte (-8).

Justin Kloos scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist to mark his second multi-point effort the last three games and extend his goal/point streak to three games (3-2=5). His sixth goal overall and third shorthanded co-leads San Diego (also Alex Broadhurst) and ranks tied for second among AHL leaders in shorthanded goals. He also tied San Diego's all-time single season mark of three set by Broadhurst, Sam Carrick (2018-19), Chris Wagner (2016-17) and Jordan Samuels-Thomas (2016-17). Kloos also leads San Diego and ranks tied second among AHL leaders in shorthanded points (3-2=5) along with recently acquired forward Chris Mueller (2-3=5).

Chase De Leo scored two goals for his first multi-goal game of the season (2-0=2) and first since Feb. 8, 2019 at Ontario (2-0=2). His goals at 6:54 of the second period (unassisted) and 9:38 of the third period marked his sixth and seventh of the season, his third multi-point effort of 2019-20.

Blake Pietila opened the scoring 7:13 into the game, his sixth goal of the season. Kloos earned the primary assist while Chris Wideman picked up his 11th assist to tie for the team lead in scoring (8-11=19).

Ryan Johnston earned the primary assist on the second De Leo goal, his third assist his last four games (0-3=3). Simon Benoit also earned an assist, his sixth of the season.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 39 shots in the setback.

The Gulls will open the 2020 calendar year with a back-to-back matchup vs. the Bakersfield Condors on Friday, Jan. 3 (7 p.m.) and Saturday, Jan. 4 (7 p.m.) at Pechanga Arena San Diego.

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Justin Kloos

On the penalty kill

I've been fortunate enough to play on the penalty kill for a while now. Started killing right away in college, sophomore year. I've killed since. I think the best way to do it is be aggressive, don't give them any time and space. I've played on the power play a decent amount too, so I know you hate that. When you have those killers all over you, it's frustrating when you kind of want to slow the game down a little bit. I'm just fortunate to bury that one tonight. I saw a couple of guys standing still like power play guys do sometimes when the other team gets the puck. I was just fortunate enough to put one in.

On battling back

We made a good push in the third. We would for sure want the second period back, which happens over the season, you want periods back. We pressed hard in the third and I'll give them credit, they capitalized on some of us. We had to take more chances to score and they were able to put a couple away when we did that on odd-man rushes. It was nice to see a hard push from the guys.

On improving going forward

Picking up bodies and sticks in our own zone, myself included. We just didn't do well enough. Cheating a little offense, I think they were just playing soft. They had a bunch of whacks in the slot and we can't blame Stolarz for any of those out there.

Head Coach Kevin Dineen

On the game

You look at the end result. You give up (seven) goals and it felt like we could have managed the puck better in key areas in key times of the game. You get a lead and you want to make sure you're minimizing chances against a powerful team. We always like that push back, it shows we have character, but we have to do a better job managing the game overall.

On facing Tucson

It's a dynamic team so there's a lot of different adjustments you can make. At the end, it comes down to one-on-one play. It felt like we held our own for a while but when they pushed hard we didn't react for the full duration of the game.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2019


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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