Sports stats



AHL San Diego Gulls

Roadrunners Win Over Gulls

November 23, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls fell 3-1 to the Tucson Roadrunners tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego, bringing their overall record to 6-11-0-0 and 2-6-0-0 at home.

Benoit Olivier-Groulx scored the lone goal for the Gulls at 17:36 the third period, recording his fifth goal of the season and his eighth point (3-5=8) in his last seven games. Groulx's 5-10=15 points rank him second on the team in scoring and tied for second in assists.

Olli Juolevi earned an assist on the play, and posting his ninth helper of the season and stretching his assist streak to three contests (0-5=5). Justin Kirkland also registered an assist, his fourth of the season.

Lukas Dostal stopped 24 of 26 shots in the loss. Over his last 10 games, the Brno, Czech Republic native has a 2.16 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.

San Diego was perfect on the penalty kill for the ninth time this season, erasing all four of Tucson's power-play opportunities. At the conclusion of tonight's game, the Gulls' penalty kill ranks third in the American Hockey League's Pacific Division, while ranking fourth in the Western Conference and fifth in the league with an 84.8% overall success rate (67-for-79).

The Gulls will host the AHL's newest team, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, in the team's fourth-annual Hockey Fights Cancer game on Saturday, Nov. 26 (7 p.m. PST).

POSTGAME QUOTES

Gulls center Bo Groulx

On the loss to the Tucson Roadrunners:

I think they got two lucky bounces at the start of the game. It wasn't (Gulls goaltender Lukas) Dostal's fault or anything. We lost our coverage a little bit and we failed on that. But, I think overall we had a fine game. I think we got our chances. We pushed a lot during the second and the third period, but got a hot goalie on the other side and we didn't capitalize on our chances.

On how to better capitalize on scoring chances:

I think for myself, I got to get to the net way more often than what I am doing right now. I think I'm more on the outside. I think for the team, we just got to be a bit more ready. I think it starts in practice. I think if you score in practice, you're going to score in the game.

On his third-period goal:

I didn't see a lot to be honest. I had the defenseman in front of me. Kirky (Gulls forward Justin Kirkland) made a really nice pass, and OJ (Gulls defenseman Ollie Juolevi) made a really nice pass before that. It was it was all up to them. They made the play, so I just had to tap into the net.

On what the team can improve before Saturday's game:

I think we got to keep doing what we're doing. We are playing good defensively. That was one of our biggest criticisms to start the season, and now I think it looks way better than it was at the start of the year. So, I think we continue to be good defensively and score a little bit more.

Gulls left wing Justin Kirkland

On what made the difference in tonight's game:

At the end of the day, I think it came down to some bounces. The two goals that we gave up ended up going off our own guys. Dosty (goaltender Lukas Dostal) played really well once again, so that was frustrating. We generated a lot of chances the other way, a lot of odd-man rushes. You've got to give credit - their goalie played well. So, at the end of the day, we were right there. A couple bounces go the other way and we're on the other side of this.

On where the team can improve:

Our starts. A lot of these games that we're playing, we're chasing by two or three goals. In this league, if you spot a team a lead like that, it's pretty hard to come back from, so we're definitely focusing on that, just making sure we're prepared and ready to start the game. It was kind of frustrating to go down early, but there was no quit in our game, so I'm proud of the guys for that. Obviously, back to the drawing board and back to work.

On the team's play at even strength:

I thought 5-on-5 was, for the most part, pretty good. We had a couple (of) little mishaps in our own end, just on turnovers and stuff like that. That's going to happen, though. A lot of it was through the neutral zone - our transition game - so 5-on-5 was relatively decent.

Gulls head coach Roy Sommer

On the loss to the Tucson Roadrunners:

Well, they put two on us early and they hung on the rest of the game. I thought we had the chances. I think in the first period we had four 2-on-1s and a breakaway and we didn't convert anything. So, just not a lot of finish tonight, and if we had any we wouldn't be talking about the loss right now. You know, another game that was tight. Effort was there; scored late. Actually, I thought we were going to tie it up. We had a couple (of) good looks, and the biggest thing is that we didn't score on the 5-on-3. That was, kind of, needed one there.

On the team's play at even strength:

5-on-5, I thought we did a lot of good things. We had a lot of good looks. You know, their goalie, you got to give him kudos. I thought he played real well. We had a lot of bang-bang plays with the puck just laying there, and we had second opportunities. (He) did such a good job taking the bottom of the goal away; we didn't elevate enough pucks on him.

On how the team can have a better start Saturday:

Again, it wasn't for a lack of effort. It would be nice to get the first goal. I mean, you look at the last three games at home, we've been scored on first. So, we got to rectify that and take it from there.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from November 23, 2022


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.

OurSports Central