Sports stats



San Diego Gulls

San Diego Blanks Calgary

February 9, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls earned a 5-0 victory over the Calgary Wranglers Friday afternoon at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Gulls have now earned points in 10 of their last 12 games (8-2-2-0), including four straight games on the road (3-0-1-0). San Diego's overall record now stands at 17-18-7-0.

Chase De Leo scored twice and tallied two assists (2-2=4), giving him 97 assists and 160 points (63-97Š) as a Gull, surpassing Sam Carrick (95) for most assists in franchise history and Corey Tropp (63-94=157) for second-most points in franchise history. His four points are tied for the most in a single game in his AHL career, matching his 2-2=4 points on Apr. 13, 2021 vs. Ontario. It is also tied for second-most points in a game in Gulls AHL history. De Leo has earned 3-4=7 points in his last four games.

Tomas Suchanek stopped all 38 shots faced for his second shutout of the season. He is the fifth goaltender in Gulls AHL history to record multiple shutouts in a season and the second rookie to achieve the feat (Lukas Dostal, 2 in 2021-22). He now ranks second among qualified AHL goalies in save percentage (.931) and third in goals-against average (2.13). Suchanek is 6-0-1 over his last seven starts.

Glenn Gawdin tallied a power-play goal and two assists, giving him six points in his last six games (2-4=6). He has four multi-point games this season.

Judd Caulfield scored his eighth goal of the season at 11:32 in the first period.

Josh Lopina netted his ninth goal of the campaign at 11:30 in the middle frame.

Olen Zellweger earned two assists, giving him 20 total on the season. He ranks second among AHL rookie blueliners in assists, third in points (8-20() and tied for second in power-play points (3-9=12).

Andrew Agozzino stretched his point streak to eight games with his 24th assist of the season, tying Trevor Carrick for the team lead in helpers.

Pavol Regenda picked up an assist for the second straight game, giving him six on the campaign. He has points in four straight road contests (4-2=6)

Nathan Gaucher also recorded an assist, his 10th of the season.

The San Diego Gulls will return to the Scotiabank Saddledome tomorrow night to face the Wranglers in the second half of their back-to-back (6 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Left wing Chase De Leo

On his four-point night and the win over Calgary:

It was awesome. Honestly, it was such a good team effort up and down the lineup. Coming off a break, you never really know what's going to happen, but I thought we picked up right where we left off. Talk about keeping the good vibes rolling here after the break and on to the playoffs.

On tomorrow's game against Calgary:

I think honestly just worry about ourselves. If we play that way, I think we're going to be OK most nights. Obviously with (Gulls goaltender Tomas Suchanek), another shutout. Unbelievable game by him. He's been a rock back there. Great 60-minute effort. Expect the same tomorrow.

Goaltender Tomas Suchanek

On his 38-save shutout:

I feel great. We had some days off, so we could rest, and I feel great. It was a really fun game, and the boys gave everything in front of me. It was fun.

On if it was hard to shake off the rust with a long break and early game:

I thought the practice yesterday was pretty hard, but today I felt great. My body felt rested and everything, so it was pretty great.

On what the team did differently against Calgary today:

We just played our game, did our best. They had some chances in the first period on the power play. We played a really great PK. PK did a really good job and then we just scored some goals, and they just kept the score like that.

On what he wants to see out of his game moving forward:

I'm just trying to do my best every single day. For me, the most important thing is to be just getting better and improving every single day. Just getting better and that's the biggest goal for me. The game's going good and that's pretty nice.

Assistant coach Kris Sparre

On today's win over Calgary:

It's a challenging game with the one o'clock start, specifically with the All-Star break that we just had, but I thought we responded well. We had a good practice yesterday. I thought the guys dug in and got themselves prepared to play tonight. We show up, we get two early goals, which helps, and I thought Suchanek kept us in the game early or at least kept us with the lead, and it was a nice start to the road trip.

On Tomas Suchanek's 38 save shutout:

I'm not a goalie coach, that's for sure, but I think he just looks confident in the net, and a testament to the work that (Gulls goaltending coach) Jeff Glass has done with him over the last little bit. When a goalie can keep you in the game early, there was a few really good chances from that slot area early on and those find the back of the net, it's a different game and he really did a great job with that. He stopped 38 of 38 tonight and an excellent job by Suchanek.

On Chase De Leo's historic night:

Really happy for Chase. It's been a tough two years for him with the injuries and you know, when you're coming off those injuries, sometimes the puck doesn't stick to your stick the way it did in the past. I know I've had a lot of conversations with him, and he feels like he's not quite where he wants to be yet and to see him be rewarded tonight with all the chances that he's been getting. I'm super happy for him. To break that record, the most assists in Gulls history, super happy for him. He's a great guy. He works hard. He's in incredible shape and a leader for this hockey club.

On the team's 5-on-3 power play:

I think we have a basic plan going into a 5-on-3 and you don't want the players to overthink things. I always say if I put five guys on the ice against three, or put five guys against three in a road hockey game and say 'go score a goal,' they should be able to at least generate some chances and so for us. We have some basic principles that we run our 5-on-3 around and they execute a really nice seam pass and (Gulls forward Glenn Gawdin) is able to bury the one-timer. Happy to see that thing go in the back of the net.

On the penalty kill:

Any successful team, it starts with great special teams. That's our job, to get these guys prepared and our penalty kill has been excellent the last little while and again, starting with goaltending first. The goalies have been great making those timely saves, when need be, and the guys are really buying into the structure and you're seeing a lot more block shots and really the pressure points on the penalty kill and not allowing them to set up has been critical. Doing an excellent job, and just keep that going.

On tomorrow's game against Calgary:

Any time you get punched in the face like that, we showed up and played a great game tonight, they're going to respond. We're not going to worry about them. We feel really strongly right now that when we play our game, we can play with any team in the conference. We've showed that over the past little bit and it's about establishing our game early, getting in on that forecheck that we've talked so much about, and trying to create turnovers in the offensive zone which is the fun part of the ice. Establish our identity early, mix in that competitive spirit, and I think we're going to be okay going into game two tomorrow night.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2024


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