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AHL San Diego Gulls

San Diego Holds off Iowa

April 3, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls defeated the Iowa Wild 5-3 tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego. The Gulls have now earned points in 10 of their last 11 games (8-1-1-1) and 13 of their last 17 contests overall (11-4-1-1).

Brent Gates Jr. scored his 10th goal of the season to reach double digit goals for the first time in his AHL career. Gates Jr. becomes the 10th Gull to score 10 or more goals this season, marking the most double-digit goal scorers in one season in Gulls AHL history.

Lucas Elvenes scored his 10th goal of the season and third goal in his last four games (3-2=5). He has collected points in five of his last six games (3-4=7) and has 3-7=10 points over his last 11 games.

Bryce Kindopp established a new career high for goals in a season with his 11th tally of the campaign at 6:50 of the second period.

Buddy Robinson scored his fourth goal of the season for points in back-to-back games (1-1=2).

Alex Limoges registered an assist for points in eight of his last nine games (8-5=13) and has 9-8=17 points over his last 13 contests.

Trevor Carrick recorded a season-high three assists for his second multi-assist effort over his past three outings (0-5=5). Among Gulls blueliners, Carrick ranks second in goals and points, and third in assists with 9-18' points.

Brogan Rafferty collected a pair of assists for his fourth multi-assist effort of the season.

Danny O'Regan scored his 12th goal of the season with 22 seconds remaining in regulation.

Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Greg Printz and Brayden Tracey each earned assists.

Lukas Dostal stopped 32-of-35 shots for his 17th win of the season. He has backstopped the Gulls to standings points in each of his last six starts (5-0-1) with one shutout, a 1.33 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage.

The Gulls make their final trip to Abbotsford, British Columbia for a weekend set against the Abbotsford Canucks beginning Friday, April 8 at Abbotsford Centre (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Head Coach Joel Bouchard

On the impact of special teams:

I think special teams came out big tonight, they made the difference. They're a tough team over there. They never quit; they're intimidating. They have some guys that can play hard, so I thought we did really well in a lot of situations, but you're right, special teams were good. I think our pk (penalty kill) came out with some big plays, some big faceoff and then Dos (Lukas Dostal) was there. He was comfortable with what we gave him, the shots we gave. It made the difference at the end for sure.

On the team staying disciplined in a physical game:

I agree. It's not easy because you know they're down 3-1 and that's their play and they're hard, they want to get you off your game and I thought that we managed it so we stick together. We did it as a team and I'm very proud of the guys, but it didn't go overhand where it became out of control. I thought we played a good third period and then a couple of plays and then a couple of goals and then we end up being 4-3. That being said, I thought we managed that situation very well and like I told the players, as a coach, I'm happy that we had to live that so if it happens in the playoffs, then we know that we can close that game and just like kind of reset and came with big plays.

On the Gulls' team effort being at the center of the team's wins:

It's going to have to be. It has been a team effort for a long time now. We're not the same team we were in the beginning of the year in a way that the guys have grown, have learned, have found their ways. Like I talked about before the game, structure and habits and now they're more and more natural. The guys are more and more comfortable. The wins are there. We know its going to have to come from everybody and there's no passenger and you saw, we came out, I thought the first period was so, so for me and we challenged the guys and they some out like that in the second and as a coach, it's fun. I think as a player, you feel good that you've risen to the occasion and so you're right, everybody stepped in and even a guy like Gatesy (Brent Gates Jr.) that didn't play yesterday came in big so you're right.

Brogan Rafferty

On the physical nature of the game:

You want to jump and try to grab it, but no, the physicality is a part of the game and I think a lot of our guys embraced that and I think once we get more physical, we get more engaged in the game. The emotions come out and personally, I think when we play with emotion, we're at our best, but like you said, we have to control that and let them take the penalties and we capitalize on it like we did tonight. That's just the power of the game. You know the crowd gets you fired up too, which is great. We're really happy with our weekend overall and there's a lot to learn from, but moving forward, we're heading in the right direction.

On the penalty kill:

We have a lot of confidence in our penalty kill right now, especially the goaltending. Goaltending is the most important penalty killer, but no I think you're seeing, over time, like guys have been playing together on the penalty kill more and that chemistry is there, they're making reads off each other and that desperation is high too on the penalty kill, which is great. We're getting a lot of blocked shots from everybody and just being aggressive and pressuring them when they have their backs to the middle or they bobble the puck. So, we have a lot of confidence in our penalty kill right now and it's a big part of our success lately.

On the power play and its overall impact :

We always say if we don't get a goal on the power play, we want to get some momentum off of it and I think that's what we've been doing lately. Again, I think you're seeing...the units have been similar lately and so that chemistry is starting to get there and we're doing a good job preparing ahead of time on what they're penalty kill does and what they're special teams' tendencies are and we're trying to capitalize on that. It's a big momentum shift when the power play can get a goal or at least a couple shots on net and get the crowd into it. That's what you're seeing.

On the value of experiencing tight games:

When those one-goal games are getting down to the last five minutes of the game, the desperation levels go up, kind of like a playoff game and that's what we we're trying to prepare for the last several weeks is have that playoff mentality. As much as we like to have a two or three goal lead going into those situations, the reality is that it's going to be those tight games. Those one, two goal games where those little plays matter and the intensity goes up so we've done a pretty good job of that as of late closing out games and we're happy with our progress.

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