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AHL San Diego Gulls

Torrid Scoring Lifts Gulls

December 28, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The Gulls defeated the Ontario Reign 6-1 tonight at Toyota Arena. San Diego has earned points in five of their last seven games (3-2-1-1) in addition to 14 of their last 20 games (12-6-1-1).

San Diego has scored 56 goals the last 16 games (3.5 goals-per game) in addition to 74 goals the last 20 games (3.7 goals-per game). The Gulls have also recorded eight games with five-plus goals over the last 20 contests.

Justin Kloos scored the quickest goal to start a game in Gulls history eight seconds into the contest, also the fastest goal to begin a game in the AHL this season. The early goal marked the fourth of the season for Kloos, surpassing the prior Gulls record of 17 seconds set by Jaycob Megna, Mar. 17, 2018 vs. Bakersfield. The goal also marked the earliest to begin an AHL game by Grands Rapids, Nov. 16, 2018 (seven seconds, also vs. Ontario).

Jani Hakanpaa scored his first goal as a Gull at 16:27 of the first period, marking his first AHL goal in 73 games (last: Dec. 9, 2014 with Chicago at San Antonio). Hakanpaa also added an assist on the Kloos opening goal to mark his second multi-point effort of the season (also Nov. 2 vs. Colorado; 0-2=2). He also registered a career high +5 rating, tying the Gulls single-game record (also Josh Mahura, Feb. 1, 2019 vs. Ontario).

Alex Dostie registered his first career three-point games with a goal and two assists (1-2=3) while also earning a career-high +4 rating. The three-point effort marked Dostie's third multi-point game of the season to push his point total to 12 on the season (8-4=12), setting a new single-season career high in points in his 24th game this season. Dostie surpassed his previous career high of 10 points (3-7=10) set in 41 games in 2017-18.

Josh Mahura recorded his first goal of the season and added an assist with a season-high +4 rating to mark his first multi-point game of the season (1-1=2). Mahura's goal marked the second of his AHL career, and he now has five points in his last five games (1-4=5, +5).

Kiefer Sherwood netted his seventh goal of the season at 3:55of the third period in his return to the lineup following a 11-game absence. Sherwood has points in each of his last five games (4-2=6) in addition to 10 points his last nine contests (5-5=10, +10). Chase De Leo earned the lone assist on the Sherwood goal, his sixth assist of 2019-20.

Antoine Morand scored his third goal (PPG) at 11:57 of the third period, his 10th point of the season. Hunter Drew and Ryan Johnston earned assists on the goal.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 38-of-39 shots to pick up his 10th win of the season, improving to 3-1-0 record with a 1.77 goals against average and .946 save percentage in four games vs. the Reign this season. Stolarz also recorded an assist to mark his second of the season (also Nov. 15 at Ontario), tying the Gulls single-season and all-time assist record for goaltenders, matching the two earned by Kevin Boyle (2018-19) and Matt Hackett (2015-16).

The Gulls and Reign will conclude the home-and-home matchup tomorrow at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m.).

POSTGAME QUOTES

San Diego Gulls

Alex Dostie

On the win

We knew we had to be ready after Christmas break and I think all the guys were ready to go. We got a lucky bounce on the first shift and it just gave us momentum for the rest of the game.

On gaining the lead eight seconds into the game

It helps us. You get a lucky bounce, but at the same time you go to those hard areas. When you get a bounce like that you just take it. It gives you good momentum.

On the third period

We just needed to stay focused, stay calm, keep our game plan and play the way we can. We knew when we came in in the third that we were able to win that game and we were just going to play our way.

On his three-point performance

I think it's just structure. You go to those hard areas with our line mates and make some plays. Playing with good players helps, too. My line today, with [Justin Kloos] and [Blake Pietila], we made good plays and went to the net. I think we just need to do that and that's when our points come.

Jani Hakanpaa

On his goal

It's nice to get on the scoreboard, especially the first one of the year. It's always nice. I felt that overall, we did a good job tonight and I was lucky enough to be out there. The guys made some good plays.

On offensive contributions by defensemen

It's going to help a lot. They want us to join the rush and be involved there. We can still do a good job of it, more consistent with it. I feel like sometimes we just stay back a little too much. We'll keep working on it and our forwards are doing a good job down there getting pucks on the net and getting in front of the goalie's eyes. That helps too.

On coming back from the holiday break

It's always huge. I think everybody just got recharged and recouped a little. We had a good jump coming out of the gates so I think everybody was excited to get back playing again. It was a long enough break to where you relax for a little bit, but then you want to get back out there playing.

Kiefer Sherwood

On returning from injury

It obviously feels good to be back with the guys. Hopefully we can continue this trend, it felt good to get this win.

On the win

The second half just started and we have to start clawing our way back in and hopefully make up some ground here. It now starts with tomorrow and hopefully moving forward.

On the third period

It was a 2-0 game and they're a gritty team, and they're always in the thick of things and compete. That was our big thing, continue to grind them down and play the right way, the rest will take care of itself.

On facing Ontario tomorrow

I think just be simple. I think we can be a little bit more crisp with our passes. We can probably win the blue lines a little bit more. Hopefully we can generate some more chances from offensive zone possession. It all starts from good defense and tonight, we probably gave up too many shots. Moving forward, if we can shut down our defensive zone, everything else will fall into place.

Head Coach Kevin Dineen

On the game coming back from the holiday break

We wanted to see that all year long. It was nice we were able to roll all four lines. I think they were all productive and effective both on the defensive side and obviously produced on offense, so it was nice to get the power play going. There was a lot of good things. That's one, but we start 0-0 tomorrow night and look to carry forward how we played tonight.

On gaining the lead eight seconds into the game

[Cal Petersen] plays the puck extremely well and we were trying to keep it away from him because he gets back there and gets it. You get a lucky bounce. If that happens in our building, you might be blaming the ice crew, but when it happens in a visitor's building it's a nice way to start a game. You get up 1-0 in the first 10 seconds.

On production throughout the lineup

[Gulls General Manager] Bob Fergusson has done a good job at giving us the depth that we need to get through some of the illness and call-ups, some challenges that we've had as far as our numbers. We are really proud of the guys that came in and played some real solid hockey for us tonight.

Check out the San Diego Gulls Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from December 28, 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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