Gulls Win Streak Ends with Loss in Stockton
Nov 11, 2019The Gulls erased a three-goal deficit, but ultimately fell to the Stockton Heat in a 6-3 setback at Stockton Arena to halt a four-game win streak. Heat forward Matthew Phillips had a career day with five points (1-4=5) while Luke Philip picked up his first two career goals, including the game winner with 7:01 in regulation. Jon Gillies backstopped Stockton to their eighth win of the year following 24 saves.
Alex Broadhurst scored San Diego’s third shorthanded goal in the last four games, and Sam Carrick and Chris Wideman scored their team-leading fourth goals.
For the first time this month and the last five games, San Diego surrendered the first goal of the contest as Stockton scored 7:40 into the matchup. Heat forward Dillon Dube netted the goal on an impressive individual effort that involved a series of dekes that cut through two Gulls defenseman to get to the slot for the score.
Jani Hakanpaa was sent to the penalty box for holding and the Heat and the Heat’s league-leading power play netted its first of two on the night as Byron Froese redirected Zach Leslie’s slapshot from the point to double Stockton’s lead at 10:20 of the period. The two goals held up in the opening frame as the Heat led heading into the break after 20 minutes of play while also outshooting the Gulls 14-8 over that span.
Kiefer Sherwood had a great scoring chance on a breakaway several minutes into the second frame, but Stockton’s netminder Jon Gillies stopped the low shot and created an opportunity back on the rush. Ryan Hamilton took the rebound down the ice to the opposite side and beat Boyle at the 3:51 mark of the second period to make it 3-0 on the score.
Broadhurst would put San Diego on the board as defensemen Jani Hakanpaa and Simon Benoit dug the puck out of the corner for Broadhurst to collect it and skate down the ice to fire a quick wrist shot past Gillies’ blocker-side high. The shorthanded tally marked the second goal, and second down a man for Broadhurst this season. With the primary assist on the play, Hakanpaa recorded his fourth assist in his last four games.
Carrick nearly cut the lead to one on a breakaway midway through the second period but was unable to finish the play with just over four minutes remaining in the second frame. On his next shift however, he finished what he started to bring the game within a goal with 39 seconds left in the middle frame. His one-timer off a pass by rookie Antoine Morand from the high slot beat Gillies’ glove-side and the Gulls headed into the second intermission trailing 3-2.
Carrick’s score pushed his goal-scoring streak to three games (3-1=4) as he now has 4-4=8 points in his last seven games. Sherwood also picked up an assist on the play and now has 1-4=5 point in his last five games. San Diego carried a 15-9 advantage in second-period shots and entered the second intermission tied at 23 apiece after 40 minutes of play.
San Diego continued the momentum heading into the third period and tied the game just 2:28 into the final period. Daniel Sprong found the puck behind the Stockton net and threw a backhand pass to Wideman in the slot. The diminutive defenseman immediately corralled the pass and fired the puck past Gillies into the top of the net to tie the game at 3-3. With the goal, Wideman now has four goals to co-lead San Diego and rank tied for second among all AHL defensemen in goals.
Stockton rookie center Luke Philp scored the first goal of his career to give the Heat the lead with 7:01 left in the game with his snap shot from a low angle beating Boyle high on the glove side. Phillips and Dube recorded the two assists on the score. The Heat made it an even more difficult for the Gulls to comeback as they added another just 1:51 later for another two-goal lead. Phillips scored the goal on a two-on-one rush for his fourth point of the contest.
Philp added another goal to round out the scoring at the 16:10 mark of the third period. Philp’s second goal of the period was marked at just 3:11 after the first goal of his career. The game concluded as a 6-3 setback for San Diego as Stockton led 38-27 in shots.
The Gulls will return home to host the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at Pechanga Arena (7 p.m.).