Blandisi Scores Late Shorthanded Goal to Give Gulls 2-1 Win Over Moose

Nov 30, 2018

Joe Blandisi's shorthanded goal late in the third period led San Diego to a 2-1 win over Manitoba following a raucous game at Valley View Casino Center. San Diego held Manitoba to just 14 shots on net for Manitoba, a club record for fewest shots allowed in a single game.

“Tonight, I am extremely proud of our group,” said Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins. “They stuck together. I thought, instead of playing with each other, they played for each other tonight. I thought that was really evident in the game and a big reason why we won.

To open the scoring, Manitoba’s Jansen Harkins found the puck through a swarm of bodies in front of the San Diego net and snuck the puck past goaltender Kevin Boyle at the 15:46 mark of the initial period.

Just 52 seconds later, Gulls forward Max Jones powered his way past multiple Moose skaters and goaltender Eric Comrie to even the score at one goal each. Fellow rookie Isac Lundestrom won the faceoff leading to the goal, giving him his fifth assist in six games with the Gulls. The score also marks the fourth goal and ninth point for Jones this season.

“It was definitely a heavy game tonight, I felt that right from the start,” said Jones. “Guys were getting hit and that’s the way I like to play. I found that puck in the corner and my first instinct was I’m going to roll off this guy and get right to the net and that’s what I did. There was a lot of space in front for me to get another whack at it.”

San Diego allowed only three shots on net in the first period, setting a season-best for the opening frame. In addition, it also tied the previous record of any individual period this season, previously set in the third period this past Wednesday against Manitoba (Nov. 28).

Jared Coreau replaced Kevin Boyle in goal for San Diego start the second period. Boyle made two saves in 20 minutes of action.

The physical play reached a boiling point in the second period as the teams combined for six fighting majors, 19 total infractions, and 72 penalty minutes. On seperate plays, Corey Tropp and Sam Carrick each received misconducts, while Carrick was disqualified from the remainder of the game, Tropp rejoined the Gulls in the final period.

“It was definitely a heavy game tonight, I felt that right from the start,” said Jones. “Guys were getting hit and that’s the way I like to play. I found that puck in the corner and my first instinct was I’m going to roll off this guy and get right to the net and that’s what I did. There was a lot of space in front for me to get another whack at it.”

The Gulls’ shutdown defense in the first carried over to the second period as San Diego allowed just seven shots on net in the second period. It marked a season-best for shots allowed in a second period.

San Diego was able to stay perfect on the penalty kill at the beginning of the final period, preventing Manitoba from capitalizing on the remaining three minutes of Carrick’s five-minute major.

There was no shortage of penalties throughout the game as San Diego totalled 16 infractions for 68 PIM, while Manitoba registered 14 infractions for 40 PIM. The infractions and penalty minute totals set single-game, season-highs for both the Gulls and their opponents.

The game remained tied late into the third period until Blandisi gave the Gulls their first lead of the night. After a Manitoba turnover in the San Diego defensive zone, Blandisi grabbed the puck and raced down the right wing before snapping a wrist shot over Comrie’s blocker with just 5:17 left in the game.

“There was a lot of room out there and I know as a power-play guy that you’re always thinking offense when you’re on the power play,” said Blandisi. “When I saw that opening space, the offensive players tend to take a step off so I thought I would take advantage of it. I’m known to be a passer, but I took the shot and I was lucky enough for it to go in.”

There was a combined 15 power plays (seven for San Diego), but the only special teams goal that was recorded was a shorthanded goal by Blandisi, the eventual game-winner.

“We were relentless on the puck. It was something we talked about, something we responded to,” said Eakins. “I thought Kevin [Boyle] made the saves when he had to in the first period and [Jared] Coreau came in and was excellent. That’s what we need. We need to help our goaltenders and we need our goaltenders to stand tall like they did tonight.”