LIVE: Gulls Drop Second Game Of Weekend Series
Apr 9, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls fell to the Abbotsford Canucks 5-2 in tonight's game at Abbotsford Centre. The loss - a second consecutive in regulation - bumped San Diego down to seventh in the Pacific Division standings. They hold the final Calder Cup Playoff spot, sitting 12 points ahead of the Tucson Roadrunners.
Ashton Sautner collected 1-2=3 points to lead Abbotsford to its sixth win in seven tries against San Diego. Three others scored to support Michael DiPietro, who stopped 23 shots for his 11th win of the season.
The trio of Hunter Drew (2-0=2), Lucas Elvenes (0-2=2) and Alex Limoges (0-2=2) recorded multi-point performances for the Gulls. Lukas Dostal suffered the loss, stopping 26-of-30 shots.
Third Period Recap
Abbotsford struck twice in 47 seconds to take the lead in the final frame.
Brannon McManus scored his second goal in as many days, streaking behind the defense and beating Dostal with a shot over the San Diego netminder's glove to break a 2-2 tie.
Sautner followed up at 8:08 of the period, crashing the net and potting the rebound of a Danila Klimovich shot for his third goal of the season.
Matt Alfaro would secure the win, scoring a shorthanded, empty-net goal with under a minute left in regulation.
Second Period Recap
The Gulls penalty kill made an impact early in the middle frame, successfully killing an Abbotsford 5-on-3 power-play chance. The team eliminated any prime scoring opportunities and held the Canucks to just two shots during the extended man advantage.
That loomed large, as Drew struck on the power play to tie the game at one at 9:26 of the period.
Limoges carried the puck over the blue line, chipping a pass to Elvenes as the center found open space in the middle of the ice. He found the oncoming Drew with a no-look pass, and the forward whipped a wrist shot past Michael DiPietro for his 15th goal of the season.
Drew collected his third point of the weekend (1-2=3), while Elvenes continued his hot stretch, recording his 11th point in the last 11 games.
Alex Kannok Leipert put Abbotsford back ahead, deflecting a Guillaume Brisebois point shot past Dostal for his first professional goal.
Drew would respond again on the power play, tying the game with 5:04 remaining in the second.
Elvenes and Limoges moved the puck low in the offensive zone, with the latter collecting it behind the Abbotsford net. He waited for Drew to find open space and, when he did, hit him with a tape-to-tape pass. The forward one-timed the shot through DiPietro for his second goal of the game and his 16th of the season.
The trio each have multi-point nights as San Diego has three consecutive games with multiple power-play goals.
First Period Recap
Jarid Lukosevicius scored just 45 seconds into the game, finding the rebound of a blocked Ashton Sautner shot and poking it past an unsuspecting Dostal for his ninth goal of the season.
It marks the third time Abbotsford scored within the first 1:04 of a game against the Gulls on home ice.
Dostal is looking to shake off an uncharacteristic slow start last night, when he allowed three goals on 12 shots before being pulled following the first period of the eventual 6-3 loss to Abbotsford. The Czechia native enters tonight at 17-10-1 with two shutouts, a 2.54 goals-against average (GAA) and a .919 save percentage (SV%).
DiPietro is in net for the Canucks, entering tonight at 10-11-4 with a 2.75 GAA and .907 SV%. The third-year pro is coming off a 32-save performance against the Laval Rocket just one week ago.