Third Period Woes Send Gulls To Second Straight Loss

Apr 9, 2022

By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com

The San Diego Gulls fell 5-2 to the Abbotsford  Canucks tonight at Abbotsford Centre, despite two comeback attempts fueled by a high-flying Gulls power play.

The loss, San Diego’s second consecutive regulation setback, bumped the Gulls down to seventh in the Pacific Division standings. They hold the final Calder Cup Playoff spot in the division, sitting 12 points ahead of the Tucson Roadrunners.

"We gave ourselves a chance tonight so I think we had a slow start again, but we battled back," Gulls assistant coach Max Talbot said. "We showed some character tonight, which is very good, and we competed until the end against a very good team as Abbotsford has been playing well. So, for us, there’s some good stuff for us to take out of this game."

Hunter Drew scored both power-play goals for 2-2=4 points on the man advantage in his last two games. Both Alex Limoges (0-2=2) and Lucas Elvenes (0-2=2) earned multi-assist efforts. 

San Diego netted eight power-play goals on 22 opportunities in their last three games, operating at an impressive 36.4% success rate.

"Well, I think just having the two stable units helps because guys can create chemistry between each other," Talbot said. "We studied Abbotsford quite a bit. You know, when you have a week that you have time to prepare and practice, I think the guys were all on the same page and it’s clicking right now."

Ashton Sautner helped the Canucks to their win with a multi-point effort (1-2=3) while John Stevens revived his role as the Gulls’ personal poltergeist, earning an assist for a team-leading 4-5=9 points against them this season.

The Gulls did not have an ideal start as Jarid Lukosevicius put the Canucks ahead 45 seconds into the game with his ninth goal of the season. 

Sautner threw the puck on net from the blueline, resulting in a rebound Lukosevicuis tipped in as he loitered in Lukas Dostal’s crease. 

Early goals are nothing new in this matchup, as the Canucks scored on the Gulls within the first 1:04 of the game in three of the four games played at Abbotsford Centre  this season. 

The Gulls penalty kill jumpstarted the second period, leaving the Canucks scoreless on two power play opportunities that included 50 seconds of 5-on-3 play. This sparked a shift in momentum, leading to a pair power-play goals from  Drew in the middle period. 

Limoges dished the puck to Elevens , who narrowly avoided a poke check by slipping the puck under the stick of Devante Stephens. The Swede then passed the puck behind him to Drew  as the right wing raced into the slot and leveled the score 1-1 at 9:26 of the second frame. 

The Canucks quickly responded as Alex Kannok Leipert beat Dostal just after a Canucks power play  expired, scoring his first professional goal. 

The lethal power-play unit of Drew, Limoges and Elvenes refused to leave to leave this goal unanswered, striking on San Diego’s next power-play chance late in the period. 

"I think tonight, we were more involved in the battle," Talbot said. "We addressed that after last night’s effort so today the guys competed harder. We gave ourselves a chance. We kind of played more of our game tonight. So yeah, we’re more satisfied, obviously, than last night."

Elvenes and Limoges volleyed the puck in the offensive zone until Drew established net-front position, taking a seamless dish from Limoges and sniping the puck past DiPietro for his second goal of the game  and 16th of the season. 

Abbotsford would pull away in the final frame, scoring three times to leave the Gulls no room for another comeback. 

Brandon McManus notched Abbotsford’s third goal – the game-winning tally - for his second goal in two games. Sautner followed, who scored an insurance marker just 47 seconds after the Canucks took the lead.  

Down by two, and on a late power play, the Gulls pulled Dostal for the extra attacker. Abbotsford would take advantage, as Matt Alfaro’s empty-netter – assisted by Saunter and Chase Wouters – would ice the game with under a minute left in regulation.

The Gulls are back at home starting Wednesday, Apr. 13 to take on the Ontario Reign at Pechanga Arena.

"Tonight guys bounced back, showed character," Talbot said. "We did some good things, so we know we have a good, a big week ahead of us so we’ll take what’s good from this game and move onto Ontario."