Elvenes Records Three-Point Game As Gulls Win Streak Ends In Abbotsford
Jan 22, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls win streak stopped at three as they fell to the Abbotsford Canucks 5-3 tonight at Abbotsford Centre.
John Stevens continued to torment San Diego, leading the Canucks with three points (2-1=3). Noah Juulsen (0-3=3), Will Lockwood (1-1=2) and Phil Di Giuseppe (0-2=2) each recorded multi-point performance as Abbotsford defeated the Gulls for the fourth time in five games.
Rookie goaltender Joe Murdaca, making his American Hockey League debut, stopped 13-of-16 shots for his first AHL win.
Lucas Elvenes collected another three-point night (1-2=3) for the shorthanded Gulls, who played with only 16 skaters tonight. Alex Limoges (PPG) and Kodie Curran also scored for San Diego, and goaltender Francis Marotte stopped 27 shots in the loss.
"It’s definitely different, but we talked about that," Gulls assistant coach Dan Jacob said. "For us, we need to stick together. That’s first and foremost. It’s not about the extraordinary plays, it’s the small plays and you add them up. You get in the game and…I don’t agree with you, I don’t think the second was that bad, maybe the end there when we had a few lapses along the wall. But other than that, after that fluky first goal we got our legs under us and we battled really hard. Discipline was definitely an issue. I think that played against us, but we deserved better tonight."
The aforementioned fluky goal happened just after puck drop, as Abbotsford's Yushiroh Hirano opened the scoring just 10 seconds into the game.
The Canucks won the opening faceoff and quickly pushed the puck forward, with Nic Petan leading the charge on a 2-on-1 rush. He fed the puck to Hirano, who one-timed a shot past Marotte for his first AHL goal.
Petan remains a thorn in the side of the Gulls, collecting his fourth point and assist against San Diego this season. The defenseman's 14 assists leads the Canucks.
The score marks the earliest goal allowed to start a game by the Gulls, surpassing the previous mark of 11 seconds (Noah Gregor, Mar. 9, 2021 at San Jose).
Ashton Sautner extended Abbotsford's lead, recording his first goal of the season at 8:04 of the period.
Devante Stephens kept a bouncing puck in at the blue line, sending it to Di Giuseppe in the slot, The left wing curled away from pressure and dropped the puck for Sautner, who fired a shot from the circle through the pads of Marotte for the goal.
Curran put the Gulls on the board with 6:22 left in the first frame.
Elvenes made an excellent play at the blue line, keeping the puck in the offensive zone and sending a backhand pass by an oncoming defender and to Curran along the side boards. The defenseman wound up and fired a shot through a screen and past Murdaca for his first goal of the season.
Axel Andersson also collected an assist, stretching his point streak to four games (2-2=4).
San Diego used the penalty kill to find its footing, settling into the second period with three straight successful kills.
"Yeah, they gave us energy, but at the same time they’re taking so much energy from some of the guys," Jacob said. "When one of your best penalty killers, he’s gone for 10 minutes…you know, we get another one with the goalie where we were in a position to have a primary scoring chance. So as much as the PK did well, they also took a lot of energy from our guys. It’s definitely not positive in that sense."
The Gulls would fight through the fatigue to tie the game on Elvenes' fourth goal of the season.
With a mass of bodies fighting for the puck at the side of the net, Elvenes alertly swooped in to take the puck and loop around the net. He caught Murdaca down in his crease and lifted an attempt from the circle into the top of the net for the game-tying tally.
"I was looking at the goalie the whole way," he explained. "I saw he was laying down so I just wanted to get a better angle so I could get it upstairs."
Since debuting with San Diego on Jan. 14, the Swedish center has seven points (2-5=7) in six games.
"I just think I needed a change in my hockey," Elvenes said. "I think I needed a new coach, new team, a new, fresh start and it’s not only me that’s doing it. It’s my teammates that’s helping me. I’m happy I’m producing a lot, but at the end of the day, you want to win a game so that’s the most important thing."
Abbotsford responded with 59 seconds left, converting on a goal-mouth scramble to re-take the lead.
Stevens would score the goal, watching the puck deflect off his skate and the glove of a sliding Gulls defenseman before crossing the goal line for his sixth goal of the season.
The Canucks took advantage of a tired group in the final frame, extending their lead on Lockwood’s sixth goal of the season with 8:10 remaining in regulation. Stevens would collect an assist on the tally, leading the 2-on-1 rush and feeding Lockwood the puck for the goal.
The Gulls continued to fight back, with Limoges pulling his team back within one on the power play with 5:16 left in the game.
Elvenes held the puck near the side boards, sending it through traffic and to a waiting Brent Gates Jr. The forward faked a one-timed shot before settling the pass and waiting for a passing lane to open. He found one, sending it to Limoges at the post. The rookie’s first chance found Murdaca, but his follow-up bid slid past the goaltender for his seventh goal of the season and his third in the last four games.
"A lot," Elvenes said when asked about how the goal will help the team's power play moving forward. "Especially when we find ways to create, find ways to score and that’s what we’ve been struggling with these couple of games and it’s a good thing for us because it’s not often the PK and the PP is up, the special teams are winning games for you. That’s going to be good for us heading into tomorrow."
Stevens would strike again, scoring on a power play and snuffing out San Diego’s comeback attempt with 3:39 left in the game.
The Gulls will look to close the road trip with a win tomorrow against Abbotsford at 4 p.m. PT.
"You get your liquid, you get your food, you get your rest and then you go back at it," Jacob said. "Like I told them, it’s a bit of a messy situation where we’re short bodies. But that’s how it is. There’s kids back home that don’t even get a chance to play. So, we need to embrace that challenge and show up tomorrow."