LIVE: Gulls Season Ends In OT Loss
May 24, 2021By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls season ended in heartbreak, falling 2-1 in Game 3 of the Pacific Division Semifinal to the Bakersfield Condors at Mechanics Bank Arena.
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Brad Malone scored at 7:26 of the extra session to end San Diego's season.
Third Period Recap
Lukas Dostal made two incredible saves late to force an extra session, shutting down James Hamblin and Seth Griffith to deny Bakersfield a series win.
The rookie netminder's first save came off a broken play in his own end. Raphael Lavoie scooped up a loose puck, finding Hamblin alone at the side of the net. Dostal kept his pads along the ice as he slid across the crease, stopping the shot attempt and covering the puck to eliminate any chance of a rebound.
With just under 90 seconds left in regulation, Dostal robbed one of the leading goal scorers in this series. Lavoie once again held the puck and fed it cross-crease to a wide-open Griffith - who's two goals lead Bakersfield - for a tap-in chance. Dostal lunged across the crease, stacking his glove on top of his pad to deny the chance and cover the loose puck.
He's made 38 saves on 40 chances through regulation.
Second Period Recap
Former Gull Adam Cracknell scored his first goal of the series with 7:42 left in the middle frame, cleaning up a loose puck after Lukas Dostal made the initial save to tie the game at one.
First Period Recap
Andrew Agozzino opened the scoring at 7:42 of the first period.
Trevor Zegras caused a turnover on the forecheck, forcing Bakersfield defenseman Vincent Desharnais to turn over the puck with a blind pass off the boards. Vinni Lettieri picked up the loose puck, finding Agozzino cutting toward the net. The veteran forward tipped the puck past Stuart Skinner for his second goal of the postseason.
Agozzino sits tied atop the American Hockey League postseason scoring list (2-2=4).
Dostal continued his stellar play, stopping a 2-on-0 chance with under four minutes left to keep Bakersfield off the board.
A hard clearing attempt from the Condors snaked its way through the neutral zone and found a Bakersfield forward, who touched the puck past San Diego's defense and into their zone. The home team jumped on it's chance, with James Hamblin getting a cross-ice feed and firing it on net. Dostal slid across his crease, turning away the shot with his shoulder.
Dostal started all three games of the series, and enters tonight with a 2.99 goals against average (GAA) and .924 save percentage (SV%).
Skinner entered the game with a 3.06 GAA and .905 SV%.
Tonight is the decisive game of this best-of-three series. San Diego took Game 1, scoring three power-play goals en route to a 5-3 win. Bakersfield responded with an overtime victory in Game 2 last night, tying the game in regulation before evening the series in the extra session.
The Gulls are 1-0 all-time in elimination games, defeating Ontario in a decisive Game 5 of the First Round of the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs. San Diego is 5-2 all-time in Game 3’s.