Gulls, Condors Renew Rivalry
Apr 16, 2021Rivalries get renewed tonight as San Diego and Bakersfield face off for the penultimate matchup of an eight-game season series tonight at Mechanics Bank Arena (8 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network). The Gulls won four of the first six meetings against the Condors (4-2-0-0), but all four wins are on home ice.
As home teams dominated the season series, San Diego will look to prove it can secure a win in enemy territory. After a difficult start to the year on the road, the Gulls flipped the script and won four of their last five road games, outscoring teams 26-20 over that span.
Their most recent win, a 2-1 overtime thriller over the Ontario Reign on Thursday, Apr. 15, featured highlight-reel plays, including a breakaway goal by Trevor Zegras worthy of national praise.
“I took a look before the puck came to me,” said Vinni Lettieri, who made the pass to Zegras for the scoring play. “I got lucky with it, missing all those guys’ sticks, but Z (Zegras) made an insane goal. I couldn’t believe it actually so it was pretty cool to see it. A lucky pass by me, but it was just skill what he did on the breakaway.”
The rookie center continues to expand on a tremendous first season in professional hockey, entering tonight's matchup third among American Hockey League rookie skaters in points-per-game (1.23, min. five games).
Zegras enters tonight with five points (2-3=5) in the last two games.
In addition to their impressive scorers, the club also boasts some incredible first-year netminders in Lukas Dostal and Olle Eriksson Ek. The tandem each rank in the top five among qualified rookie goaltenders in save percentage and goals against average. Eriksson Ek ranks fourth with a 2.47 GAA and .916 SV% in nine appearances this season, while Dostal ranks fifth with a 3.17 GAA and .913 SV% in 17 games played.
San Diego will look to utilize their strong, young goaltending tandem and plethora of scoring threats to improve on an all-time mark of 29-19-1-2 against Bakersfield. Chase De Leo (3-2=5) and Zegras (2-3=5) co-lead active Gulls skaters in scoring against the Condors this season.
Tonight's matchup also features the top scorers in the AHL. Andrew Poturalski sits atop the league with 7-23=30, while Bakersfield forwards Cooper Marody (17-12=29) and Tyler Benson (9-20=29) are tied for second.
A new addition to the Bakersfield roster is Edmonton's 2019 second-round selection Raphael Lavoie. The rookie center has four points (3-1=4) in his first six AHL games.