Lukas Dostal Blanks Bakersfield As Gulls Close Road Trip With Win

Mar 11, 2022

By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com

The San Diego Gulls are soaring home on a high note.

Lukas Dostal stopped 22 shots to record his second career shutout – and the second of the team’s franchise-record eight-game road trip - as the Gulls grounded the rival Bakersfield Condors 3-0 tonight at Mechanics Bank Arena. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for San Diego.

"We wanted to play fast and the fact that we always moved our legs, we finished…cut their routes, we got the puck back, we played fast again," Gulls assistant coach Dan Jacob said. "You know, we put the puck behind their net and had them work for their money. And then special teams, when we had the power play, we stayed in their zone for a full two minutes I think twice. So, it’s been a good road game, a good greasy game for us."

Trevor Carrick (1-1=2) and Benoit-Olivier Groulx (1-1=2) led the San Diego offense. Nikolas Brouillard added a goal as the Gulls close the regular-season series with the team’s rival at an even 3-3-0-0 and keeps them in the seventh and final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

"Yeah, we really needed that one," Carrick said. "I think the gameplan coming in tonight just the last few games the turnovers have kind of gotten to us so gameplan was just to you know, limit our turnovers and keep that puck moving forward and have those quick  transitions and keep that going into their zone and I thought we did a pretty good of that especially right off the start."

The Gulls continued their recent trend of scoring the game’s first goal, opening the scoring on Carrick’s seventh of the season at 4:32 of the first period.

Lucas Elvenes fed the puck to an active Axel Andersson, who collected it at center ice and moved into the high slot. The defenseman rifled a shot Bakersfield goaltender Ilya Konovalov turned aside but chased the rebound to the side boards. He moved the puck to a waiting Carrick, who one-timed the shot past the Condors goaltender.

Over his last six games, the defenseman is averaging a point-per-game (2-4=6).

Dostal supported the early lead, ending the opening frame with nine saves. The best came on a late James Hamblin bid, as San Diego’s goaltender needed to push across his crease to chest aside a dangerous scoring chance.

"He’s done really well early on," Jacob said of his goaltender. "He had some good shots from up close and he’s done really well. So, after that I think we kind of took over. He plays well when everything is structured in front of him and that’s what we gave him tonight."

The score stayed the same until late in the middle frame, where a smart defensive play led to a two-goal lead.

After Bakersfield successfully broke up a 2-on-1 rush, Jacob Perreault came crashing down near the goal line, poking the puck away from Raphael Lavoie. Groulx followed up, lifting a tough-angle shot over the shoulder of Konovalov and into the net for his eighth goal of the season.

The center earned goals in back-to-back games and has four points (2-2=4) in his last five games.

San Diego would clamp down in the third period, using its defense and an excellent penalty kill to keep Bakersfield at bay. The Condors only managed two shots in over 15-plus minutes, failing to establish their offense until late in regulation.

"Personally, I don’t look up and focus on that too much, but I’ve noticed the last few games Dos (Dostal) has really been getting peppered and like I said, our gameplan just trying to limit that, limit the time in our d-zone, and make it a little easier on Dosty," Carrick said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of that too."

Brouillard would end any hope for a comeback, scoring an empty-net goal with 1:51 left in the game.

Limoges collected a Carrick clearing attempt at center ice, carrying the puck into the offensive zone. His shot at the empty net hit a Bakersfield defenseman, but the rookie alertly chased the rebound to the corner and found Brouillard alone in the faceoff circle. The defenseman slid the puck into the empty cage for his ninth goal of the season.

With an assist, Carrick earned his seventh point (2-5=7) in his last six games.

From there, Dostal made just one more save, stopping a harmless Michael Kesselring shot for the shutout. Dostal is just the second goaltender in franchise history to record multiple shutouts in a single season, joining Reto Berra and his three clean sheets during the 2017-18 campaign.

San Diego returns to Pechanga Arena to open a three-game homestand tomorrow night against the Ontario Reign. The team will celebrate its annual Star Wars Night benefiting Rady Children’s Hospital and will feature Darth Vader-inspired warmup jerseys, a themed pregame tailgate and more. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. PT.

"They’ve (Ontario) been waiting for us," Jacob said. "They played their last game on Wednesday. So, just to show you the complexity of the AHL calendar. So, it’s the same mindset, making sure that we don’t fuel their offense. We know they’re a fast team, a veteran team. So, we want to make sure we stick to our guns and our principle and at the same time you want to use that momentum as well from tonight’s game. We get back home, we get on the bus and make sure we get hydrated, we eat our fuel and go back to work tomorrow."