Luneau Scores OT Winner as San Diego Sinks Calgary in Overtime
Jan 26, 2025By Samantha Mason/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are leaving Canada with another win under their belt, this time after defeating the Calgary Wranglers 5-4.
Tristan Luneau shined for the Gulls, netting two goals, including his first career overtime winner. Luneau has now posted multiple points in four straight games, one shy of the Gulls’ AHL record.
"He’s been riding a high with his offensive game for a while," said head coach Matt McIlvane. "The biggest thing with Tristan is that he’s moving pucks quick. What’s happening is that he’s advancing the game. It’s giving him opportunities to go move up the ice and he’ll get pucks in great spots. And then you see the power play stuff, and he’s got a weapon as a shot. To be able to utilize that and put it in to great spots to fire away, that’s his game."
These two teams are no stranger to impressively competitive matchups. This is the second game in the last three between San Diego and Calgary that resulted in overtime play.
Calgary opened the scoring but the Gulls managed to tie it up at 1-1 by the end of the frame with a goal from Jan Mysak. Assisted by Tyson Hinds and Carson Meyer, it marks his 10th goal and 22nd point of the season.
The Wranglers netted a power play goal to open the second period, but the Gulls caught right back up again, as Rodwin Dionicio scored the Gulls’ second goal of the contest.
Nico Myatovic kept it coming, putting the Gulls back on top 3-2 to start the final frame.
Calgary caught up, but Luneau netted a power play goal to answer back, his fifth goal of the season and fourth goal in as many games.
However, just as we’ve seen before, it was tight until the end. At the end of regulation, the Gulls and Wranglers were tied up at 4-4.
The Gulls didn’t need long to net the winner. Just a minute and a half into the overtime period, Luneau netted his second goal of the game, winning the contest in overtime 5-4. Assisted by Sam Colangelo and Sasha Pastujov, this is his first multi-goal game of his AHL career.
This is only the sixth time this season that Calgary has faced a loss on home ice.
"We know we can beat the top team in the American Hockey League," McIlvane said. "I recognize that they’re a few guys short right now, but the flip side of that is that doesn’t mean they let off the gas with their competitiveness, and we fought. For our guys, like I said, we had opportunities to win all three of these games against Calgary. We’re certainly trying to find growth in our group, and I think we showed some."
The Gulls will fly south to San Diego, where they will have two meetings with the Toronto Marlies next week at Pechanga Arena before the All-Star break.