LIVE: Dostal Shines As Gulls Extend Win Streak
Mar 2, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls defeated the Colorado Eagles 5-2 in tonight's game at Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, CO.
Lukas Dostal stole the show, stopping a career-high 50 shots and scoring an empty-net goal to extend San Diego's win streak to three. Joining him were both Trevor Carrick (1-1=2) and Hunter Drew (0-2=2), who powered the offense with multi-point performances.
Shane Bowers and Mikhail Maltsev scored for Colorado, who saw their win streak end at three. Justus Annunen stopped 21 shots in the loss.
Third Period Recap
Danny O'Regan continued his strong run, pushing San Diego's lead to three at 4:09 of the final frame.
Nikolas Brouillard won a puck battle in the corner of the offensive zone, moving the puck up the boards to a waiting Carrick. With no traffic in front, the defenseman let go a hard wrist shot Justus Annunen failed to control. O'Regan darted to the front and stuffed the rebound past the Finnish netminder for his 10th goal of the season.
The tally stretches his point streaks to three games. The veteran center has 3-2=5 points over that span.
Carrick's power-play tally at 5:59 gave the Gulls a four-goal advantage.
The defenseman played catch with Brent Gates Jr., who controlled the puck in the faceoff circle before spinning away from his defenseman and sending a pass off the boards to a waiting Carrick. He wasted no time one-timing the puck on net, squeaking his shot through the pads of Annunen and into the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season.
The multi-point performance is Carrick's third of the season and the first since Jan. 26 against Colorado. The defenseman has five points (1-4=5) in his last six games.
Drew also collected an assist on the goal, his third multi-point game (0-2=2) in the last five games.
Shortly after the fourth goal, Greg Printz and Keaton Middleton came out of the box and immediately dropped the gloves. The two received 10-minute misconducts to end their nights early.
Just minutes later, Jacob Perreault also received a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
Bowers ended Dostal's shutout bid with 8:28 remaining in regulation, wiring a wrist shot from the wing past San Diego's netminder for his fourth goal of the season. The tally ended Dostal's shutout streak at 114:21 (dating back to last Friday against Henderson), the second-longest stretch in franchise history. It trails only John Gibson's 137:13 streak over three games (10/21-10/30/15).
Maltsev cut Colorado's deficit to two with 3:46 remaining in regulation, collecting his 12th goal of the year off the rebound of a Dylan Sikura shot.
Sikura and Jordan Gross, who collected an assist on the tally, continue to torment San Diego. Sikura leads all skaters with seven points (5-2=7) in the season series while Gross paces everyone with six assists.
Dostal made sure to put the nail in the coffin, icing the game with an empty-net goal with 20 seconds left in reguation. The Gulls netminder collected a dump-in chance behind the net and fired the puck down the ice, sending it past the oncoming Eagles and into their yawning cage for his first American Hockey League goal.
Dostal became the 17th goaltender in AHL history to achieve the feat and netted the first goalie goal in Gulls AHL history. Additionally, he became the first goalie in either Anaheim Ducks or San Diego Gulls history to score a goal.
Second Period Recap
Jack Badini extended San Diego's lead at 9:37 of the middle frame.
Drew led the Gulls out of his defensive zone, crossing through the neutral ice on a 3-on-2 rush. His centering pass found Badini, who lasered a shot through the legs of Justus Annunen for his second goal of the season.
Dostal stayed strong in net, turning aside 21 second-period shots to keep Colorado at bay. Several of the saves came with the Gulls shorthanded, including back-to-back stops on Martin Kaut as San Diego killed a 5-on-3 Eagles power play.
First Period Recap
Vinni Lettieri opened the scoring with a power-play tally at 9:48 of the opening frame.
The veteran forward helped San Diego establish possession on the man advantage, chasing down a loose puck in the corner and sending a pass to Nikolas Brouillard at the point. He walked it toward the center of the point before feeding Lettieri, who quickly fired a wrist shot through traffic and past Annunen for his eighth goal of the year.
Dostal helped the lead stand, stopping 17 shots in the opening frame, including three quality saves while the Gulls killed off their first penalty of the game late in the first frame.
The recently-reassigned goaltender is the American Hockey League's reigning Player of the Week, entering tonight with a 11-8-0 record, a 2.51 goals-against average (GAA) and a .915 save percentage (SV%). Among AHL goaltending leaders since Jan. 7 (min. 200 minutes played), Dostal ranks second in save percentage (.942), tied for second in goals-against average (1.86), tied for third in shutouts (1) and 13th in wins (6).
The 17 shots allowed are a new season high for shots against in the first period for San Diego, surpassing the previous total of 16.
Annunen stopped four of the five shots he faced in the first period. The Finnish goaltender enters tonight with a 19-9-5 record with a 2.60 GAA, .908 SV% and two shutouts. He's won his last three starts, posting a 1.99 GAA and a .935 SV% during his streak. Annunen is second among all AHL rookie goaltenders in wins - third among all league netminders - and sits top-five in both minutes and saves this season.
Pregame News And Notes
The Gulls enter tonight still searching for their first win over the Eagles. Colorado won the first three meetings of the six-game season series - all at Pechanga Arena San Diego - outscoring San Diego 12-7 in their three victories. The Gulls own a 12-9-1-0 mark all-time against Colorado, including a 4-4-1-0 on the road.
San Diego flies into Colorado fresh off a two-game sweep of the Henderson Silver Knights at Orleans Arena. Offensively, San Diego scored nine goals in the two wins, extending its streak of recording three-or-more goals to eight straight games. O’Regan recorded four points (2-2=4) to pace the offensive attack while forward Alex Limoges led all skaters with three goals in the weekend series.
Colorado enters tonight coming off its own two-game weekend sweep of the Milwaukee Admirals. Former Gull Kiefer Sherwood scored the game-winning tally in their 4-1 win on Saturday before the recently assigned Stefan Matteau delivered the victory in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime victory. They’ve won their last three games and enter tonight as one of the league’s top offensive teams.
Powering the Eagles are a trio of 40-point scorers –Sherwood (25-20=45), left wing Dylan Sikura (17-27=44) and defenseman Jordan Gross (7-35=42). San Diego knows the trio well, as the three also pace Colorado in scoring against the Gulls.