LIVE: Gulls Down Reign 7-4
Apr 13, 2021By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls defeated the Ontario Reign 7-4 tonight at FivePoint Arena.
Trevor Zegras (2-2=4) and Chase De Leo (2-1=3) helped power San Diego to its sixth win in seven meetings against the Reign.
PERIOD BY PERIOD BREAKDOWN:
Trevor Zegras and Andrew Poturalski put away the game with empty-net goals 24 seconds apart.
Brett Sutter brought Ontario within one with 6:38 left in regulation, tipping a Jacob Moverare point shot past Lukas Dostal.
Moverare continues to play well against the Gulls, collecting three assists tonight. He's compiled five points (1-4=5) against San Diego and has just two points against all other Pacific Division opponents.
De Leo scored his second power-play goal of the night, deflecting a Zegras pass by J-F Berube to give San Diego a two-goal cushion at 6:52 of the period.
The rookie and veteran connected on a perfectly set play, with Zegras sending a hard pass to De Leo, who easily deflected it past the Ontario netminder for his 11th goal of the season.
De Leo - who recently made his Honda Center debut with the Anaheim Ducks - has nine points (4-5=9) in his last five games with San Diego.
With the assist, Zegras collected is fourth multi-point performance - and second three-point game - of the season.
Bryce Kindopp put the Gulls ahead, finishing off an odd-man rush at 4:01 of the final frame.
Matt Lorito started the play, putting his head down and powering past a stumbling Ontario defenseman to start a 2-on-1 rush. The veteran forward put a shot on net that Berube couldn't handle, leaving a rebound for Kindopp to sweep home for his fifth goal of the season.
The two teams traded goals in the middle frame.
Bo Groulx put San Diego ahead with a shorthanded goal at 10:34 of the middle period.
The rookie center took advantage of an Ontario turnover in the neutral zone, carrying the puck into the Reign's defensive zone. He cut to the middle of the ice before firing a low shot to beat Berube through the goaltender's legs for his eighth goal of the season.
Groulx stretched his point streak to three games (2-2=4) with his multi-point performance. He's tied for sixth among first-year American Hockey League forwards in points (18).
The rookie is also tied for third in the league with two shorthanded goals.
Markus Phillips pulled Ontario even at 13:37 of the period. The defenseman joined a rush chance, putting an Akil Thomas past Dostal for his second goal of the season.
The two rivals battled to an even score in an eventful first period.
Trevor Zegras opened the scoring with a power-play goal just 37 seconds into regulation.
Ontario made a crucial error early, going shorthanded just three seconds after the opening faceoff for a bench minor (faceoff violation). Andrew Poturalski started the scoring play, collecting a loose puck and finding Groulx low in the slot. The rookie center quickly snapped a shot on net, with a rebound coming to the stick of De Leo.
The veteran found a wide-open Zegras in the slot, and the rookie ripped his shot past J-F Berube for his sixth goal of the season.
Lias Andersson tied the game with his fifth goal of the season at 9:25 of the first period, taking a Samuel Fagemo centering feed and wiring a shot past the glove of Dostal to even the score.
De Leo picked up his team-leading 10th goal on the power-play to give San Diego a one-goal lead with 5:37 left in the period.
The Gulls took advantage of yet another man advantage opportunity, with Josh Mahura finding Trevor Zegras alone in the circle. The rookie center fed De Leo, who stationed himself near the side of the net. The La Mirada, CA native spun with the puck, transitioning it to his forehand and beating Berube to the far side for his 10th goal of the season.
Arthur Kaliyev tied the game with his eighth goal of the season at 16:03 of the opening frame, slamming home a loose puck near the post to bring the Reign even.