LIVE: Gulls Record Second Consecutive Shutout Win
Mar 12, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls defeated the Ontario Reign 4-0 tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
Olle Eriksson Ek stopped 22 shots to record his first career shutout. It marks the second consecutive clean sheet for the Gulls, who earned their second win against Ontario this season.
Benoit-Olivier Groulx (2-0=2), Hunter Drew (1-1=2) and Bryce Kindopp (1-1=2) supported their goaltender, leading the charge offensively.
Third Period Recap
Groulx added his second goal of the game early in the final frame, stripping Jacob Doty of the puck and beating Reign netminder Matthew Villalta for his 10th goal of the season.
Second Period Recap
Drew pushed San Diego's lead to two at 6:26 of the middle frame.
The play started in the defensive zone, with Kindopp poking away the puck from an oncoming Reign forward at the hash marks. It careened to the side boards, where Nikolas Brouillard poked it past Ontario's defense and fed a wide-open Drew. The forward carried it into Ontario's zone alone, snapping a low shot through the legs of Reign netminder Matthew Villalta for his 11th goal of the season.
Kindopp pushed the lead to three at 9:39 of the second.
His line went back to work, collecting a loose puck in the corner of the Reign zone. Drew found Brendan Guhle at the point, and the Gulls defenseman walked the blue line looking for a shooting lane. Eventually he found one, wiring a shot that deflected off the leg of Kindopp and past a screened Villalta for his eighth goal of the season.
Both Drew (1-1=2) and Kindopp (1-1=2) have multi-point games.
First Period Recap
Groulx opened the scoring at 4:49 of the opening frame.
The center started the play, carrying the puck in on Ontario defenseman Markus Phillips. Groulx attempted to deke around the defenseman, but he played the body and separated the center from the puck. He stayed on it, eventually turning over the Reign and finding himself wide-open in the slot. Groulx collected the puck and whipped it past the glove of Villalta for his ninth goal of the season.
The second-year center extended his goal streak to three-straight game, tying a career high. He has six points (3-3=6) in his last six contests.
The Gulls are 16-9-0 this season when scoring the first goal.
Villalta stopped eight of nine shots in the first period. He entered tonight at 21-4-5 with a 2.70 GAA and .912 SV%. Villalta comes into the game third in the American Hockey League in wins (21) and fifth in save (840). Villalta has victories in seven of his last nine starts (7-1-1), with a 2.70 GAA and .899 SV%.
Eriksson Ek is in net for the Gulls, stopping all eight shots he faced in the first period. The Swedish netminder entered tonight with a 4-11-1 record, a 3.51 goals-against average (GAA) and .877 save percentage (SV%).