LIVE: Gulls Trail Reign 3-1 In Season Opener
Oct 16, 2021By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls trail the Ontario Reign, 3-1, in the third period of tonight's game at Toyota Arena.
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Jacob Perreault scored San Diego's first goal of the season, a power-play tally with 1:59 remaining in the middle frame.
With Jordan Spence in the box for delay of game, Danny O'Regan battled for a loose puck and curled away from the side boards. He fed a pass to Brogan Rafferty, who quickly went cross-ice to a waiting Perreault. The right wing stepped into a slap shot, putting it throught the pads of Matthew Villalta to put San Diego on the board.
Jacob Moverare extended Ontario's lead to three, scoring off a faceoff feed from Jaret Anderson-Dolan at 8:48 of the period.
The Reign defenseman collected the puck off the draw and drifted to the top of the left circle. His shot sailed over Olle Eriksson Ek's glove for his first goal of the season.
Martin Frk scored his second goal of the game in the middle frame, doubling Ontario's lead with a power-play tally at 7:43 of the period.
With Kodie Curran in the box for slashing, Sean Durzi held the puck at the blue line and waited for Frk to get a clear shooting lane. The defenseman laid the puck over the Czech Republic native, and he wasted no time one-timing a shot past Eriksson Ek for Ontario's second goal of the night.
Ontario jumped ahead late in the first period as Frk scored his first goal of the game with just 23 seconds left in the opening period.
The Reign forced a turnover in San Diego's end, leaving the puck sitting loose in the slot. Frk jumped on it, snapping a shot past the glove of Eriksson Ek and into the top of the net.
Earlier in the period, Eriksson Ek stopped Frk to keep the Reign off the board.
The forward slipped behind the Gulls defense, breaking in on San Diego's netminder with pressure behind him. Frk tried to cut across the crease and stuff home the puck on his backhand, but Eriksson Ek stuck out his right pad and turned away the bid.
The Karlstad, Sweden native finished with nine saves on 10 shots. Villalta, starting for the Reign, stopped all six shots he saw in the period.
Tonight marks the first game of the 2021-22 season for the Southern California rivals. San Diego is 4-2 all-time in season openers, including the first-ever Gulls AHL contest Oct. 10, 2015, vs. Grand Rapids (4-2 win). The Gulls also posted wins Oct. 14, 2016 vs. Tucson (5-3 win), Oct. 7, 2017 at Tucson (7-6 win) and Feb. 5, 2021 vs. Bakersfield (4-1 win).
San Diego’s season-opening roster features 25 players, including 14 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. It consists of seven Anaheim draft selections, including Jack Badini (91st overall in 2017), Lukas Dostal (85th overall in 2018), Hunter Drew (178th overall in 2018), Olle Eriksson Ek (153rd overall in 2017), Jacob Larsson (27th overall in 2015), Jacob Perreault (27th overall in 2020), and Brayden Tracey (29th overall in 2019).
Sam Carrick returns to captain the Gulls for a third consecutive season. In 27 games with San Diego last season, the Markham, ONT native recorded 14-10=24 points with a +5 rating and 19 PIM. He reached several milestones, including his 300th AHL point (Mar. 24 at Ontario) and his 200th AHL game (Feb. 27 at Henderson), becoming the third player in Gulls history to reach that milestone.
Carrick enters the 2021-22 season as the organizations’ all-time leading point scorer (85-95=180).
San Diego and Ontario open a 12-game regular-season series tonight. In 2020-21, the Gulls posted a 7-3-0-0 record against the Reign, winning the season series for the third time in the last four seasons. San Diego is 40-22-3-2 all-time against Ontario in the regular season, including 21-10-0-2 on the road. The Gulls earned points in 13 of its last 17 games against Ontario (11-4-2-0).