Third Period Struggles Sink Gulls In Rivalry Matchup With Reign
Apr 13, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
A special teams battle defined tonight’s rivalry matchup as the San Diego Gulls fell to the rival Ontario Reign 5-1 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
Ontario’s league-leading power play made the difference, scoring twice – including the game-winning tally – in the win. Their penalty kill also held the Gulls to an 0-for-6 night.
"Yeah, I don’t think it was a 5-1 game," Gulls defenseman Greg Pateryn said. "I think they had some opportunities and they scored, and we didn’t on ours. That was the difference maker in the game. You know, that’s just how it goes. It’s a game of one, two, three mistakes and they pile up and the score becomes 5-1 like that. So, I don’t think it was that far off, but I think we can find some areas to improve for this weekend."
Martin Frk earned his second hat trick of the season against the Gulls in a four-point effort (3-1=4), scoring both goals on the power play to stretch his league-leading total to 15.
T.J. Tynan contributed three-points (0-3=3), notching two assists on the power play to further secure his spot the top of the American Hockey League leader board in assists (77) and power-play assists (40).
Tynan also leads the Reign against the Gulls this season with 2-15=17 points in 10 games.
The AHL’s top power play made the Gulls pay on its first chance of the game as Frk notched his first goal of the outing at 5:04 of the first period, one-timing a cross-ice feed from Tynan for his 35th goal of the season.
"I’ve got to give credit to two big shots from one of the better players in the American League," Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said of Frk. "I think we were right there on a few plays. I think we didn’t open up, we did what we had to do in some ways, but we need to be better in some other areas. At the end of the day, I think it’s good learning. The last couple games- I don’t think they’ve been terrible. We’ve been moving guys in and out of the lineup and changing guys’ positions and I feel our structure is still there. We’re going to take a day off tomorrow and go back at it on Friday. We’re at that time of the year where I don’t mind us going through this right now."
Gulls netminder Lukas Dostal kept the score at 1-0 for the remainder of the first frame, making nine saves on 10 shots including a pad save on a Frk breakaway opportunity.
Frk settled a pass from his own end as he snuck past the Gulls defense for a one-on-one chance against Dostal. He took the puck to his backhand, but Dostal read the play the whole way, stopping his chance before he could elevate it into the back of the net.
The Reign attempted to start the second period off in their favor as Tynan put the puck past Dostal off the rush, but the goal was immediately disallowed due to goaltender interference.
"The pace has definitely picked up in the last couple months," Pateryn said. "So, you know the guys have been doing a good job of keeping up with that pace and doing some good things while I was gone. So definitely a little bit of an increase in the pace, but I’m glad with the way that we’ve responded."
The Gulls couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing power play, but they still evened the score at one nearly halfway through the frame with a goal from Benoit-Olivier Groulx at 8:07 of the period.
Greg Printz rimmed the puck around the boards behind the net to Trevor Carrick, who threw the puck on net from outside the left circle as Benoit-Oliver Groulx raced through the slot. Groulx got his stick on it, tipping the puck in past Matthew Villalta as he crashed the net.
Carrick has 0-4=4 assists in his last five games.
Ontario would take control late in the frame on another power-play goal from Frk. The tally was nearly a carbon copy of his first, as Tynan fed the right wing with a cross-ice pass that he one-timed past Dostal for his 36th goal of the season.
"You know we got to take away that shooter," Pateryn said. "We’ve got to be more aware of where he is on the ice. We know what they like to do and we just got to be better about executing our defensive structure. I think that can be a big area that we clean up coming into Friday."
The Gulls remained determined to tie the score, tightening its game and putting pressure on the Reign. The Pacific Division’s second-ranked team would pull away, striking twice in 1:06 as the teams skated four-on-four.
Christian Wolanin collected his second point of the game on his first goal of the season, finding open space across the blue line and snapping a shot past Dostal with 7:14 left in the final frame. Taylor Ward followed up moments later, deflecting a shot from the point past the Gulls netminder to push Ontario’s lead to three.
Frk capped the scoring, sending a puck into the empty net to complete his hat trick late in regulation.
"I think we made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on it," Bouchard said. "I don’t think they were dominating us whatsoever. They’re a good team and it was the same thing in the last weekend in Abbotsford. I don’t think the third was terrible, but then you make mistakes and like I said, we’re paying cash for our mistakes right now, which is not a bad thing. It’s part of that growing that we talk about. We’re right there. Want to take it for what it is. I think the guys need the day off tomorrow. We need to refresh and relax. We’ve been going hard at it for a little bit there to get a little adversity. Things are not always going to go our way, that’s part of hockey, right? You want it to happen now, this is the time (for it) to happen."
San Diego – who entered tonight needing a win to punch its postseason tickets – will get the chance in Friday’s rematch against Ontario at Toyota Arena. A win that night – or a regulation loss by the Tucson Roadrunners – would put the Gulls in the postseason.