Gulls Offense Continues Rolling In Milestone Win Against Reign
Apr 4, 2021The San Diego Gulls collected the club’s 200th win by downing the Ontario Reign 6-4 tonight at Toyota Sports Performance Center and extended their win streak to a season-high seven games (7-0-0-0). The Gulls also improved to 5-0-0-0 against the Reign this season and own a nine-game point streak against Ontario (7-0-2-0) dating back to last season.
"All good things for us," head coach Kevin Dineen said. "Not letting teams back could be nice for us to get that lead and play the game the right way, but they have some talented players. They got one early and got one on the power play so a really good response and good to see our fourth line go out there and contribute on the offensive side. It was a well-balanced win for our team."
San Diego wasted no time getting on the board as Jacob Perreault recorded his third goal of the season 3:57 into the first period. Andrew Agozzino started the scoring play from the neutral zone after linemate Vinni Lettieri broke up a play to create an odd-man rush. Agozzino’s wrist shot hit Ontario netminder Troy Grosenick high and a rebound fell to open ice where Perreault was able to clean up for the score.
With the lone assist on the play, Agozzino reached 400 career AHL points (167-233=400) and extended his point streak to five games (2-3=5). The first-year Gull has picked up points in 10 of his last 11 games (6-4=10).
Dostal made a couple of impressive saves through the first period, but Ontario was able tied the game with 4:49 left in the opening frame. Daniel Brickley snuck a quick one-timer past Dostal from the top of the faceoff circle for the score.
The Reign picked up opened the scoring for the second period as Jacob Moverare scored his first AHL career goal 5:10 into the frame to give Ontario its first lead.
After Gulls defenseman Simon Benoit threw a big hit on Mikey Eyssimont, he and Ontario captain Brett Sutter and dropped the gloves. The two traded blows before heading to the box on five-minute fighting majors.
The Gulls took the momentum from the fight and used it to tie the game at 10:02 of the second period. Perreault recovered the puck in the Ontario zone and dished it to Lettieri who passed back and forth with Agozzino before burying it in the net for his seventh of the season.
After missing 11 games, Perreault has recorded multi-point performances in back-to-back games (2-2=4).
Alex Limoges scored his first career AHL goal after blocking a shot, stealing the puck at the blue line and beating Grosenick with a five-hole shot in an impressive sequence that stole back the lead for the Gulls. Since signing a professional tryout with San Diego on Mar. 25, Limoges has recorded 1-4=5 points in his first five AHL appearances.
San Diego almost extended their lead after an odd bounce on a dump-in effort, but Grosenick made an amazing save on Jamie Devane that kept it 3-2 Gulls heading into second intermission.
Kodie Curran made up for the missed opportunity with a power-play goal on a blast from the point with 33 seconds left in the second period. The goal marked his second consecutive game with a goal on the man advantage, extending his point streak to a career-high five games (3-4=7).
With an assist on the play, Lettieri earned his second point of the night (1-1=2) to extend his point streak to five games (4-5=9) and mark points in eight of his nine games with the Gulls this season (7-7=14).
Ontario scored back-to-back goals 5:13 apart to open the third period and tie the game at four goals apiece.
Hunter Drew answered just 14 seconds after the Reign’s tying goal on a deflection in front of the net, beating Grosenick for his fourth marker of the season. Curran and Lowe each earned an assist on the scoring play.
"(Jack) Badini did a good job winning the draw and they went D-to-D, our D-men," Drew explained. "Curran shot it and I just tried to get out in front and it went in. So it’s good to see."
The Reign were given a power-play opportunity late in the third period as Perreault was flagged for tripping. The league’s best penalty kill stopped the chance and helped the Gulls stay safe.
Andrew Poturalski scored an empty-net goal to seal the game with a 6-4 score. Poturalski earned another assist on the man advantage as the sixth-year forward took the AHL lead in power-play assists (9), also extending his league lead in scoring (5-21=26) and assists.
The Gulls offense produced 20 goals in its last three games.
"I think our D are involved, it’s a five-man offense," Dineen explained. "We like to think on the defensive side of things. Our power play is starting to click at a pretty good rate right now and I think that’s making a good difference for us."