Gulls Come Up Just Short In Home Opener Loss To Reign
Oct 21, 2022By Brett Pickler/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls fell to the Ontario Reign 2-1 in an exciting Home Opener presented by Cal Coast Credit Union at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
The Gulls, looking to bounce back following an 8-5 loss in Grand Rapids last weekend, were welcomed home by a thunderous crowd.
"It was pretty crazy," Gulls defenseman Josh Healey said. "I mean we had great fans tonight for the Home Opener. The boys played well, we had lots of chances, ran into a hot goalie. Credit to him, but I mean we had our chances. It was good game and we’ll be ready tomorrow."
From the opening draw, the two bitter rivals traded chances. The best chance of the opening period for San Diego came from Rocco Grimaldi at the 15:30 mark. He managed to escape Ontario’s defense and found himself alone on a breakaway. His shot beat the goalie, only to hit the crossbar and keep the game scoreless. This would not be his only chance of the game, as he led the team with 11 shots.
The action continued as both teams battled to break the tie and get an early advantage. The Reign nearly broke through with 30 seconds left in the first period, but Lukas Dostal stood tall and denied reigning AHL MVP, T.J. Tynan, on a breakaway.
In the second, San Diego went on the attack right away, outshooting Ontario 9-1 in the first five minutes. The Reign could not contain the Gulls attack, trapping them in their own zone and leading to a penalty shot. Blake McLaughlin, tripped as he made his way toward the crease on a scoring change, took the shot, but could not convert.
The Gulls, starting the third period on the penalty kill, managed to keep the Reign’s formidable power play off the board. The momentum, however, helped carry Ontario to its first goal, as Aidan Dudas would score at 3:04 of the final frame. The Reign would score again just past the halfway point of the period to give themselves a two-goal advantage.
With the team down two, the Gulls pulled their goalie with just under four minutes to play in the game to give them a 6-on-4 man advantage. This gamble would pay off as Grimaldi found the back of the net to make it 2-1 with 3:46 left in the game. Nikolas Brouillard would pick up the assist, giving him a three-game point streak.
"I'll tell you what, we ran into a hell of a goalie," Gulls head coach Roy Sommer said. "The people that came tonight got to witness a goaltending battle. I think we had 46,47 shots on net, probably 25 scoring chances and only one went in. We hit a couple of posts. It wasn't for a lack of effort or the way we played. Hell of an entertaining hockey game, I'll tell you that."
Their late push failed to find the game-tying goal, pushing San Diego’s all-time home opener record to 3-5-0-0.
"Honestly, we played pretty well," Healey said. "We had lots of chances. We could have tightened up a few things in the (defensive) zone, but overall, on the offensive side, we did a great job moving pucks up. We had lots of chances and we’ve just got to find the back of the net tomorrow."