Gulls, Barracuda Close Preseason Series
Jan 21, 2021Fresh off a resounding 5-1 to open the 2021 preseason, the Gulls return to action Thursday (6 p.m.) against the San Jose Barracuda at FivePoint Arena.
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San Diego will look to continue the success it had on special teams against San Jose. The Gulls scored twice on the man advantage Tuesday and successfully killed the lone Barracuda power play of the night.
“When you have a high skillset, which we do, you give them a template and the ability to work within that. Their execution was extremely high,” said Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen. “With a lot of things being tape-to-tape and some real creativity, it’s hard to defend. Certainly, the power play was a strong point.”
Sam Carrick scored one of the power-play tallies, part of a game-high three-point night for the Gulls captain. Carrick seemed to find chemistry with linemates Andrew Agozzino and Trevor Zegras, who each posted multi-point games in their first preseason appearance with San Diego.
“We have a lot of good, young talent and some really good players,” said Carrick. “I think our guys did a really good job of staying in the moment, sticking to our system, and things that we have been working on what feels like forever now. We’ve been really hammering down our systems.”
Rookie goaltender Lukas Dostal made 28 saves in his first appearance with San Diego. Dostal led LIIGA (Finland) in save percentage (.941) and ranked second in GAA (1.64) and wins (10) before coming to California for Gulls training camp.
“I thought he was excellent. I thought he had some great composure," said Dineen. "He got beat by a shot he didn’t see. For the most part, he looked big. He looked very comfortable in net. That was a very strong game for him to have under his belt.”
Veteran Jeff Glass served as the backup behind Dostal. Glass signed a one-year contract with San Diego on Jan. 11 for his second stint with the Gulls after appearing in 19 games during the 2018-19 season, helping the club reach the Western Conference Final.
The Gulls lineup featured 11 Anaheim Ducks draft picks, including five first round selections, and five players skating in their first professional hockey game.
“I thought they all battled really hard. There wasn’t anyone that took the night off,” said Carrick. “It can be a little intimidating going into your first professional game. There are some big boys out there and it’s a tough league. I thought our guys did a great job. No one was scared out there and everyone was battling hard. I think we had a winning mindset. We were going to do whatever it took to win and you saw that with the young guys leading the way. It’s great to see.”
San Jose’s roster includes two Southern California natives, Jacob McGrew (Orange) and Evan Weinger (El Segundo). McGrew, who was a member of the Anaheim Jr. Ducks as a youth hockey player, was a 2017 sixth-round selection by the Sharks and posted 6-2=8 points in 11 games with the Allen Americans (ECHL) this season. Weinger, who signed with San Jose as an undrafted free agent in 2018, has appeared in 98 career AHL games, posting 20-22=42 points.