LIVE: Gulls Take Down Barracuda In Final Regular-Season Meeting
Feb 16, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls defeated the San Jose Barracuda 5-1 in tonight's game at SAP Center.
Third Period Recap
Lucas Elvenes collected his second goal of the game - and sixth of the season - at 3:30 of the final frame.
Brogan Rafferty grabbed the puck low in the faceoff circle, curling toward the point and finding Elvenes at the blue line. His wrist shot deflected off the stick of Barracuda defenseman Cole Moberg and past Alexei Melnichuk to record his first multi-goal performance of the season.
Rafferty has two multi-assist performances in his last four games.
Kodie Curran and Zachary Gallant dropped the gloves at 7:49 of the period after a puck battle along the end boards. Curran spun around, whipping off the gloves and getting in a few well-placed jabs before the players tumbled to the ice.
Second Period Recap
Elvenes put the Gulls ahead at 4:43 of the middle frame.
Vinni Lettieri battled along the side boards, winning the puck from the Barracuda and sending a pass through two defensemen to an open Elvenes at the front of the net. The Swedish forward saw Melnichuk deny his initial bid, but Elvenes followed the rebound and backhanded home his fifth goal of the season.
Lettieri extended his assist and point streaks to three games (1-4=5).
Hunter Drew extended the lead, putting San Diego ahead by two with 9:44 left in the period.
Drew led a rush out of his own end, bringing a 3-on-2 rush into the San Jose zone. His cross-ice pass found Axel Andersson, who one-timed the puck toward the net. The puck hit off traffic in front and found Drew at the side of the net, who quickly tucked it over the goal line before Melnichuk could recover for his eighth goal of the season.
It marks the first time this season Drew recorded goals in back-to-back games.
Jacob Larsson also collected an assist on the goal, recording a helper in a second straight game.
Greg Printz would continue the scoring for the Gulls, collecting his sixth goal of the season with 6:31 left in the period.
Nikolas Brouillard held the puck at the point, floating a wrist shot toward the net. Printz, stationed in front, deflected the attempt past Melnichuk and into the back of the net for the goal, his third in the last four games.
The three goals match San Diego's season-high for goals in the middle frame. They've done it three other times, the last on Feb. 11 against the Barracuda.
Tensions boiled over shortly after the goal. Barracuda defenseman Montana Onyebuchi leveled Printz with hard hit at center ice, drawing the attention of the Gulls. Andersson came to the defense of his teammate, dropping the gloves for a spirited scrap near his bench.
First Period Recap
Brent Gates Jr. opened the scoring at 3:17 of the first frame.
Brogan Rafferty found an open Brayden Tracey - who returned tonight after missing six games due to injury - at the top of the right circle. The Gulls rookie held the puck, allowing Gates Jr. to spin away from the defense and find open ice. Tracey's cross-ice feed found the Grand Rapids, MI native, and Gates Jr.'s one-timed attempt sailed to the top of the net for his fifth goal of the season, establishing a new career high for goals in a season.
Gates Jr. has three goals (3-0=3) in his last two games against the Barracuda.
Rafferty collected his fourth point (0-4=4) in his last four games.
Joachim Blichfeld converted on the power play, tying the game with 5:23 remaining in the period. A proverbial thorn in the side of the Gulls, Blichfeld held the puck at the point, sending a wrist shot past the screened Lukas Dostal for his 15th goal of the season. He has four goals in seven games against San Diego this season.
Dostal enters tonight with an 8-7-0 record, a 2.76 goals-against average (GAA) and .907 save percentage (SV%). In his last five games, the San Diego netminder posted a 3-1-0 record with a 2.07 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. Dostal is one win away from tying Anthony Stolarz (24) for second on the franchise’s all-time wins list.
Melnichuk is in net for the Barracuda, stopping seven of eight shots in the opening frame. The Russian native is 7-11-1 with a 3.63 GAA and .871 SV%. He's lost five straight games, posting a 4.47 GAA and a .842 SV%.
San Jose will start the second period with 1:50 remaining on their third power-play chance of the game.