Gulls, Barracuda Finish Back-To-Back Series In San Jose

Apr 20, 2021

The San Diego Gulls look to complete the sweep of a back-to-back series with the San Jose Barracuda tonight at SAP Center in San Jose (6 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network). 

Tonight is the final meeting of a six-game season series between the Pacific Division rivals. San Diego has a 3-2-0-0 record against San Jose this season and own an all-time record of 32-16-4-1 against the Barracuda, including a 17-6-2-1 record on the road.

“Definitely a more physical game, a faster gamem” Alex Limoges said when asked about tonight’s matchup. “I think they’re going to push back. It started to get a little chippy there at the end so I think we’re ready for a fight too.”

The Gulls jumped all over the Barracuda last night, skating away with a 5-1 win to kick off the two-game series. Limoges powered the offense, recording his first multi-goal game and picking up a career-high three points (2-1=3) in the win.

“It felt pretty good,” the rookie said. “Happy we got the win for sure. Personally, I haven’t got the bounces the past couple of games, but I had a good talk with the coaches and watched my shifts to see what I could do better. Tonight it just went my way.”

Sam Carrick, who returned from the Anaheim Ducks before puck drop, scored a goal and added an assist in the win. The captain extended his American Hockey League point streak to three games (4-2=6) and sits fifth in the league with 13 goals.

Limoges highlighted his return as a major reason for the team’s solid performance.

“We knew we needed a good bounce-back game and it’s fun with Sammy (Carrick) back here and that extra leadership – we kind of followed his lead that he set with the first shift,” he said.

San Diego’s special teams played a role in the decisive victory. They went 2-for-3 on the power play, scoring both goals in the third period to put away the Barracuda. They also held San Jose scoreless on four attempts with the man advantage, including a 5-on-3 chance in the second period.

“One thing I didn’t like and one thing we’ve been doing lately is taking another penalty while we’re killing already,” assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre said. “We did that again tonight. I thought we did an outstanding job on the 5-on-3. Our goalie was great on the penalty kill and you need your goalie to be your best penalty killer. He was tonight. We protected the hard areas, the dangerous zones, and we blocked some shots too.”

Lukas Dostal extended his win streak to six games with a 39-save performance.

“He’s composed,” Lefebvre explained. “He plays with a calmness that not a lot of goaltenders have. He’s got his game back the last few games and it shows. He’s very confident with the puck and when he makes his saves. He also very rarely gives up second or third chances. He just grabs those rebounds and we restart with the faceoffs.”

The Gulls may turn to another rookie netminder, Olle Eriksson Ek, for tonight’s game. The Swedish netminder is 2-0-0 with a 2.48 goals against average and .933 save percentage against the Barracuda this season.