PREVIEW: Gulls, Barracuda Meet In Saturday Matinee
Nov 20, 2021By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
First impressions matter and the San Diego Gulls certainly made a good one as they bested the San Jose Barracuda 4-3 last night in the first of four consecutive matchups between the teams.
The Gulls are prepared meet them again less than 24 hours later to close out this set of back-to-back games in their first afternoon game of the season (1:15 p.m. ., PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego brought the offense early and often last night, building an impressive 3-0 lead to start the game and finishing with nine different Gulls on the scoresheet.
“I think that’s a big thing that we’ve been trying to touch on here and today, we got it going up 3-0,” Gulls left wing Alex Limoges said. “Quick start is going to be huge for us and then keep playing like how we did in the third period today.”
Brogan Rafferty collected a highlight-reel tally, putting a between-the-legs shot on San Jose netminder Zachary Sawchenko that rattled around traffic in front and crossed the goal line for his second goal of the season. He enters today leading Gulls defensemen in goals.
Jacob Perreault earned the only assist on the play and by doing so, he secured the continuation of his career-best eight-game point streak.
Jacob Perreault extended his point streak to a career-high eight games with a multi-point performance in the win. He's collected 6-7=13 points during the run, the fourth-longest active point streak in the American Hockey League. Last night also marked his second straight multi-point contest and the third in his last four games.
Perreault leads all Gulls in goals (7), assists (8) and points (15) and is tied for the sixth most points in the AHL.
Shifting back to defense from the wing, jack-of-all-trades Nikolas Brouillard didn’t let his offense suffer, earning his second multi-point effort of the year with two assists. He's collected 1-6=7 points in his last six games and enters today second on the team in points.
“He’s been everything you ask for a player as a coach,” Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said. “Solid every time we put him on the ice. He buys in. He understands what’s going on. You gotta be proud of him.”
Vinni Lettieri also scored his fifth goal of the season while Bryce Kindopp notched his first.
Kindopp was reunited with linemates Alex Limoges and Benoit-Olivier Groulx, who both returned to the lineup tonight and brought energy to help San Diego grab the win.
“That was fun for them to be back together. I think they have good chemistry,” Bouchard said. “Bo’s (Benoit-Olivier Groulx) bringing us a good dimension. Obviously, he’s a good player and good for him to play all those minutes and get back with us for this weekend and gives us another option at center. So that was good. At the end of the day, I think it was a collective effort at times. And at times we gotta still strive to be better, obviously. But I think everybody was happy to have those three guys together.”
A strong defensive effort - like San Diego employed in the third period last night - is a key to today's matchup. The Gulls nursed a one-goal lead throughout, holding the Barracuda to just four shots on net.
"I think we had a really clear game plan into the third and goals that we wanted to achieve and so, guys bought in and we did it pretty well,” Limoges said. “Obviously, there’s things we can fix, chances we can limit, pucks we can get in deep, but I think we did a good job holding the lead and playing the game.”
Despite the loss, the Barracuda made sure the Gulls saw their high-powered offense. San Jose scored three times in an 8:47 stretch in the second period to turn a blowout into a close game. Jayden Halbgewachs (1-2=3) and Nick Merkley (1-1=2) finished with multi-point efforts.
Special teams is also a focus. The Barracuda boast the AHL's second-best power play, with Scott Reedy scoring on the man advantage last night.
“Everything we need is to be better every day on every little thing we talk about,” Bouchard said. “Yeah, we were better on some stuff, which is good. And then we gotta push to be better all the time. I’m already thinking about tomorrow about little things that I want to show and talk to the guys. Our job is to make sure we push the guys to be the best version of themselves, individually and collectively. We had times we were the best version of ourselves on the ice and at times it wasn’t. So it’s time to go with the first option.”