LIVE: Gulls Fall To Heat In Stockton
Mar 9, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls fell to the Stockton Heat 5-2 in third period of tonight's game at Stockton Arena.
Jakob Pelletier led the way, recording his first professional hat trick in the win. Glenn Gawdin (0-2=2) and Connor Mackey (0-2=2) recorded multi-point performances to support Dustin Wolf, who turned aside 31 shots for his league-leading 24th win.
Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Brent Gates Jr. scored for the Gulls, who dropped their third straight game. Lukas Dostal stopped 44 of 47 shots to suffer his 10th loss of the season.
Third Period Recap
Pelletier scored his second goal of the game, giving Stockton its first lead on a power-play tally at 5:43 of the final frame.
With the Heat on a 4-on-3 advantage, Pelletier parked himself in front of Dostal. Mackey fired a shot on net and Dostal left a rebound, with Pelletier spinning around and swiping it past the Gulls netminder for his 18th goal of the season.
Both Pelletier (2-0=2) and Mackey (0-2=2) have multi-point performances.
Walker Duehr extended Stockton's lead, sending a shot off a screened Dostal and into the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Pelletier finished off the hat trick with 26 seconds left, sliding a shot into the empty net for his 19th goal of the season.
Second Period Recap
Gates Jr. put San Diego ahead at 2:58 of the middle frame.
Greg Printz won a puck battle along the boards and found Gates Jr. on the cycle. The center worked himself away from the boards and found a soft spot in the faceoff circle, firing a shot toward Heat netminder Dustin Wolf. His shot deflected off the skate of a Stockton defenseman and went up and over Wolf for his eighth goal of the season.
Pelletier evened the score at 4:53 of the second, finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with a shot through Dostal for his 17th goal of the season. The first-year forward continues to give San Diego fits, recording 2-6=8 points against the Gulls in the season series.
He ranks tied for third among American Hockey League rookies in points (17-25=42) and fourth in goals.
Despite allowing two goals, Dostal is turning in another incredible performance. The San Diego Gulls netminder made a dazzling right pad save on Gawdin late in the frame, sticking out his leg to deny a back door, tap-in try with 90 seconds left in the second.
San Diego will start the third period with 44 seconds left on their first power-play chance of the game.
First Period Recap
Groulx opened the scoring at 4:44 of the period.
Jacob Perreault started the play, collecting a loose puck at his blue line and sending it up to Alex Limoges. The forward led a 2-on-1 rush with Groulx, finding the center on the back door for a tap-in tally past Wolf.
Groulx, who returned tonight from a three-game absence, tallied his seventh goal of the season. He has three points (1-2=3) in his last four games.
Eetu Tuulola tied the game just over a minute later, chipping a loose puck in the slot over Dostal and into the back of the net.
Dostal is making his sixth consecutive start, entering tonight at 12-9-0 with one shutout, a 2.70 goals-against average (GAA) and .913 save percentage (SV%). He's ranked fifth among first-year American Hockey League goaltenders in GAA and SV%. He's posted a 3-1-0 record in his last five games. He's gone 1-2-0 in three starts against Stockton this season.
The Heat turned it on after the goal, peppering Dostal with a consistent barrage of shots throughout the remainder of the period. The Gulls netminder turned aside 16 in the first period - including a three-save sequence following Tuulola's goal - to keep the game tied at one.
Wolf stopped three of the four shots he saw in the opening frame. He brings a 23-4-3 record into tonight's game, ranking second among first-year netminders with a 2.33 GAA and .923 SV%. He's tied with Milwaukee's Connor Ingram for the league lead in wins.