Gulls Drop Season Debut 4-3 to Toronto Marlies
Oct 12, 2024The San Deigo Gulls erase a two-goal third period deficit but fall 4-3 in tonight’s road season debut against the Toronto Marlies.
It didn’t take long for the Gulls to find the back of the net tonight as forward Nikita Nesterenko scored just 65 seconds into the game with a quick backhand to forehand shot. Defenseman Roland McKeown and forward Sam Colangelo registered their first points of the season with the assists.
Up 1-0 after the opening 20 minutes, Toronto scored three times in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Jacob Quillan tapped in a loose puck in the crease at 9:13 of the period to draw the game even. Marshall Rifai first goal of the year and Roni Hirvonen’s power play tally ended the second period scoring for the Marlies.
San Diego wouldn’t go away quietly as Carson Meyer scored his first goal in a Gulls sweater 56 seconds into the third period tipping home a centering pass from Ryan Carpenter.
"Credit to both of my line mates for you know," Meyer said. "They're both really hard workers, kind of blue-collar players with a lot of skill. So, both of them win majority of their battles. And I saw [Regenda] win that puck up top and keep it in the zone. And once he gave it to Carpenter, I was just going to crash the net. And because I know if I'm open, Carps will find me. He’s a heck of a passer. So, he put it right on a platter for me"
With 5:15 remaining in regulation, Jansen Harkins fired home the equalizer for his first goal of the campaign. Noah Warren assisted the goal.
Late in the period, Toronto capitalized on a neutral zone turnover and went in on 2-on-1 to score the eventual game winning goal.
"I guess for me, the summary of the game, I really liked our start. We know Toronto is a high-octane, high-power offense, and I think we limited them to single digit shots, maybe four or so in the first period. It's a great place to begin the game. In the second, we end up giving two goals out of the box that really changed some momentum in the game. And then they get a power play goal. So that's what kind of puts us down," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "Then the third period, the will to fight back was great. The ability to finish wasn't there. Theme of the game is, for me, we played hard enough to win. Showed a lot of character, but simply, we just gave up too many big chances. It's a great opportunity for us to take a look at those. How do you eliminate that? You gave up less big chances."
The Gulls and the Marlies will do it all again tomorrow night from Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop slated for 4:00 pm.