LIVE: Gulls Comeback Falls Just Short
Feb 5, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls fell to the Tucson Roadrunners 5-4 in tonight's game at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
Michael Carcone led the Roadrunners, recording his fourth career hat trick in the win. Matias Maccelli (1-2=3) and Cam Dineen (0-3=3) recorded three-point performances as Tucson earned a split of the weekend series.
Vinni Lettieri led San Diego with 1-2=3 points. Danny O'Regan and Nikolas Brouillard each chipped in two points (1-1=2) while Lukas Dostal stopped all seven shots he saw in relief of Olle Eriksson Ek. The Swedish netminder allowed five goals on eight shots.
Third Period Recap
Vinni Lettieri brought San Diego within one with 2:14 left in regulation.
With Dostal pulled for an extra attacker, San Diego went to work in the Roadrunners end of the ice. Lucas Elvenes collected a loose puck off the end boards, sending a cross-ice pass to a waiting Lettieri. The forward one-timed the puck past the glove of Josef Korenar for his seventh goal of the season.
Second Period Recap
O'Regan brought San Diego even, tying the game on the power play at 2:01 of the period.
Brogan Rafferty fed a puck up the ice, bouncing it through traffic in the neutral zone and finding a streaking Benoit-Olivier Groulx near the Gulls bench. The center carried it down the boards, finding O'Regan alone in the slot. He one-timed the puck along the ice, sliding it through the legs of Korenar for his seventh goal of the season.
Cameron Hebig would respond just over two minutes later, putting the Roadrunners back on top at 4:33 of the middle frame. The right wing took a drop pass in the slot and drove to the net, beating Eriksson Ek for his 10th goal of the season.
Maccelli extended Tucson's lead to two at 7:17 of the period.
The American Hockey League's leading rookie scorer picked off a pass at center ice and dashed in on Eriksson Ek. He avoided the pressure from Brendan Guhle and fired his shot past the glove of San Diego's goalie for his 11th goal of the season.
Rafferty would score on the power play, bringing the Gulls within one with 8:45 left in the period.
The defenseman snuck down from the point, wasting no time firing a pass from O'Regan past Korenar for his fourth goal of the season.
Both Rafferty (1-1=2) and O'Regan (1-1=2) have multi-point performances.
Carcone finished his hat trick, restoring Tucson's two-goal lead with 7:24 left in the period.
Maccelli was right in the middle of it once again, carrying the puck over the blue line before finding a streaking Carcone in the slot. He moved the puck to his backhand before tucking it past Eriksson Ek for his 15th goal of the season.
Both Carcone (3-0=3) and Maccelli (1-2=3) have multi-point performances.
Dostal replaced Eriksson Ek following the goal. The Czechia native stopped 27 shots in last night's win over Tucson.
Eriksson Ek stopped 5-of-8 shots.
First Period Recap
Brouillard opened the scoring, converting on a friendly bounce at 4:16 of the opening period.
Guhle fired in a puck from the red line, hitting the end boards with his dump-in attempt. The puck caromed past Korenar and and into open ice. Brouillard pounced on the puck, firing it to the top of the net and past a diving Korenar for his eighth goal of the season.
The St. Hilaire, Quebec native has four goals in his last six games and leads all American Hockey League defenseman with eight goals.
Guhle has points in back-to-back games (1-1=2).
Carcone evened the score at one, collecting a power-play goal at 6:47 of the period. It's his third goal in the weekend series.
Maccelli, who recorded two assists last night, collected his third assist on the weekend.
The veteran forward struck again with 6:17 left in the period, one-timing a pass from the low circle for his 14th goal of the season.
Dineen collected his first multi-point - and multi-assist - game of the season.