LIVE: Gulls Fall To Roadrunners 9-2
May 1, 2021The San Diego Gulls fell to the Tucson Roadrunners 9-2 tonight at FivePoint Arena.
Former Gull Kevin Roy scored his 11th goal of the season with 6:26 left in regulation.
Jan Jenik recorded his second goal of the game - and Tucson's third power-play tally - at 9:08 of the final frame.
Alex Limoges struck twice in the final frame to chip away at San Diego's deficit.
His first tally broke Ivan Prosvetov's shutout bid, collecting his sixth goal of the season 33 seconds into the final frame.
The rookie converted again, deflecting a puck out of the air and past Prosvetov for his seventh goal of the season at 4:01 of the period.
Tucson poured it on in the second period, scoring five times to pull ahead. The five goals tie a San Diego franchise record for the most goals allowed in the second period (last: Feb. 9, 2019 @ Bakersfield).
Josh Wilkins scored Tucson's third goal just 25 seconds into the middle frame. Wilkins had his initial bid in front stopped by Olle Eriksson Ek, but chipped the rebound past San Diego's goalie for his second goal of the season.
Barrett Hayton grabbed his fourth goal of the season, a power-play tally, at 4:32 of the period. The center cut in front, deflecting a Michael Carcone shot past Olle Eriksson Ek to extend Tucson's lead to four.
Cameron Cotty made it a five-goal lead at 5:17 of the second period. The goal chased Eriksson Ek, who finished the night with 14 saves.
Wilkins scored his second goal of the game at 10:40 of the period, deflecting a point shot from Carcone past Jeff Glass.
Kevin Hancock scored Tucson's fifth goal of the period - and seventh goal of the game - with 7:49 left in the middle frame.
Tucson capitalized on two late opportunities to bring a multi-goal lead into the locker room.
Jenik opened the scoring, wiring a shot past Olle Eriksson Ek for a power-play goal with 2:57 remaining in the opening frame.
Tyler Steenbergen followed with ninth goal of the season, doubling Tucson's lead with just 26 seconds remaining in the period. The forward collected a pass from Carcone at the blue line, racing in alone on Eriksson Ek. His low wrist shot beat San Diego's netminder through the legs.
Tucson managed to grab the lead despite an early push from San Diego, who received three straight power-play opportunities in the first half of the opening frame. The Gulls couldn't break through, with Ivan Prosvetov and the Roadrunners penalty kill holding them off the board.
Prosvetov, who stopped 28-of-33 shots in last night's 5-3 loss, made 11 saves in the first period.
Tonight is the final regular-season meeting between the two division rivals. San Diego leads the season series, 4-3-0-0, and has wins in four of the last five meetings.
The Gulls will look to carry their April success into May. San Diego finished the month with a 9-3-1-0 record and leads the league in wins and points.