Gulls, Roadrunners Open Weekend Series In Tucson
Mar 19, 2021The San Diego Gulls look to bounce back on the road with a back-to-back weekend set against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Convention Center Arena (5 p.m.; TV: FOX 5 San Diego; Radio: Gulls Audio Network). The Gulls own a 27-17-2-1 all-time record against the Roadrunners, including a 16-10-1-0 mark on the road.
Tucson won the initial meeting between the clubs, a 4-1 victory on Mar. 13 at FivePoint Arena. Lane Pederson, Ryan McGregor, Nate Sucese and former Gulls forward Kevin Roy notched multi-point efforts for Tucson and Connor LaCouvee made 16 saves to earn his first win as a Roadrunner.
“We’re a hungry team right now,” said Gulls assistant coach David Urquhart. “It doesn’t matter who we’re facing next. We’re preparing to play our best game. That’s the mentality we have to have right now.”
San Diego enters play this weekend looking to turn things around after dropping four straight games. Despite not earning any points in their last game, a 3-2 defeat to Henderson, San Diego recorded 50 shots on goal and the Gulls felt their performance Sunday was a step in the right direction.
“If you play that way night after night, you aren’t going to lose too many games,” said Urquhart. “When you put 50 shots on goal, there’s a lot of positives that can come out of that game. Despite the result, we played a good brand of hockey. If we bring that every night, we’re going to get good results.”
Offensively, veterans continue to lead San Diego. Captain Sam Carrick notched four multi-point performances in his last eight games and leads San Diego in goals. Andrew Poturalski owns 3-9=12 points in his last 11 games and ranks tied for second among AHL leaders in assists.
Tucson will look to earn its first home win of the season after dropping its first five contests on home ice. The Roadrunners began the season with four straight wins but own a 2-8-0-0 mark in their last 10 games. The Arizona-based club currently sits sixth in the Pacific Division.
The Roadrunners rely on the offensive contributions of its first line: Pederson, Roy and Michael Bunting. Pederson and Bunting are tied for fifth among league leaders in assists while Roy is tied for seventh in goals. The Roadrunners are one of two AHL clubs to have three players with 14-or-more points.
Like San Diego, the Roadrunners utilized a goaltending-by-committee approach, with four different netminders earning a start. Ivan Prosvetov leads the team in games played (7), wins (5) and save percentage (.908).