PREVIEW: Gulls, Roadrunners Open Season Series In Tucson
Oct 29, 2021By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
There are times when all you need is a weekend trip to get everything in order.
The San Diego Gulls are hoping that rings true as they look to snap their three-game losing streak with back-to-back road games against the Tucson Roadrunners, starting tonight at Tucson Arena (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
“We don’t have many games so the practices are good, but we need the game to coach them,” head coach Joel Bouchard said. “I was very happy (in the) third period in Ontario, like I told them now, I finally feel we got together a little bit and now I can coach you, but let’s line up the performance, let’s get better and better every day.”
The Gulls and Roadrunners split their eight-game 2019-20 season series, with each team collecting four wins. All time against the Roadrunners, San Diego is 25-20-2-1 overall and 12-9-1-0 on the road.
“I feel and I can see with it that we are getting there,” Bouchard said. “Like I said, it’s going to be a process. Now, I want to turn them loose this weekend to see how they do. They’ve got to gel as a team together too, but I thought they managed everything very well.”
Despite a slow start in the win column, San Diego’s power play started the season on the right foot, as they managing to score at least one power play man-advantage goal in each of their games (4-for-10, 40%). The Gulls’ team’s overall power play is currently ranked first in the American Hockey League (AHL) and their road power play also tops the league with a success rate of 50%.
“We have a lot of really good players on the power play, obviously,” Gulls defenseman Brogan Rafferty said. “We have a pretty deep roster with interchangeable guys. Anyone can play in any position. It seems like we’ve found a little bit of something here in the first three games, which is great. That’s awesome to get that start for that season. Not many teams have that, a lot of teams find power play success middle of the season or later on, but we have that going right now. I think we’re developing chemistry day by day, which is awesome to see, and we’re just going to keep it rolling.”
Vinni Lettieri was the one who capitalized on the man advantage in the Gulls last game on Oct. 23 at Ontario by finding the back of the net only nine seconds into the third period. The tally set a record for the fastest goal scored in the final frame by a Gull, besting the previous mark of with the previous record being a goal 14 seconds (Chris Mueller, Mar. 5, 2016 vs. STK).
Rafferty made huge contributions to the Gulls power play, as all three of the points he collected this season (1-2=3) came while on the man advantage. He enters the weekend tied for third in AHL in power-play points.
“It has been one of the bright spots to our game and it’s a good thing,” Rafferty said. “One thing is going right, right now- that is the power play. That’s what guys are out there to do- to score goals and that’s our job when we’re put out there so it’s good that it’s rolling a little bit right now. We’re working on every day as well. Trying to sharpen that up even more because it’s a big momentum shift if you can get a power play goal or even some shots on net and create some energy for the bench and get the team back into the game.”
Rafferty also enters the weekend on a three-game point streak and is averaging a point per game. He leads the team in points, with Lettieri (2-0=2) and Jacob Perreault (1-1=2) close behind.
Tucson enters the weekend with a 2-2-0-0 record through its first four games. They’re one of the best offensive teams early, with nine goals scored in those four games. A third of those belong to their leading scorer Ben McCartney, who collected his first professional hat trick in a 4-0 win over the Texas Stars on October 23.
Defenseman Cam Dineen, forward Barrett Hayton and goaltender Ivan Prosvetov - familiar names to the Gulls – may be out of the lineup for one or both games. The Arizona Coyotes recalled the trio of Roadrunners on Wednesday.
No matter who lines up across from them, the Gulls know they’ll be ready.
“We’re very excited,” Rafferty said. “Like I said, this is going to be a great week of practice- it already has been as we’re working hard and we’re sick of losing. No one likes losing so this is a big weekend for us. We’re very excited.”