Priskie Powers Gulls To Overtime Win
Mar 4, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
Chase Priskie certainly made his first impression count.
The defenseman scored twice in his San Diego Gulls debut – including the game-winning overtime tally – to lead the Gulls past the Tucson Roadrunners 2-1 tonight at Tucson Convention Center Arena. The win gives San Diego a sweep of the weekend series and gives them three straight overtime road victories.
"We brought in some new additions," Gulls assistant coach Kris Sparre said. "You know, right away, you could just see there's like a new feeling in the dressing room, and the guys are really inspired to play and excited to be here. They're working hard and coming together as a team really quickly, and it's fun to watch."
Newcomer Dylan Sikura finished with two assists while Chase De Leo extended his point streak to nine games. Gage Alexander stopped a career-high 39 shots to earn his third win of the season.
With time winding down in the extra session, Priskie curled with the puck at center ice, sending a cross-ice pass to Sikura. The right wing dipped to his own blueline before finding De Leo with a pass through the neutral zone. The Gulls captain fired the puck cross-ice to Priskie, who beat his defender and moved in alone on Ivan Prosvetov. His shot sailed over the Tucson netminder’s glove for the game-winning tally.
"Overtime is interesting," Sparre said. "It's three-versus-three, and, you know, it's a puck possession game. So, the more you can hang on to it, the better opportunity you have to score. You could see on that last goal. We had it in the offensive zone, we bring it out past the blue line, we wait, we pick our spot and (Chase) Priskie jumps into a hole there, makes a really nice play and it's in the back of the net."
The two-goal performance is the first of Priskie’s American Hockey League career. A deadline acquisition by the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Austin Strand, Priskie had 4-5=9 points in 42 games with the Rochester Americans.
The game featured an opening period filled with shots, but no goals. The two teams combined for 38 total shots, setting a new San Diego AHL record. In addition, Tucson’s 24 first-period shots are new AHL high for shots allowed in the opening frame, passing the 22 allowed on Mar. 1, 2019 at Stockton.
Priskie collected his first Gulls goal at 1:20 of the middle frame.
San Diego worked the puck away from its own end, with Brayden Tracey carrying the puck into the offensive zone. He found Priskie with a pass, and the defenseman continued with it down the side boards. He tried to hit a cutting Glenn Gawdin at the far post, but his pass found the pads of a Tucson defenseman. The deflection beat Ivan Prosvetov for Priskie’s fifth goal of the season.
Thiesen tied the game late in the middle frame, picking off a cross-ice pass and beating Alexander on a breakaway for his second goal of the season.
The third period featured stellar work from the Gulls penalty kill. The unit turned aside two shorthanded opportunities, including Tucson’s fourth chance late in regulation.
"We had some big efforts tonight from a lot of our leaders, and obviously our goaltending was excellent tonight," Sparre said. "Penalty kill was good; it kept us in the game. They had one late there, and we did an outstanding job. Won two faceoffs, which was critical, got it down the ice and then they weren't really able to get back in and get set up."
Alexander kept overtime alive with a sliding pad save early in the extra session. A deflected shot found its way on net and into the pads of the Gulls netminder, who shut the legs while sliding across his crease. His momentum carried him into the post, knocking the net off the moorings before the puck trickled over the goal line.
Tonight’s win extends San Diego’s win streak over Tucson to three games, with the team’s regular-season finale coming on Mar. 29 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.