Top 10 Moments: Shutting the Door
May 29, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
With the 2022-23 season in the books, SanDiegoGulls.com looks back at some of the biggest moments, from individual highlights to impressive theme nights and more. Today we continue our Top-10 Moments series, spotlighting the notable shutout performances by Lukas Dostal and Gage Alexander.
A shutout win is one of the most satisfying in hockey.
There’s nothing like keeping a team off the scoreboard for the entire game, celebrating a victory with a goose egg in the opponent’s score column. It’s the cherry on top of any victory, a delight the Gulls celebrated multiple times during the 2022-23 season.
Of course, goaltender Lukas Dostal sat at the center of many of those performances. San Diego’s All Star recorded the first of his career-high three shutouts this season on Nov. 8, supporting an offensive explosion as the Gulls felled the Henderson Silver Knights, 7-0. His 28 saves marked the most he’d recorded in a shutout at that time and tied former netminder Reto Berra for the most shutouts in the team’s American Hockey League history. In addition, the performance extended a strong run against Henderson, as Dostal pushed his record to 7-0-0-1 with an impressive 1.25 goals against average (GAA) and a .958 save percentage (SV%).
Dostal once again victimized Henderson, blanking the Silver Knights in a 3-0 New Year’s Day win in Henderson. In this game, Dostal faced a more significant offensive challenge, turning aside a breakaway chance in the first and several good opportunities in the second and third periods. He finished with 39 saves, moving past Berra to collect the most shutouts in the team’s AHL history.
He brought the momentum into Milwaukee, blanking the Admirals in a 5-0 win on Jan. 6 to become the first goaltender in San Diego’s AHL history to record consecutive shutouts. He weathered a first-period Milwaukee blitz, stopping all 16 shots in the opening frame. He kept the door shut the rest of the way, stopping 40 shots to record the second-most saves in a shutout in the team’s AHL history.
Dostal ran his shutout streak to 152:31, spanning from Dec. 9, 2022 until the first period of the Jan. 7, 2023 matchup against Milwaukee. The sequence is the longest in San Diego’s AHL history, passing John Gibson’s previous streak of 137:13.
A newcomer to the team added to Dostal’s impressive totals, making a statement early in his AHL career.
Gage Alexander kept the good times rolling against Henderson, picking up his first professional clean sheet in a 2-0 win at Pechanga Arena in early March. The rookie made a statement early, turning aside a shorthanded bid late in the first period. Sakari Manninen led the charge up the ice, firing a low shot on net. Alexander kicked away his bid but put the puck on the stick of a streaking Gage Quinney. The Silver Knight tried to sweep the puck into the net, but Alexander used all of his 6-foot-6 frame to lunge toward the goal line, swatting the puck away from the open cage.
He'd total 26 saves in the win, passing Dostal to become the youngest goaltender in San Diego’s AHL history to record a shutout.
"I mean, that's pretty crazy," Alexander said following the win. "Anytime you can break a record like that. I guess it's pretty important. And it's just super exciting. I couldn’t do it with(out) all these guys. And they made it really easy on me."
The victory set a team record for the most shutout wins against an opponent in a single season. In addition, it marked the Gulls’ fourth franchise shutout against Henderson, tying the team’s record for all-time shutout wins against an opponent (also: four against San Jose).