Marotte Turns In 36 Saves As Gulls Drop Road Trip Finale
Jan 23, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls never recovered from a second period scoring outburst, falling 4-2 to the Abbotsford Canucks tonight at Abbotsford Centre.
Sheldon Rempal (1-1=2), Noah Juulsen (0-2=2) and Ashton Sautner (0-2=2) collected multi-point performances as Abbotsford stretched its win streak to three games. They’ve won five of the six meetings against San Diego.
Rookie netminder Joe Murdaca earned a second consecutive win, stopping 19 shots.
Despite the loss, Francis Marotte put forth an incredible effort, making 36 saves – several of them highlight-reel stops – in the loss. Morgan Adams-Moisan and Benoit-Olivier Groulx (PPG) scored for the Gulls, who failed to put more than three in the net for the first time in the last four games.
"Without Frankie (Marotte) today, we would have lost way more than the score," Adams-Moisan said. "He played a hell of a game, stood on his head and it’s the kind of performance that’s going to make him stay up here and he’s doing really well right now for us."
The shorthanded goals, playing with just 16 skaters, came out determined, opening the scoring at 8:06 of the first period on Adams-Moisan’s first Gulls goal.
A strong cycle from the La Tuque, QC native led to a short pass to Jack Badini, who shielded the puck as he skated along the goal line. He found a cutting Sean Josling near the cross, and the right wing fired a shot that trickled through the pads of Abbotsford netminder Joe Murdaca. Adams-Moisan alertly crashed the crease, tipping the puck into the open net.
"Badini dumped the puck and then we worked hard down low," Adams-Moisan explained. "Our line, that’s our motto - play down low, play physical so we were able to do that and when he gave the puck to Joser (Josling), he was able to make a good shot almost crept in under his arm and I was able to tap it in. First one of the year just takes a couple of pounds off me, but it was fun."
The increased ice time - and his increased importance with a shorthanded lineup - put Adams-Moisan in a spot to contribute.
"That’s the advantage when there’s a couple guys missing, right," Gulls assistant coach Max Talbot said. "Is that a couple other players have a chance to have more ice time and play in different roles. You have to seize that opportunity and that’s definitely what Morgy (Morgan Adams-Moisan) did tonight. So it was nice for the big man to get rewarded with a goal."
Chase Wouters would respond just 18 seconds later to even the score at one.
A shot from Noah Juulsen found its way through Marotte, with the puck sitting behind the goalie. Wouters, like Adams-Moisan just seconds before, crashed the crease and tipped home the rebound for the equalizer.
Groulx connected on the power play to put San Diego ahead with 8:36 left in the period.
Kodie Curran skated the puck down from the wing before finding Brayden Tracey in the middle of the offensive zone. The wing sent a no-look pass to Groulx, who found himself wide open in the low circle. Murdaca was slow to react and Groulx didn't hesitate, one-timing a shot past the Canucks goalie for his fourth goal of the season.
Curran has five points (1-4=5) in five games against Abbotsford.
"Chemistry on the power play creates itself with a little stability also and communication and be on the ice with the same guys," Talbot said. "That’s what a road trip like we’re having right now gives us the opportunity to achieve, is to get on the same unit and work on chemistry. Because it’s very important to know where the guys are at all times and feel and know who you got on your left, your right. I think the guys were really feeling it last night. They got a big goal on a backdoor play and today, again, they were able to score some goals. So, it’s nice to see that and we’ll keep working at it."
Marotte made his best save late in the period, shutting down a Nic Petan chance. His high, hard shot caused a rebound, and the Abbotsford defenseman quickly skated down the zone to try and stuff the puck home. Marotte turned him away, making a hard push and laying his pads on the ice to take away the low chance. His glove did the rest, snatching the shot out of the air before it crept over the goaltender.
"Well, the start was obviously better than last night," Talbot said. "So the guys responded. We challenged them a little bit about that and they showed up. We made a couple adjustments and, really, it was about the attitude the guys had and we’re definitely happy with the way we came out of the gate."
An all-out offensive attack by Abbotsford in the second period turned the tide in the Canucks favor.
Marotte continued his stellar play, turning aside Sheldon Rempal twice in the first minute of the middle frame.
The Canucks forward found himself alone in front, and Marotte turned aside his initial deflection bid from on top of the crease. The puck trickled to the side of the net, where Marotte swung his body to the left to glove aside Rempal's follow-up bid.
The Canucks would break through, however, striking twice in 40 seconds to take their first lead of the game.
The first - the game-tying tally - came from Vincent Arseneau at the 6:04 mark of the middle frame. Juulsen floated a wrist shot into traffic, and Arseneau deflected the shot past Marotte for his fourth goal of the season.
Juulsen continues to find success against San Diego. The Abbotsford native has a four-game point streak against the Gulls, collecting 0-7=7 against them over that span. He's scored an overwhelming 70-percent of his total points (2-8=10) against the Gulls.
Yushiroh Hirano put Abbotsford ahead with his second goal of the season at 6:44 of the period.
Rempal - turned aside earlier in the period - collected a loose puck from behind the net and quickly moved to the front of the crease. His backhand attempt went wide of Marotte, but Hirano followed up, whacking away until the puck went over the pads and into the back of the net.
Hirano has goals in back-to-back games, scoring his first American Hockey League goal in the Canucks win last night.
Rempal would eventually solve Marotte, collecting his 10th goal of the season with just 19 seconds left in the middle period.
The three goals allowed in the second period match a season high for the Gulls, who also allowed San Jose to score three times in the middle frame on Nov. 19. In addition, Abbotsford’s 25 shots set a new franchise mark for the most shots allowed in any period, surpassing the 24 shots faced by Jared Coreau on Oct. 20, 2018 against Bakersfield (third period, stopped 23-of-24).
"I mean, they’ve got a good team," Adams-Moisan said. "However, we got off our game plans so just to play down low, physical. The whole team, we got away from our principles and that’s how they were able to come in."
The Gulls comeback attempt went into full swing late in regulation, as they earned a 5-on-3 power-play opportunity in the last two minutes. They also pulled Marotte, sending in the extra attacker and playing desperate hockey. It wasn't enough, as Murdaca and the Canucks withstood the charge to hold on for the win.
San Diego will return to Pechanga Arena on Wednesday for a matchup with the Colorado Eagles.
"We were 10 and we were at nine forwards also with the five d(efensemen), but for sure it’s shorthanded," Adams-Moisan said about the two games in Abbotsford. "However, it’s not an excuse. We played really well with what we had and for sure coming back home, sleeping in our own houses, practicing at Pechanga, playing at our home barn also - that’s going to be a lot of things. We are looking forward to it and of course, with the best fans in the league so we’re just happy to be back."