PREVIEW: Gulls at Condors

Gulls Meet Condors in Battle of AHL's Hottest Teams

Feb 9, 2019

The AHL’s two hottest teams meet tonight in a matchup of two clubs with a combined 33 wins and .766 win percentage since mid-December. The Gulls and Bakersfield Condors will meet tonight at Rabobank Arena (7 p.m., Mighty 1090) for the eighth time this season, but the past storylines haven’t held the clout tonight’s matchup brings.

 

San Diego (25-14-2-3) has collected points in 20 of their last 23 games, posting a 17-3-1-2 record in a stretch that began in this very building on Dec. 14 that saw their season drastically shift. Bakersfield (27-15-2-1) enters tonight with the league’s longest win streak at 11 games, and has posted a 16-5-2-1 record dating to Dec. 14. Their win streak equals the longest in the club’s 21-year history set on two prior occasions in 2011 and 1999.

 

Last night the Gulls began a club record six-game road trip with a 6-4 win over Ontario in what continued their road success dating to Dec. 14. San Diego has collected points in 12 of 13 road contests to go 9-1-1-2 in that stretch. Corey Tropp tied a career high with three points (2G/1A), Chase De Leo netted two goals, and Jack Kopacka (1G/1A) and Max Jones (1G/1A) each had multi-point games. Jeff Glass picked up his third win for San Diego as he got the nod with Kevin Boyle recalled to the Anaheim Ducks today. Sam Carrick also set a career high with his 42nd point of the season when he picked up an assist in the win.

 

“We needed that one. Obviously we weren’t happy with our last game (Feb. 6) and we have pretty high expectations,” said De Leo following Friday’s game. “I think it was definitely a good bounce back and we can enjoy it for a few minutes here before we forget about it and move on to Bakersfield.”

 

Bakersfield toppled the AHL’s top team in San Jose by a 3-1 final on home ice.  Goaltender Shane Starrett has won nine straight decisions for the Condors and has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of those victories. Forward Joe Gambardella, who joined Boyle at the AHL All-Star Classic late last month has a nine-game point streak (10-5=15) to match the longest Condors scoring streak in the AHL. Center Josh Currie scored last night to mark his third consecutive 20-goal season, while Ryan Spooner has put up five points (2G/3A) in four games since being waived and assigned to the Condors by the parent Edmonton Oilers.

 

Entering the eighth meeting of a 10-game series, the Gulls have wins in three of the last four over the Condors, including victories in six of the last seven contests. San Diego has also earned points in six of the seven games (5-1-0-1). The Gulls are 20-13-1-1 all-time against the Condors, including 9-6-1-1 at Rabobank Arena.

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