Logan Shaw's Hat Trick Downs Gulls in 5-1 Defeat to Manitoba

Nov 28, 2018

Former Gull Logan Shaw recorded his first career hat trick.to lead the Manitoba Moose to a 5-1 win over the Gulls tonight at Valley View Casino Center. 

​Shaw career night saw a natural hat trick for the second straight Gulls game, as the center tallied three consecutive power-play goals to push the Moose (10-9-1-0) one game over the .500 mark. Manitoba goaltender Eric Comrie (7-5-1) stopped 31 of San Diego's 32 shots en route to his seventh victory of the season. 

"It was unacceptable. I think we’ve set the tone for our team this year. We’ve been excellent on goal differential [in the first period]. In the league, we were No. 1," said Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins  "We are not going to accept starting games like that. We started sleepy, we weren’t executing, we were turning the puck over. We’re not going to accept that."

It was Comrie who began the night strong as defenseman Steven Oleksy found Ben Thomson in full stride towards the Manitoba net. Thomson faked left before attempting to beat Comrie five-hole, but Comrie stopped the puck from crossing the goal line. It would be that kind of night as San Diego had numerous breakaways they couldn't convert. 

With Luke Schenn in the penalty box for hooking, Shaw backhanded a shot past Gulls netminder Kevin Boyle to give the Moose a 1-0 lead at the 17:46 mark of the first. Shaw played seven games with the San Diego Gulls this season before signing with the Winnipeg Jets just a few weeks ago.

The Gulls had a 5-on-3 power play opportunity for 34 seconds at the latter end of the first period, but could not convert for the score and just a minute after the man advantage ended, Manitoba doubled its lead as Shaw one-timed a shot through Boyle’s legs 3:58 into the second period. Seth Griffith of the Moose had the primary assist and would own the primary assist on all three of Shaw’s goals.

Shaw’s third power-play tally of the night gave Manitoba a 3-0 lead with 6:09 left in the second period. With his third score, a natural hat trick, Shaw set a career-high in goals, surpassing his five previous two-goal performances. It also marked the sixth all-time hat trick against San Diego and third on home ice. Marko Dano recorded his second assist of the night on the score.

The Moose extended the lead to four when Peter Stoykewych’s shot snuck through Boyle at the 16:31 mark of the second period. The goal spelled the end of the night for Boyle when Jared Coreau relieved Boyle and played the remaining 23:29 of the game.

San Diego’s best two scoring chances in the second period came on seperate breakaways by Sam Steel, but Comrie was able to keep the puck from entering the net.

Manitoba added a fifth goal in the third period as Emile Poirier snapped a shot over Coreau’s right pad with 12:18 remaining in the game. Michael Spacek won a battle for the puck behind the net and set up Poirier to make the score possible, picking up his 10th point of the season.

San Diego got on the board late as Luke Schenn scored his first career AHL goal with 18 seconds left. Alex Dostie collected the puck behind the net before sending a pass that Schenn in the right faceoff circle with the veteran defenseman firing a shot just inside the post. The play was briefly reviewed, but ultimately ended as a goal for San Diego.

"These are very dangerous teams. They are going to come in and work. All it takes is you to let your foot off the pedal that little bit and the dominoes start to fall," added Eakins. "I fully expect our group to start better [on Friday] and get back to where we were at before. That said, hats off to their goaltender [Eric Comrie]. We had some unbelievably excellent chances once we got going, but it was too late."

The Gulls will conclude the two-game homestand vs. the Manitoba Moose on Frida, Nov. 30 at Valley View Casino Center (7 p.m.).