PREVIEW: Gulls, Eagles Clash In Penultimate Regular-Season Meeting
Mar 3, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are ready to ruffle some feathers as they prepare to face the Colorado Eagles in the second of a three-game series tonight at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, CO (6:05 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The Gulls earned their third win in a row, and their first win of the season over the Eagles, in a dominant 5-2 victory on Wednesday. San Diego now holds a 13-9-1-0 overall record against Colorado, including a 5-4-1-0 record on the road.
"It’s tough to play here," Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said. "The altitude, guys were a little short winded a bit at the beginning. Something we underestimate. We came in with a playoff attitude, playoff performance. It’s the only team we haven’t beaten in our (division). It was just like, a lot of emotion. We felt if we didn’t have emotion, we were not going to be in the fight against a fast team and a good team at home."
Emotions did run high, but Gulls goaltender Lukas Dostal remained calm in net, stopping a career-high 51 shots to secure the win. He’s on a three-game winning streak and his 2.48 goals-against average (GAA) and .919 save percentage (SV%) place him fourth among American Hockey League rookie goaltenders.
The Czechia netminder even kept his composure when the opportunity to score an empty net goal presented itself. Dostal made the most of it, becoming the first goaltender in Anaheim Ducks organizational history (NHL and AHL level) to score a goal in a game.
"I felt that Lukas was the one that kept his emotion in check," Bouchard said. "As a goalie, that’s what we want. He didn’t get riled up into anything. He stayed composed and that’s why he was able to execute that play at the end."
The AHL’s reigning Player of the Week also recorded the second-longest shutout sequence in Gulls history, lasting 114:21 minutes (2/25 – 3/2/22).
"Yeah, just trying to do my best," Dostal said. "You know, obviously just trying to do my best and when there’s lots of shots, you just feel good about it and like, you know the guys also like they block the shots, they like will box out the guys so sometimes I just have clear view on the blueline. It’s a team sport, they’re helping me. Sometimes I help, sometimes they help me."
Dostal did receive help from his teammates as Hunter Drew (0-2=2), Nikolas Brouillard (0-2=2) and Trevor Carrick (1-1=2) drove the Gulls’ offense with multi-point efforts.
Veterans Carrick and Vinni Lettieri also made the most of San Diego’s two opportunities on the power play, each scoring to bring a revived Gulls power play to a 50% success rate (5-for-10) over the last three games.
Continued success on the power play would greatly benefit the Gulls as they are likely to once again face Eagles netminder Justus Annunen, who ranks tied for third among AHL goalies with 19 wins and fifth among first-year backstops with a 2.65 GAA.
However, the team’s priority is limiting the number of chances they give Colorado by improving puck management and containing an Eagles offense that snuck two goals past Dostal in the third period.
"I think it was fair," Bouchard said of the Gulls’ containment of Colorado’s offense. "I think guys meant well. Guys were in the fight. We had guys that had a great performance. The backend was solid, really solid. They’re tough to play against. I think our youth showed up front at times. That being said, I like that guys were emotional about it. Like I said, they were in the fight, so it wasn’t perfect. And you’re right about (Colorado’s) speed and our puck management. So it wasn’t terrible. If it was terrible we wouldn’t have been in that position. Was it great? No. It was fair with good intention."
Mikhail Maltsev led Colorado with a multi-point game (1-1=2), cutting their deficit to two with his 12th goal of the season late in regulation.
San Diego will also have to watch out for Dylan Sikura, who collected an assist in the loss and enters tonight tied with former Gull Kiefer Sherwood for the team lead in scoring with 17-28=45 points. Defenseman Jordan Gross also earned a helper and continues to rank first among AHL defensemen in assists and points (7-36=43).