Gulls Late Push Just Falls Short In Loss To Eagles

Nov 6, 2021

By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com

It was a case of too little too late for the San Diego Gulls as they fell 3-2 to the Colorado Eagles despite a late-game rally. 

Jacob Perreault and Brayden Tracey fueled the comeback, scoring unanswered goals in tandem that showed San Diego’s potential to produce offensively under pressure. 

“I was trying to improve with that group, the young guys,” head coach Joel Bouchard said. “I think there was a part of the game where after that we disengaged for a little bit. We stopped the bleeding, I think we were heading south, and then I liked the way we bounced back after it. I like the team spirit.”

The teams battled through a scoreless first period until a sneaky shot from Dennis Gilbert from the point gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead with less than ten seconds remaining in the frame. Callahan Burke and Mikhail Maltsev both notched assists on the play.

This gave the Eagles the extra edge they needed, as they tripled their lead over the course of the second period with goals from Dylan Sikura and Alex Newhook. 

Sikura extended his point streak to eight games and Newhook, who picked up an assist on Sikura’s goal, has 2-5=7 points over his last three games and is third among rookies in the AHL with 4-6=10 points this season. 

“We started pretty good. We were on them, we were playing hard,” Gulls defenseman Jacob Larsson said. “Then, second period we went down a little bit, including me. Then, in the third, we go out and showed them we want to play and how we want to play. So that response- good from us. It’s too bad we lost because we want to win all the games, but the response was good.”

The 3-0 deficit propelled Perreault into action as he reignited the team’s power play and put an end to the Eagles’ shutout bid. extended his career-long point streak to four games.

With Nick Henry in the box for holding, Maxim Golod filtered the puck from the side boards to Trevor Carrick. The defenseman faked the shot before sending a cross-ice pass to Perreault, who one-timed the puck toward the net. It hit off two Eagles and slid past an unsuspecting Justus Annunen for Perreault's fifth goal of the season.

The goal extended point streak to a career-high four games. The Montreal, Quebec native has 2-4=6 points over the last four games and put up a point in each of the team’s first three home games. 

Trevor Carrick earned an assist on the play for 1-2=3 points in the last two games.

“Just doing those small things better,” Larsson said. “I would say like getting the puck deep when we have to, not really having that many turnovers. We were playing pretty simple in their zone, which go low to high and a lot of net presence. We’re just going to keep doing that and we’ll be successful.”

San Diego clawed its way back within one on a Brayden Tracey tally in the early stages of the third period. 

The forward collected the rebound of a Jacob Larsson shot and brought it behind the net, quickly charging the post. His stuff attempt squeaked through the pads of Annunen for his second goal in as many games.

He collected his first professional goal streak and extended a career-long point streak to four games (2-2=4). 

“We have, like you said they’re young, they have a lot of potential,” Larsson said. “We’re just better and better every day and made huge steps so far this season. They’re really good players, all of them so I’m very excited to see what the future holds.”

San Diego will continue its four-game homestand on Wednesday, Nov. 10 against the Henderson Silver Knights.