Gulls Open Play At Home With Close Loss Vs. Reign
Oct 20, 2023By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls returned to Pechanga Arena San Diego on Friday but didn’t have the homecoming they wanted as they fell to Ontario 3-2.
Despite the loss, America’s finest fans brought the energy and kept the team in it until the very end.
"The fans are great," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "It was fun to listen to them as we started pushing in the end. I just wish we gave them a little bit more to cheer for. We’ve got to play a little more five-on-five hockey, a little bit more on the power play, but that part’s in our control."
Travis Howe and Jacob Doty settled a score in the opening minutes, dropping gloves for a lengthy tilt. Doty missed the opening two games of the season due to an injury sustained in Oct. 8’s preseason matchup, where both he and Howe scrapped early in the first period.
The first period provided no goals, but Ontario’s Taylor Ward capitalized on a power play at 2:11 in the second to open the scoring.
Olen Zellweger answered right back on a San Diego power play and rocketed a shot past Rittich for his first career American Hockey League goal. He extended his regular-season opening point streak to three games (1-3=4) and has a point in every professional game he has ever played including playoffs (1-4=5).
"4-on-3 is primetime to capitalize on, so I know the guys were excited about that opportunity," Zellweger said. "I had a good screen net-front by [Pavol Regenda] and it found its way in.
"I’m just trying to be in the right spots for my teammates offensively and defensively because that’s really where the offense starts, breaking the puck out well."
Glenn Gawdin (1-2=3) and Andrew Agozzino (1-2=3) extended their season-opening point streaks to three games as well with helpers on Zellweger’s goal.
Martin Chromiak got the lead back for the Reign at 17:18 in the second, firing a one-timer for his first goal of the season.
T.J. Tynan extended the lead to two for Ontario five minutes into the third. All three of Ontario’s goals came with a man advantage, as they scored twice on the power play and once on a delayed penalty. Despite San Diego’s early success, its Achilles' heel has been avoiding penalties. Through three games, the Gulls have been short a man 18 times.
"You can’t win when you take that many penalties," Gawdin said. "That’s something that we got to learn and something we’ve talked about. We’re a deep team and when you take penalties, you can’t get everyone going."
"We’re playing with fire the past couple games, finding a way to sneak through, but eventually that catches up to you," McIlvane added.
Pavol Regenda brought the Gulls to within one with his team-leading fourth goal of the season midway through the third, tying him for second among all AHL skaters. It marks his first three-game goal streak of his AHL career. Trevor Carrick tallied an assist, giving him four assists in three games to start the campaign.
The Gulls will return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 24 for a matinee matchup against the Tucson Roadrunners at the Tucson Convention Center Arena (10:30 a.m. PT).