Gulls Dropped By Heat In Final Regular-Season Home Game
Apr 26, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
Sometimes you just can’t beat the Heat.
The San Diego Gulls fell 4-1 to the American Hockey League-leading Stockton Heat tonight in their final regular season game Pechanga Arena San Diego.
Emilio Petterson led the way, recording a season-high 1-2=3 points as the Heat broke a modest two-game losing skid.
Brent Gates Jr. scored the lone goal for the Gulls, a power-play tally late in the first period. Goaltender Lukas Dostal stopped 22-of-26 shots.
"So, we keep working on our game," head coach Joel Bouchard said. "The 4-1 score doesn’t bother me, the intentions were there. We played a good team, Stockton is a good team and you play a good team and it’s just a good teaching that you don’t give them too much because they’ll make you pay."
The Heat wasted no time starting up their offense as Walker Duehr scored his 11th goal of the season two minutes into the first period.
Byron Froese delivered the puck to Duehr as he dropped into the slot, and the left wing sent a shot low past the blocker of Dostal.
Despite the early setback, San Diego continued its push, forcing Stockton’s Adam Werner to make several tough stops and sending traffic to the front of the net.
"Yeah, that’s a good team," Gulls defenseman Greg Pateryn said. "Especially when you get down early against a team like that, like you said, it’s hard to come back and chase that. But, I think that overall, minus a few breakdowns, I thought we actually held our structure together pretty well and the guys stuck together in the room. And I think that’s a big part. That’s what can take you pretty far. So, you know, not the result we want, but I think I’m happy with the direction that things are going even though it might not be lining up in the win column."
In the face of this pressure, Stockton kept its cool and doubled its lead on a 5-on-3 power-play late in the period. Stockton defensemen Nick DeSimone capitalized on his team’s two-man advantage, scoring his fourth goal of the season with 3:04 left in the initial frame after Nikolas Brouillard and Jacob Larsson took overlapping minor penalties.
The Gulls would not go quietly, as Gates Jr.’s power-play tally cut the deficit in half with 17.1 seconds left in the first period.
"I thought our special teams, power play did really well… I asked the guys to play forward, I asked the guys to work on some of the things in our game in preparation for playoffs," Bouchard said. "We did it. Scoreboard is one thing, but what I saw on the ice- I saw guys that kind of worked hard and of course they were affected a little bit. You know, when you have a breakdown and they score, have a breakdown and they score, but I felt we got right back at it."
The Gulls established themselves in Stockton’s zone, eventually working the puck to Lucas Elvenes along the blueline. The center sent the puck to Josh Lopina, who spun the puck around to Alex Limoges in the slot. Instead of shooting, Limoges passed to Gates Jr., who sniped his attempt over the pad of Werner for his 12th goal of the season and his second in as many games.
Elvenes earned an assist for 1-4=5 points in his last four games and a team-leading 1-6=7 points against the Heat, while Lopina earned his second career assist (0-2=2).
"With our team, obviously, we’re really keen on everything being lined up as good as it can be," Pateryn said. "A lot of young players and we’ve played some of them tonight, which was fun. I’m happy about the investment and a few good teaching(s). Can’t wait to show some of the players big plays that we did and some plays that we could be better and will in the playoffs. So, we keep working on our game."
Limoges also pushed his point streak to three games with his helper (1-2=3).
Petterson would set the tone in the middle frame, scoring twice to stymie San Diego and lead his team to victory.
His first goal came just over seven minutes into the second, as he stripped Gulls defenseman Nathan Larose of the puck near the middle of the ice. He took the puck to his backhand and sent it over the glove of Dostal for his first 12th goal of the season.
The left wing scored his second goal of the game off a give-and-go play with Eetu Tuulola. Pettersen carried the puck into the offensive zone and found Tuulola open on the wing. He dished the puck over and split the defense, heading to the far post before tapping in a puck past the unsuspecting Dostal for his 13th goal of the season.
Pettersen has 3-2=5 points in his last two games against the Gulls.
"Yeah, better for them to happen now than when they’re even more important," Pateryn said. "You know, we’re not moving up or down, so we have an opportunity to get that stuff out right now. I think with some of the young guys coming in it’s good for them to get that out now. They’ve done a good job, so I look forward to seeing them moving forward."
The Gulls looked to come back in the third but couldn’t manage to break through a stout Stockton defense. The Heat won for the sixth time in the eight-game regular-season series and ended the night ahead of the Chicago Wolves for the best record in the AHL.
The Gulls close out the regular season with back-to-back road games against the Tucson Roadrunners beginning this Thursday, Apr. 28 at the Tucson Convention Center Arena.
"Well, I think we really just got to work on playing our game and really use those games as kind of a way to get everything set going into Wednesday next week," Pateryn said. "I think that’s the focus going into the road trip coming up, so we’ll be looking forward to that."