Gulls, Roadrunners Meet For First Time This Season
Mar 13, 2021The San Diego Gulls look to improve on their league-best home record (8-1-0-0) tonight as they host the Tucson Roadrunners (7 p.m.; TV: FOX 5 San Diego; Radio: Gulls Audio Network) at FivePoint Arena. The Gulls lead the American Hockey League in home wins (8) and points (16).
The Gulls return home after suffering back-to-back defeats in San Jose and Bakersfield earlier this week. San Diego ranks second in the Pacific Division in points (18) and third in point percentage (.563).
With two days before their weekend set of games, head coach Kevin Dineen said the team focused on its identity in practice.
“[This week] we revisited some of our structure areas,” he explained. “We needed to slow down to identify some small areas we feel like if we can shore up and be a little more predictable as a team, it’ll feed in a positive way into our team game.”
San Diego will look to use its scoring depth to get back in the win column. The Gulls are the only AHL team to have four 10+ point scorers and four 5+ goal scorers this season.
Sam Carrick (5-6=11), Chase De Leo (5-5=10) and Andrew Agozzino (5-5=10) are each part of that group. Andrew Poturalski (2-11=13) also leads the league in assists, and Vinni Lettieri (5-4=9) round out the group.
Friday’s matchup marks the first meeting of the season between San Diego and its division rival Tucson. The clubs split an eight-game series a year ago, including the final game of the 2019-20 AHL regular season, a 4-2 Gulls win almost exactly one year ago on Mar. 11 at Tucson Arena.
“They always played us hard last yearm" Dineen said. "We ended on a strong note in Tucson and we all went into the summer feeling good about ourselves. Here we are a year later. They’re always a formidable opponent. They’re a well-run team and they play hard.”
Sam Carrick paced the club in scoring (5-2=7) and goals vs. the Roadrunners last season. San Diego owns an all-time record of 27-16-2-1 against Tucson, including 11-7-1-1 when playing on home ice.
The Roadrunners enter tonight's game riding a five-game losing skid. The team kicked off its California road trip with a 5-2 loss to the Ontario Reign last night at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, CA. It's a fall from grace for Tucson, who kicked off the season with five straight wins and sat near the top of the division.
Offensively, Tucson has been led by the trio of Michael Bunting, Lane Pederson and former Gulls forward Kevin Roy. Bunting ranks tied for seventh among AHL scoring leaders in points (4-9=13) and tied for fourth in power-play goals (3). Roy, who skated in 139 games with San Diego from 2015-19, paces Tucson with seven goals.
The Roadrunners roster also features defensemen Cam Dineen, who shares no relation to Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen, but has a father also named Kevin Dineen.
Following the game, San Diego will conclude its weekend back-to-back against the Henderson Silver Knights on Sunday, Mar. 14 (3 p.m.).