PREVIEW: Gulls, Roadrunners Meet In Wednesday Matchup At Pechanga Arena
Mar 23, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are ready to defend their nest against the Tucson Roadrunners tonight at Pechanga Arena (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
All-time, the Gulls earned a 27-22-2-1 record against their desert-dwelling foes, including a 14-10-1-1 mark in San Diego. The two teams split four games this season, with Tucson winning the most recent meeting, 5-4, in San Diego on Feb. 5.
Last night, San Diego recovered some a slow start against the Henderson Silver Knights, winning 3-1 to extend their point streak to a season-high six games (5-0-0-1). The two teams finished a four-game series with the Gulls earning seven of a possible eight points (3-0-0-1) against their division foe.
"It’s the process of us playing the way we want to play and then pushing forward and it’s pro hockey," Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said. "It’s not always going to be perfect, but you’ve gotta push with a structure and the way we want to be playing against a team and I think that was the result. This is just the result of us pushing."
The Gulls’ special teams proved pivotal to the team’s success as of late, with the penalty kill posting a perfect 3-for-3 performance. San Diego has not allowed a power-play goal in the last six games, eliminating 18 consecutive opponent power plays.
"We have shown a lot of maturity," Gulls defenseman Axel Andersson said of the team’s penalty kill. "We’re a young team, but we play tight and try to not give them anything so I guess that’s the key."
The Gulls penalty kill at home is ranked third in the American Hockey League at 86.3%. At the center of the penalty kill is netminder Lukas Dostal, who stopped 29-of-30 shots for a season-high fourth straight victory and 16th win of the season. Among AHL rookie goaltenders, Dostal is tied for first in shutouts (2), ranks second in save percentage (.921%), third in goals-against average (2.46), fourth in wins and saves (831), and fifth in minutes played (1608:52).
"Well, you know we’ve got to play a certain way in front of Dos (Dostal) and give him a chance to see those pucks and there will be breakdowns, but when breakdowns happen, Dos was there," Bouchard said. "But I think the guys tried their best to play as well as they can in front of him."
San Diego’s power play is also producing, five power-play goals in its last three games (5-for-18).
Last night, Jacob Perreault sparked the comeback with a goal on the man-advantage as a part of a two-goal effort (2-0=0), extending his point streak to four games (3-2=5). He has 4-7=11 points in his last 12 games.
Alex Limoges also recorded 1-1=2 points – his third multi-point effort over the last six games – to extend his point streak to four games. He has 2-4=6 points over that span and is averaging more than a point-per-game in his last six contests.
When the Gulls and Roadrunners meet, offense is on full display, as the two teams combined for 33 goals in four meetings this season. Despite splitting those meetings, San Diego outscored Tucson 18-15 in those four contests. They’ve collected at least four goals in every matchup against the Roadrunners.
In their last meeting, Tucson left wing Michael Carcone earned a hat trick while rookie left wing Matias Maccelli (1-2=3) and defenseman Cam Dineen (0-3=3) had three-point performances. Carcone currently leads the Roadrunners with 24-17=41 while Maccelli is second in scoring with 14-41=55 points.
However, the Tucson team the Gulls play may be very different as Carcone, Maccelli and Dineen were called up to by the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes this week.
Nonetheless, Jan Jenik and Hudson Fasching have picked up the proverbial torch in their absence. Jenik scored a goal in the shootout to help the Roadrunners to a 4-3 win on Mar. 18 against the San Jose Barracuda while Fasching scored two goals in that contest (2-0=0). Fasching also boasts 4-2=6 points against the Gulls this season, including a 3-2=5 point performance against the San Diego in their Oct. 30 matchup.