After getting the win over Tuscon to close out their weekend stay in Arizona the Gulls headed to Ontario to see if they could continue their success on the road. Little did we know that this would be Antoine Morand’s last game as a Gull as he was traded directly after along with a conditional seventh round pick for Alexander Volkov.
Coach Dineen kept lines intact from the win over the Roadrunners and Olle Ericksson Ek got the start in net.
Ontario had all of the pressure early as they kept the Gulls pinned and under duress but it would be the Gulls who struck first as a quick two on one rush from Charlie Sampair and Hunter Drew lead to Sampair getting his first goal as a Gull when his attempted centering pass squeaked through Villalta and over the line. 1-0 Gulls.
Carrying forward momentum from the opening goal the Gulls broke through again – in what is becoming a trend, San Diego won a face-off in the offensive zone courtesy of BO Groulx and cycled the puck down low, Andrew Poturalski finding a hole to swing off the boards and fire a shot all in one motion that beat Villalta top corner. 2-0 Gulls.
Villata was yanked directly after the goal and the veteran JF Berube replaced him as the Reign attempted to wake up their squad.
Play was back and forth for the rest of the opening period but with no real scoring threats other than a chance in front for Mikey Essymont that Eriksson Ek was excellent in both stopping and preventing a rebound on.
Teams headed to the first intermission with the Gulls up by two and ahead in shots 14-4.
The teams continued their back and forth sparring to start the second period but Ontario took first blood as Doty looked off his line-mate on a two on one and fired a shot over Eriksson Eks shoulder to bring the Reign within one. 2-1 Gulls.
The next five minutes of action turned into a goal-tending duel as the Gulls created two Grade A chances on Berube via Andrew Poturalski and Sam Carrick, then later Chase De Leo. The Reign in turn had a point blank chance on Eriksson Ek thanks to a sneaky good pass from Devante Smith-Pelly to Quinton Byfield.
Captain Sam gave the Gulls back a two goal lead as he received a pass from Poturalski coming across the Ontario blue line and cut across to the Ontario slot with speed, firing a perfect shot over Berube. 3-1 Gulls.
Ontario pushed back and got back within one again via a great individual effort from Quinton Byfield as he drew the puck from a battle along the boards stick handled himself into a scoring position through some very pedestrian defense and fired a sharp angle wrist shot top shelf over Eriksson Ek. Ooof that release. Just unfair. 3-2 Gulls.
The Reign rode the momentum and tied things up less than a minute later as the veteran defenceman Mark Alt pinched in to grab a loose puck and fire it by Eriksson Ek. 3-3 tie game.
Ontario continued to press the issue and were awarded their first Power Play of the night as BO Groulx was called for holding down low in the Gulls zone. The penalty kill managed to extinguish the majority of the minor before time expired for the period but Eriksson Ek had to be sharp on a one-timer opportunity from Arthur Kaliyev.
With scores tied after forty, shots were 27-12 for San Diego.
San Diego killed the remaining 25 seconds of the Groulx minor with minimal effort and then went right to the attack eventually taking back the lead through Max Golods first AHL goal as he was left all alone in front of the Reign net, tipped a point shot from Guhle on Berube and then collected the rebound and backhanded it by the helpless net-minder. 4-3 Gulls.
Once again Ontario responded with some heavy pressure, the Byfield line keeping San Diego under siege for minutes at a time.
The Gulls were able to push back whenever that line was not on the ice and did come close to padding their lead again, particularly on a great play between Bryce Kindopp and BO Groulx but the later sent a backhand tip over the net.
San Diego locked things down and played a textbook road game to protect their lead as they boxed out in front of Eriksson Ek but the Reigns relentless attack resulted in Keegan Lowe taking a needless interference penalty with just over four minutes in the period.
The Gulls were able to kill the minor thanks to great work from all three units as Morand-Groulx, De Leo-Carrick and Kindopp-Poturalski prevented the Reign from getting any high danger chances on Eriksson Ek.
With JF Berube pulled the Gulls held off a late surge from the Reign and in perhaps the most bittersweet moment of the season so far – Antoine Morand fired a shot into the empty net from his own zone to ice the win, his last goal as a Gull.
Post Game Notes
Farewell Sweet Prince
I was both shocked and saddened to hear of the deal, then of course read all of the write-ups and opinions on it. The general consensus seems to be that Anaheim didn’t have to “give up much” to get a semi proven NHL player. I tend to disagree and would point to the Tampa Bay Lightnings success with scouting and developing undersized players. I also struggle to remember the last time they “lost” a trade. Though true – Morand was probably never going to make Anaheim’s top six, I have every confidence in the world that he would be a much better penalty killer than say – a Derek Grant. I guess much like Volkov became a victim of Tampa’s depth up front, Morand was seen as spare parts for Anaheim’s defensive forward core. The emergence of BO Goulx may have been the tipping point and it looks like Kindopp and Golod can fill similar roles moving forward, but it still sucks to see him go. It has been a rough year for me and players I had high hopes for. First Kopacka now Morand.
#PotInjection Pace Setter
Andrew Poturalski is quietly having himself a year. He has eight points in the last five games and is tied for second in the AHL with 21 points in 21 games. He has never been a point per game player in his career as yet but lately has been on an absolute tear.
Guhle getting better
Brendan Guhle looked noticeably better in this game. Sure there were some times where he should have taken the body or may have had the odd misstep on the defensive side of the puck but he looked the best I have ever seen him on the Power Play and it was a smart heads up play from him that lead to the Golod game winning goal.
San Diego Gulls 2024 Grades
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