Greg Pateryn skated behind the San Diego net to retrieve the puck but before he could make a move with it, he was smashed by Abbotsford’s Vincent Arseneau.
The puck slid out in front of the San Diego goal where Danila Klimovich gathered it before snapping a shot past Gulls goalie Olle Eriksson Ek.
The Pechanga Arena crowd let out a collective groan.
It was that kind of night for the Gulls, who were outhit, outhustled and flat outplayed en route to suffering a 4-0 loss to Abbotsford, the Vancouver Canucks AHL making its first-ever appearance in San Diego.
The Gulls (9-10-1) were outshot 28-23, went 0-3 on the power play and have dropped four of their last five games after putting together a season best five-game winning streak at the end of November.
It was the first time San Diego was shut out this season.
Abbotsford (9-8-2-1) was paced by Sheldon Rempal’s two goals.
Rempal opened scoring by stuffing a shot past Ek just over three minutes into the game, and Abbotsford pretty much controlled the flow of play from that point on.
Canucks goalie Spencer Martin made 23 saves for the shutout but was seldom seriously challenged as the Gulls struggled to link es, create shooting lanes and put any kind of consistent pressure on the hard checking Canucks.
“I told them this morning, that is a big, physical team that plays fast,” said Gulls coach Joel Bouchard. “Just not a lot of cohesion from us tonight. We created a few good chances but really that was not the kind of game we want to play. We’ll revisit this one (today) and get ready to refocus on this weekend.”
The Gulls continue the homestand Friday night against Bakersfield and Saturday night against San Jose.
Prior to the game, Pateryn was named team captain, making him the fourth player in team history to wear the “C” on his jersey.
San Diego’s most recent captain was forward Sam Carrick, who has carved out a consistent role with the Anaheim Ducks after an early season call up.
Pateryn is in his first season with the Gulls and has split time in a 10-year career between the AHL (194 games) and NHL (282 games).
“I think he was the obvious choice for all the good reasons,” Bouchard said. “From the players’ standpoint, from the coaches’ standpoint and the organization’s standpoint. He’s been a professional since day one of training camp. He’s been a big brother for all the young guys and I think a sounding board for the veterans.”
Notable
Goalie Lukas Dostal was recalled by Anaheim. Goalie Francis Marottte was called up from ECHL Allen to serve as Ek’s backup.
Carter is a freelance writer.
