The Gulls snapped a seven-game winless streak with a 3-1 victory over the Tucson Roadrunners at Pechanga Arena on Saturday night.
San Diego (28-31-4-2) was outshot 23-21 and went 0-for-3 on the power play but erased a 1-0 deficit on third-period goals from Brent Gates Jr., Jacob Perrault and Greg Printz while goalie Lukas Dostal finished with 22 saves.
Perrault’s goal at 16:23 of the third proved to be the game-winner.
In a tightly played game in which both teams struggled to create clean scoring chances, Tucson scored first when Colin Thiesen took a feed from Oliver Chau and beat Dostal at 4:02 of the second period.
That lead held up through a second period in which the Gulls had three power play opportunities but struggled to create clean scoring chances.
Rookie Josh Lopina appeared to tie the game midway through the third period but his shot at a wide open net glanced off the post.
San Diego continued to apply pressure and finally broke through with just over five minutes remaining when Gates grabbed a rebound and stuffed a shot past Rasmus Korhonen for his 11th goal of the season.
Perrault then ripped a shot from the left wing that beat Korhonen top shelf for his 14th goal of the season. Printz capped scoring with an empty netter with 32.6 seconds remaining.
San Diego was coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Abbotsford on Wednesday night, a game in which San Diego was unable to hold onto to a 4-1 second period lead.
The team had a quick turnaround after a shootout loss at Henderson the previous night and a long bus ride home.
“We gave a good effort (against Abbotsford), especially after traveling all night and you know, a short rest,” Gulls assistant coach Dan Jacob said. “Fell short — some mental mistakes, some stuff we definitely need to clean up before the playoffs start. It’s not really frustrating, it’s actually a good thing that’s happening now.”
Starting with this Tuesday night’s game against Stockton at Pechanga, the Gulls will have three games to tighten things up and get ready for the playoffs.
Playoff primer
The Gulls likely will face Ontario in a best-of-three first round series that likely would begin May 4 at Ontario. As the seventh seed, the Gulls are not eligible to host a first-round game and all three games would be played in Ontario. Should they advance, the Gulls would face top seed Stockton in a best-of-five second-round series and would get at least one game at Pechanga Arena.
Rookie impresses
Rookie Blake McLaughlin has wasted no time making a good impression. The center played his fourth professional game Saturday night and continues to make a smooth transition after a stellar college career at Minnesota, where he helped the Gophers make it all the way to the Frozen Four.
McLaughlin scored his first professional goal Wednesday, and has flashed a combination of speed, stick and skating skill and has notably helped as a face off man. He is one of three rookies who ed the Gulls after completing a college season ing center Josh Lopina (UMass) and defensemen Drew Helleson (Boston College).
“Well, I like the guy that takes the opportunity that is given and he’s certainly done that,” Bouchard said after Wednesday’s game. “He brought a lot of life to the party; he was really good.”
Carter is a freelance writer.
