Riding high on a four game win streak the Gulls looked to continue their upward trajectory in the win column with the news that veterans Andrew Agozzino and Vinni Littieri had been returned, along with Kodie Curran and Lukas Dostal.
Lukas Dostal was given his first start since March 13th, Vinni Littieri and Andrew Agozzino were paired with the impressive newcomer Alex Limoges while Kodie Curran came in alongside Keegan Lowe. Max Golod, Alex Dostie and Jeremy Roy were sat to make room for the newcomers.
Lukas Dostal was the busier of the two net minders to start as he was called upon to make some acrobatic saves in the early goings but the Gulls had by far the best opportunity of the first five minutes when Chase De Leo was sent in on a partial break on a nifty pass from Sam Carrick and although Reign net-minder Villalta made the stop, the resulting scrum in front somehow ended with the puck on the wrong side of the goal line.
Dostal continued to make quietly huge stops as he showed no signs of rust or wear while perfectly timing challenges and allowing no rebounds on high danger opportunities through the next few minutes. Soon after Dostal made yet another huge stop – robbing Arthur Kaliyev with the glove, the Gulls were given their first Power Play of the night.
The Gulls looked a heck of a lot more dangerous with the man advantage thanks to the presence of Vinni Littieri and Andrew Agozzino and it was Littieri who opened the scoring, firing a hard wrist shot from the slot after receiving a pass in space from Sam Carrick down low. 1-0 Gulls.
Doty challenged Devane to drop the gloves off of the next face-off and the two engaged in a spirited and lengthy bout while just prior to the play Matt Lorito had been called for tripping to send San Diego to the penalty kill.
During the kill Brendan Guhle caught a stick in the face from Alex Turcotte and in a rare show of sportsmanship between bitter rivals the Kings 2019 first round pick made sure to check that Guhle was OK. On the ensuing four on four Rasmus Kupari found space on the right side and flew by San Diego defenders to fire a hard wide angle shot on Dostal that beat the rookie net-minder and tied things up at one a piece.
The Reign continued to press after the goal, clanging the post behind Dostal and buzzing the San Diego zone. While Chase De Leo continued to be the Gulls best forward of the period as he came in on his second partial break of the first twenty minutes to set up another San Diego push and sustained possession in the Ontario zone.
But the Reign took advantage of a broken play and came back the other way, once again getting one by Dostal on the right side this time courtesy of Aidan Dudas. 2-1 Reign.
With just over a minute left in the period Trevor Carrick had his stick slashed out of his hand and the Gulls headed to their third Power Play of the night. Just over forty seconds into the man advantage Quinton Byfield was called for hooking on Vinni Littieri as he came into the Reign zone and San Diego found themselves on a five on three with 23 seconds left in the period.
The two man advantage would however; carry over into the middle frame and San Diego headed to the first intermission down by one but ahead 16-12 in shots.
The Gulls could not convert on the brief five on three that carried over to start the second but Alex Limoges continued the impressive start to his pro career by retrieving a puck behind the Reign net and firing it out front to Chase De Leo just as the second penalty was expiring. The to-that-point-snake-bitten veteran wasting no time in firing it by Villalta to bring the scores even at two. 2-2. Who was it that was saying Limoges should be on the Power Play? Hmmmmmm
Dostal continued to make timely saves as he read a rush and came out to challenge then cover a dangerous Reign shot-pass from the point on an Ontario rush moments later.
San Diego responded with some sustained pressure of their own and drew a call in the process as Alex Turcotte was found guilty of holding and the Gulls newly invigorated Power Play went to work. It took almost the entire span of the minor to solve Villalta but solve him they did as Sam Carrick followed up a rebound and dug it out from the under siege Ontario net-minder to put the Gulls ahead. The Reign initially protested but had little argument given the officials had not called the play dead. 3-2 Gulls.
Minutes later Nik Brouillard was called for tripping on a play that really could have gone either way and San Diego went back to the penalty kill with nine minutes left in the second period. Off of the face-off Trevor Carrick was felled by a hard wrist shot that hit him right on the inside ankle from point blank range and lay prone while the remaining Gulls on the unit desperately attempted to clear the zone which they thankfully did.
It felt like a true Gulls – Reign game when back to back post-whistle scrums occurred toward the end of the Reign Power Play and Andrew Agozzino took advantage of the added adrenaline by bursting onto a great pass from Brendan Guhle through the neutral zone with speed, beating Villalta one on one to put San Diego ahead by two. 4-2 Gulls.
Ontario drew a penalty a few shifts after as Andrew Poturalski got his stick caught in Alex Turcottes skates and the Gulls headed back to the penalty kill with time winding down in the second period. The Reign looked a lot more dangerous with this man advantage but Lukas Dostal rose to the occasion and stopped everything he could see – including multiple point shots through traffic.
Josh Mahura made matters worse when he was called for tripping with just over two minutes left in the period. San Diego did a much better job of preventing the Reign from getting set and even had a shorthanded opportunity of their own via Vinni Litteri but the score remained 4-2 as the horn sounded to end the period. Shots were 31 to 22 for the Gulls.
The penalty parade continued to start the third as Andrew Agozzino was sent for slashing just over two minutes into the period. But it would be San Diego who took advantage of the special teams instance as Bryce Kindopp was sprung by a great clearance pass from Brendan Guhle, went in alone on Villalta and fed it five hole to make it 5-3 shorthanded.
The Gulls piled on with back to back to back offensive shifts and Hunter Drew came close to making it 6-3 as he made a power-forward-esque drive to the net but was stopped.
Just as it felt like the Reign might have successfully swung momentum back in their direction by dominating a San Diego Power Play with more dangerous shorthanded opportunities on Dostal than were generated by the Gulls man advantage, Sam Carrick poured salt in the wound by making it 6-2 on a great individual effort. Slipping is way by Ontario defenders and moving across the Reign net to stick handle the puck by Villalta.
The game seem to coast from there and in the dying twenty seconds Josh Mahura got in on the fun by setting up Bryce Kindopp for his second of the night with a perfect feed across the slot as he beat a defender with speed on the left side. 7-2 Gulls.
The Gulls earning their fifth straight win and first for Lukas Dostal since the 17th of February.
Post Game Notes:
Sign This Kid
Just to put things into perspective. Alex Limoges is currently scoring at a 1.33 point per game click. By contrast Kings fifth overall draft pick Alex Turcotte is scoring at a 0.59 per game rate. Now ill allow that Turcotte is just twenty while Limoges is twenty three but the point I am trying to make is just give this kid a deal and give it to him yesterday.
AHL TV on the Firestick Still Sucks
AHL TV and its time traveling issues on the Firestick was the worst it has ever been tonight. Based on my theory that it only seems to occur near or around a point of importance such as a goal or big save – it would make sense that it reared its ugly head again tonight when so many goals were scored as to a relatively calm affair such as the last game against the Roadrunners where only three goals total were tallied. That said. Fucks sake AHL TV sort out your shit or I wont be paying for it next season and will find some other means because right now its not worth the money and I know I am not the only one who feels this way.
Keen Kindopp
I mused that it may have been Golod or Kindopp that made Morand expandable but Kindopp delivered the evidence tonight. He now has the same amount of career short handed goals as Morand through 56 fewer games played. I know that isn’t a great comparable or sample size and it still hurts because I miss him so but Kindopp is definitely proving that he has both the scoring touch and the defensive acumen to be a great two way forward.
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