The San Diego Gulls defeated the Tucson Roadrunners in overtime tonight at Tucson Convention Center, 3-2.
San Diego now remains undefeated over Tucson this season, going 3-0-0-0.
Nikita Nesterenko found the game-winning goal just 1:25 into overtime. The goal marks Nesterenko’s first AHL goal of the season since returning to the Gulls on Jan. 15. Defenseman Nikolas Brouillard tallied an assist on the goal, giving him 11 total this season.
After deflecting the puck in on a power play, Justin Bailey tied the game up. Bailey leads all active Gulls skaters in goals this season with 13 on his record. Tristan Luneau found his ninth assist and third point in his last four games while Sasha Pastujov found his fourth point in his last four games, extending his team-leading point record to 9-19=28.
“I think it’s consistently no panic out of us,” Bailey said. “I don’t know what the analytics are, but I know in the third period, we’re definitely the top five teams in the league. So, there wasn’t really anything. Obviously that goal goes in and you don’t want to go down at any point, but for us there was no panic. We know we can go right down to the last two seconds of the game.”
Nathan Gaucher found the first goal of the night with essential help from Judd Caulfield. Gaucher has now logged four goals this season and is at the halfway point to match his total from last season. With the assist, Caulfield has totaled 10-10=20 points this season which is only five short of matching his point total from last season.
Goaltender Calle Clang proved essential once again, saving 26 of 28 shots. The win marks Clang’s eighth win this season giving him a 2.17 GAA and .913 save percentage.
Tucson and San Diego went into tonight’s game tied in points with 40 each. San Diego now takes a slight lead with 42 points following their victory tonight. The Pacific Division race remains close as only 10 points divide the Gulls sixth-place spot from the first-place spot.
“It’s a big win,” Nesterenko said. “The standings are so tight this time of year. Everyone’s around the same point mark and everyone’s fighting for playoffs so one points good, but those that extra point can go a long way when you get down all the way till the end. So, you want to get two points this time of year.”
By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
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