TUCSON, Ariz. – The San Diego Gulls (19-12-2-2, 42 pts.) scored a franchise record eight goals, including five in the third period, in a convincing 8-1 victory over the Tucson Roadrunners (20-11-5-0; 45 pts.) at Tucson Arena on Wednesday night. San Diego extended its unbeaten run to seven games (6-0-0-1), the second-longest unbeaten stretch this season (previous: franchise record eight-game win streak (8-0-0) from Nov. 
11-Dec. 2), and has outscored its opponents 30-13 during the point streak.
The Gulls have won eight of the last 10 games (8-1-0-1) and have earned standings points in 11 of the past 12 games (8-1-1-2) and 20 of the last 27 overall (17-7-1-2). The Gulls are also unbeaten in five consecutive road contests dating back to Dec. 29 at Texas (5-0-0-1) in addition to posting a 6-1-0-1 record in January thus far. San Diego also improved to 14-0-1 when leading after two periods, including 45-0-1 dating back to last season.
In a night that saw the club’s highest offensive output in history, the Gulls received multi-point efforts from four different players, including Ryan Garbutt (0-3=3), Tyler Morley (1-2=3), Scott Sabourin (1-1=2), and Corey Tropp (2-0=2).
At 5:17 of the first period former Gull Chris Mueller gave Tucson a 1-0 advantage when his one-timer from the right circle beat San Diego goaltender Jhonas Enroth high over the shoulder. Mueller’s goal gives him 3-3=6 points against San Diego in four games this season.
Both goaltenders were tested throughout the first period as the teams combined for 31 shots on net through 20 minutes of play. Enroth (5-1-0) made his best save of the opening frame on Anthony Duclair’s breakaway bid and Tucson’s Justin Peters stoned Chris Wagner multiple times. With the win, Enroth improved to 3-0-0 since he was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 10, posting a 1.00 GAA and .963 SV%.
With just under five minutes remaining in the first period, Tyler Morley found Corey Tropp with a no-look between-the-legs feed and the veteran deked past Peters and slid the puck into an empty net to tie the game 1-1.
Early in the second period, San Diego took a 2-1 lead on one of the more bizarre goals this season. The play started with Ryan Garbutt going hard to the net and his backhand shot was denied by Peters, but in an effort to clear the puck, Tucson defenseman Anthony DeAngelo’s clearing attempt hit Scott Sabourin and snuck under Peters.
Sabourin recorded his second multi-point of the season (also 1-1=2 on Nov. 30 vs. TUC) and now has goals in back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game goal streak from Nov. 22-24, 2013 (4-1=5) as a member of the Manchester Monarchs.
The Gulls struck again at 13:30 of the second period when Sabourin’s turnaround shot ricocheted off the pads of Peters onto the stick of Antoine Laganiere who made no mistake to put the San Diego up 3-1.
San Diego extended their lead to 4-1 when Morley made another great pass, this time to recently-acquired Max Gortz from behind the net to put the game out of reach. Tonight marked Morley’s first career three-point game and second career multi-point effort, the first coming in his pro debut on Apr. 9, 2016 vs. Stockton (1-1=2). Gortz’s goal was his first in a Gulls’ uniform and second this season after being acquired from Milwaukee on Jan. 19.
Tropp made it a 5-1 game when he accepted a breakout pass from Jaycob Megna and finished off the breakaway by deking Peters once again. Tropp co-leads San Diego in goals (11) with defenseman Brandon Montour, and also leads the team with nine multi-point games on the campaign. The Michigan native now has 3-3=6 points in his last three games.
At 13:34 of the final frame, Gortz’s hard work in the offensive zone forced a turnover and Morley was the beneficiary as he stepped into a slap shot that beat Peters to give the Gulls a 6-1 cushion, giving the rookie center his first goal of the season and third point of the night.
Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored his team-high third shorthanded goal, which also now co-leads the AHL in shorthanded goals. Defenseman Brian Cooper scored his first professional goal to round out the scoring as San Diego’s five tallies in the final frame marked a franchise record for goals in a single period
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