SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The San Diego Gulls (4-5-1-0) defeated the Manitoba Moose (6-5-0-1) by the score of 6-3 in the finale of Military Weekend in front of 11,024 fans at Valley View Casino Center. The Gulls split the season series with Manitoba (2-1-1) and are now 1-3-0-0 in the second half of back-to-back contests this season. With the victory, Gulls Head Coach Dallas Eakins picked up his 200th career AHL win.
San Diego hosted its second-annual Salute to Heroes Night as part of Military Weekend, welcoming more than 21,000 fans to Valley View Casino Center over the weekend while earning back-to-back victories.
“These wins against Manitoba were extremely important for our club,” said Eakins. “It was even better to do it in front of our military.”
“I thought our fans inspired our players and obviously this weekend having such a large group of military, they made it extra special. It isn’t a one-day thing for my team. We’ve worked hard to make some really good relationships with a number of different parts of the military and they are part of our lives and we shouldn’t be thanking these people once a year or one weekend a year. We should be thanking them every day.”
San Diego started fast and earned the first power play of the game. The Gulls generated a few good looks, but could not put a puck past Manitoba goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. The Moose gained some momentum as a result of the penalty kill and took a 1-0 lead at 6:58 as Chase De Leo (2-0=2) corralled a drop pass and beat Matt Hackett off the rush.
San Diego would respond quickly though, as Nick Tarnasky potted his third goal of the season on a snap shot from the left circle.
Just 20 seconds later, Brandon Montour stunned Pavelec with a blast just outside the blue line to give the Gulls a 2-1 advantage. Montour is now tied for the team-lead with 4-8=12 points (2nd among all AHL defensemen) this season and has a four-game point streak (2-4=6).
San Diego ended the frame on a high note, surviving a Montour double-minor for high-sticking and held a 2-1 lead into the dressing room.
The Gulls found themselves in penalty trouble early in the second period, but were opportunistic down a man as Jordan Samuels-Thomas netted San Diego’s first shorthanded marker of the season off a pretty feed from Stefan Noesen. Samuels-Thomas has recorded two goals in two games as a Gull.
A few moments after the Samuels-Thomas goal, Manitoba would strike back on the same power play when Chase De Leo recorded his second goal of the game, burying a loose rebound past Hackett.
San Diego earned the next man advantage and Corey Tropp scored his fourth goal of the season by batting the puck out of mid air and into the net as San Diego took a 4-2 edge.
In the latter moments of the period, Zac Larazza finished off a back door feed from Austin Brassard to push the Gulls advantage to 5-2, a margin they would hold into the final frame.
The Moose inched closer after Jimmy Lodge’s first goal of the season at 6:37, but Kevin Roy would later tally his team-leading fifth goal on the power-play and the Gulls hung on for a 6-3 win.
San Diego netminder Matt Hackett allowed three goals on 40 shots, picking up his first win of the season (1-3-0-0) in his fifth appearance. Ondrej Pavelec started for the Moose, stopping 26-of-32 shots (3-2-1-0).
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