STOCKTON, Calif. – The Stockton Heat start the season with their best ever at 3-0, as the Gulls fell in the 5-3 game Saturday night. Brandon Davidson had three points in the home opener, along with three other players, Ryan Lomberg, Glen Gawdin and Eetu Tuulola, each with a goal and assist each for the night.
Heat goalie Artyom Zagidulin makes a glove save as Alex Dostie (10) looks for a rebound
San Diego led the scoring for the night at 3:13 as Kiefer Sherwood’s shot beat Artyom Zagidulin in the Stockton net. But their early lead would come to a fairly quick ending, when Gawdin scored the equalizer at the 7:22 marker. The two teams would remain knotted until midway through the second period.
Buddy Robinson (10) looks to screen Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle as Pat Sieloff (13) defends
Last season’s fan favorite, Lomberg, scored his first goal of the season with the only goal of the second.
Davidson and Tuulala each scored in the third period, to give the Heat a commanding 4-1 lead, until Jack Kopacka scored an unassisted goal against Zagidulin at 14:34. Then another goal by the Gulls about a minute later closed the gap to 4-3, by Andrew Poturalski. But, Zagindulin held up the net, stopping anything that came his way. Buddy Robinson’s empty net goal with a minutes remaining seemed to help to give the Heat the energy they needed to hold the Gulls off.
Alan Quine (22) looks to make a pass as he moves up ice with team mate Buddy Robinson (10)
The game became heated in the final seconds, with a couple of fighting penalties dished out, between Robinson and Patrick Sieloff with eight seconds remaining. Robinson’s empty net goal helped him continue his three game streak.
Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle makes a blocker save
Zagidulin is now 3-0 for the season in three consecutive games, having stopped 21 shots for the win. Gulls, Kevin Boyle takes the loss with 27 saves in his first game of the season.
The Heat will host the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday, as they look to continue their streak.
Stockton Heat Center Adam Ruzicka (29) moves the puck up ice during first period action
Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle looks to make a stop on a shot by Glenn Gawdin (21) as Simon Benoit (5) tries to deflect the shot
Buddy Robinson (10) and Pat Sieloff (13) battle late in the third period
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