Goaltender John Gibson stopped all 23 shots he faced and Chris Wagner and Chris Mueller each had a goal and an assist in the first period as the San Diego Gulls defeated the San Jose Barracuda 3-0 Friday in San Jose.
Wagner opened the scoring five minutes, two seconds into the first period, off assists by Brandon Montour and Mueller. Muller put in a rebound off the pads of Barracuda goaltender Aaron Dell at 18:11 for his first goal of the season before a crowd at the SAP Center announced at 3,156.
Nick Ritchie scored a power-play goal at 15:56 of the second period, the team-leading fourth goal of the season for the Gulls’ youngest player.
The Gulls killed all five San Jose power-play chances, including a two- man advantage for 1:02 in the first period, to improve to 4-0-0-0 in American Hockey League play. The Gulls scored on one of their three power-play opportunities.
Dell made 31 saves for the Barracuda (2-2-0-1), the San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate.
The Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate, will conclude their three- game road trip Saturday at Bakersfield (1-3-0-1), the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate.
The Gulls next game at the Valley View Casino Center will be Friday against the Stockton Heat.
— City News Service
