Matt Bailey and Kenny Ryan both had a goal and assist and Anton Khudobin made 38 saves as the San Diego Gulls defeated the Stockton Heat, 4-2, Thursday in Stockton.
The Gulls scored three answered goals after 19-year-old Stockton defensman Oliver Kylington opened the scoring four minutes, five seconds into the second period.
Bailey’s short-handed goal 6:22 into the second period tied the score, 1- 1. The Gulls took a 2-1 lead when Stefan Noesen deflected a shot by Chris Wagner for a power-play goal at 13:37 of the second period.
Ryan put a backhanded shot past the Heat’s 18-year-old goaltender Nick Schneider at 7:08 of the third period for a 3-1 lead. Bailey was credited with the lone assist.
Stockton, the Calgary Flames American Hockey League affiliate, cut the margin to 3-2 on Drew Shore’s goal at 11:24 of the second period.
Nick Ritchie put the puck into an empty net with 1:05 to play off assists by Wagner and Ryan for his 16th goal in his 34 games with the Gulls. Ritchie was playing for the Gulls for the first time since Feb. 10. He was reassigned to the Gulls by the Anaheim Ducks, their NHL parent club, on Tuesday.
Schneider, who was playing in his first professional game, made 34 saves.
The Gulls killed all three of the Heat’s power-play opportunities and scored on one of their four power-play opportunities before a crowd at Stockton Arena announced at 2,902.
Khudobin is 14-2-1-1 in his last 18 starts.
The victory moved the Gulls (35-2-2-2) back into second place in the seven-team Pacific Division, .007 percentage points ahead of the Texas Stars. Because the division’s teams play an unequal amount of games, the standings are based on points percentage.
The Gulls will next play Saturday at Valley View Casino Center against the San Jose Barracuda, the San Jose Sharks AHL affiliate.
—City News Service