The San Diego Gulls will try to extend their five-game winning streak Sunday when they play at Ontario for the first time in the 2016-17 season.
The Gulls lost to the Reign, 2-0, on Oct. 15 at Valley View Casino Center in their only previous meeting this season as Jack Campbell stopped all 36 of their shots, were held scoreless in six power-play opportunities and allowed two power-play goals in the second period.
The Gulls defeated the Bakersfield Condors, 3-2, in overtime Saturday night in Bakersfield as Corey Tropp scored a power-play goal three minutes, 38 seconds into overtime.
Tropp took a pass from Kalle Kossila and put a shot from just outside the left goalpost past rookie Nick Ellis for his sixth goal of the season, sharing the team lead with rookie Kevin Roy, who was also credited with an assist.
Then, Tropp’s goal came 1:36 after Bakersfield defenseman Joey LaLeggia was called for slashing. Overtime in the American Hockey League is usually played with three skaters per team, but when there is a power play, the team on the power play gets an additional skater.
Roy scored the game-tying goal with 15:27 left in regulation off a shot by Tropp that skipped off the boards behind the net to Roy. The Condors (6-8-1-0) had taken a 2-1 lead 1:30 earlier on Taylor Beck’s power-play goal off assists by Anton Lander and Ryan Hamilton. Bakersfield tied the score 1:17 into the third period when Lander knocked in a rebound in his first game for the Condors, seven days after being loaned to the team by its NHL parent team, the Edmonton Oilers.
Lander’s goal set off a flurry of teddy bears being tossed onto the ice by the crowd at Rabobank Arena announced at 7,855 for the Teddy Bear Toss promotion. The bears will be donated to United Way of Kern County for distribution to organizations which assist children.
The goal ended the Gulls (7-5-1-0) season-best 108:02 shutout streak. Gulls right wing Nick Sorensen opened the scoring 8:06 into the first period when his snapshot from the slot trickled past Ellis for his second goal of the season. Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Kossila were credited with the assists.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced over the final 38:16 for the Gulls, improving to 2-3-0. Matt Hackett stopped all 14 shots he faced before leaving the game with what a team official described as an upper-body injury, suffered during a flurry in front of the net. Ellis stopped 38 of 41 shots as his record fell to 3-2-1.
The Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate, killed three of Bakersfield’s four power-play attempts, including a two-man advantage that lasted 1:13, and scored on one of their three. The Gulls are 5-0-1 when scoring the first goal and 6-0-1 when leading after the second period.
The winning streak is the Gulls longest in their two seasons in the AHL. The game was the Gulls first since Nov. 19. Games scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Tucson were postponed by the American Hockey League and Roadrunners out of respect to Tucson captain Craig Cunningham. Cunningham suffered a medical emergency on the ice before the start of the Nov. 19 game against the Manitoba Moose at the Tucson Arena and remains hospitalized.
The Gulls will next play at the Valley View Casino Center Wednesday against the Roadrunners.
— City News Service
