Keaton Thompson scored his third goal of the season and fellow defenseman Brian Cooper his second and rookie Kevin Boyle stopped 35 of 36 shots as the San Diego Gulls defeated the Tucson Roadrunners, 4-1, Friday evening at Valley View Casino Center.
Nick Sorensen and Corey Tropp also scored as the Gulls (32-14-2-2) won for the 14th time in 16 games.
Thompson opened the scoring with a power-play goal seven minutes, eight seconds into the first period. The goal was Thompson’s first since Dec. 31. He had played 20 games without scoring.
The Gulls increased their lead to 2-0 at 15:29 of the first period when Sorensen deflected Tyler Morley’s pass into the net.
Cooper scored for the first time since Jan. 25, also against the Roadrunners, when he put a wrist shot past the screened Roadrunners goaltender Marek Langhamer 3:23 into the second period
The goal prompted Tucson coach Mark Lamb to replace Langhamer, who had allowed three goals in 11 shots, with Adin Hill.
Defenseman Dysin Mayo scored a power-play goal 7:36 into the second period, his first goal in his 11 games with the Roadrunners (22-22-6-0), the Arizona Coyotes American Hockey League affiliate.
Tropp scored the lone goal of the third period before a crowd announced at 8,755.
Hill stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.
Both teams scored on one of five power-play opportunities.
Center Sam Carrick and left wing Spencer Abbot made their debuts for the Gulls, two days after they were acquired by their NHL parent team, the Anaheim Ducks, in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and loaned to the Gulls.
Carrick assisted on Thompson’s goal. Abbott took two shots.
There were two fights. Gulls right wing Scott Sabourin and Tucson defenseman Jarred Tinordi received five-minute major penalties for their fight 8:16 into the first period, as did Thompson and Roadrunners left wing Mitch Moroz for their brawl with 10:07 left in the game.
The victory was the Gulls second over Tucson in four days and improved their record against the Roadrunners to 7-1-0-1.
The Gulls will next play Sunday at San Jose. Their next game at Valley View Casino Center will be Wednesday, also against San Jose, the San Jose Sharks AHL affiliate.
— City News Service
