Reto Berra stopped all 26 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season and Corey Tropp had a goal and an assist as the San Diego Gulls defeated the San Antonio Rampage 3-0 Tuesday evening at Valley View Casino Center.
Kalle Kossila and Kevin Roy scored in the third period as the Gulls ended a two-game losing streak with their ninth victory in 11 games.
“We had control of the game the whole time,” Berra said. “It wasn’t a very pretty game. It was a battle but we scored some nice goals.”
Tropp opened the scoring with 26 seconds left in the first period when he put in the rebound of a shot by Andy Welinski for a power-play goal.
Following a scoreless second period, Kossila put a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the net 15 seconds into the third period off assists by Tropp and Nic Kerdiles for his 14th goal of the season.
The assist completed a “Gordie Howe hat trick” of a goal, and an assist and fight for Tropp. He drew a five-minute major penalty for his second- period fight with San Antonio defenseman Mason Geertsen.
Roy scored the game’s final goal with 12:36 remaining before a crowd announced at 6,908.
“Our defenseman were great,” Gulls coach Dallas Eakins said on his 50th birthday. “Reto was excellent as well and our forwards were doing their best to help. Our penalty kill was great, we were able to sneak in one on the power play, and that is how you are going to win games this time of year.”
The Gulls (29-19-1-0) killed all three of San Antonio’s power-play opportunities, including what was supposed to be a five-minute power-play in the second period when Korbinian Holzer received a match penalty for a check to the head.
The power play was shortened by two minutes when Rampage center Alex Belzile was called for high sticking 36 seconds into the power play.
The Gulls league-leading power play scored on one of six opportunities.
The Gulls were outshot, 26-18, including a 12-5 disadvantage in the third period.
Ville Husso made 15 saves for the Rampage, the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues American Hockey League affiliate.
The Gulls NHL parent team, the Anaheim Ducks, announced earlier Tuesday it had reassigned Berra and Kossila to the Gulls.
The Gulls will next play Friday, playing host to the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings AHL affiliate, at Valley View Casino Center.
— City News Service
