Sam Carrick had two goals and an assist and three San Diego Gulls teammates each had a goal and an assist helping them tie a team scoring record in an 8-3 victory over the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday in San Jose.
The Gulls scored the first four goals. After center Alexander True scored for San Jose 10 minutes, 14 seconds into the second period, the Gulls scored the next four, taking an 8-1 lead with 6:44 to play.
“We scored when presented the opportunity and I think that’s one great thing about our team,” Gulls coach Dallas Eakins said. “We are a dangerous group and you don’t want to give us much.”
The eight goals gave the Gulls 173 in their 48 games, third in the American Hockey League behind the Toronto Marlies, who have 179 in 52, and the Chicago Wolves, who have 174 in 50.
The 173 goals are the most for the Gulls through 48 games in their four seasons in the AHL. The previous high was 155 in the 2017-18 season.
The victory moved the Gulls (27-15-3-3) into a tie for second in the Pacific Division with the Barracuda (27-12-2-4). Both teams have 60 points. The Bakersfield Condors (31-15-2-1), winners of 15 straight, lead the division with 65 points.
The Gulls scored eight goals two other times in their four seasons in the AHL — Jan. 25, 2017 and Nov. 17, 2017, both against the Tucson Roadrunners.
Goaltender Jeff Glass stopped 40 of 43 shots, improving to 8-6-0-2 overall and 5-2-0-1 with the Gulls since being acquired Dec. 10 from the Marlies in exchange for future considerations.
“He was huge,” Carrick said. “We saw a couple of big saves by him on their power play. Throughout the game, (he was) just so calm and steady in there.
“He gives us a lot of confidence that we can play our game. We can play our game and make plays. If there’s a breakdown, we know he’s going to be in there standing tall for us.”
The Gulls were outshot, 43-31, including 16-10 in the first period and 17-10 in the second.
Carrick opened the scoring with a power-play goal 17:32 into the first period off assists by center Ben Street and defenseman Trevor Murphy. Carrick added a second power-play goal 11:05 into the second period, giving the Gulls a 5-1 lead.
Carrick’s 24 goals are tied for third in the AHL, three behind Chicago Wolves left wing Daniel Carr and center Joel L’Esperance, who scored 27 for the Texas Stars before being recalled by their NHL parent team, the Dallas Stars, on Friday.
Carrick assisted on Chase De Leo’s goal with 40 seconds left in the first period that gave the Gulls a 2-0 lead.
Murphy put a wrist shot past Antoine Bibeau 3:17 into the second period for his third goal in 21 games since the Gulls NHL parent team, the Anaheim Ducks, acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes Dec. 28 in exchange for left wing Giovanni Fiore and loaned him to the Gulls.
Street scored the Gulls fourth goal at 9:03 of the second period off assists by Sam Steel and Keaton Thompson before a crowd at SAP Center at San Jose announced at 2,859.
Kevin Roy assisted on Steel’s goal at 15:24 of the second period and Alex Dostie’s power-play goal at 13:16 of the third in his first game with the Gulls since last season’s finale. Roy was assigned to the Gulls by the Ducks Saturday.
Corey Tropp put in a rebound of his own shot with 7:31 to play, increasing the Gulls lead to 7-1. Tropp has scored goals in five consecutive games, matching his career high for his nine-season professional career, including seven in the AHL.
Rourke Chartier scored on the power-play with 5:22 left and Keaton Middleton an unassisted goal with 3:02 remaining for the Barracuda, the San Jose Sharks AHL affiliate.
The Gulls scored on three of their six power-play opportunities and killed six of San Jose’s seven.
Bibeau (11-7-2-3) stopped 14 of 20 shots before being replaced at the start of the third period by Josef Korenar, who stopped nine of 11.
The Gulls will conclude their six-game road trip Monday at San Jose.
— City News Service