ABBOTSFORD HAS GULLS’ NUMBER SO FAR THIS AHL SEASON

The first time the Gulls hosted the Abbotsford Canucks this season, they were pushed around on the ice and blanked on the scoreboard.

On Friday night, the Gulls were more engaged physically and created more shots offensively but the end result was similar as the visitors from British Columbia were better at cashing in chances en route to a 5-1 victory at Pechanga Arena.

The Gulls (10-13-2-0) suffered a 4-0 loss to Abbotsford on Dec. 15.

The teams meet again tonight and the Gulls again will be tested by a big, physical team that checks hard, plays disciplined in the defensive zone and has made nothing easy on the boys in orange and blue so far this season.

“They were fast, they were physical,” Gulls coach Joel Bouchard said before Friday’s

game about that Dec. 15 meeting. “We didn’t handle that physical part too well, which is kind of normal. We were still under 20 games played at that time and it was the first time we had a team that physical against us. Let’s see how we do. We still have work to do.”

The Gulls were stronger with the puck, held their own on the boards and generally matched up better physically Friday night.

They finished with a 24-23 edge in shots on goal but went 0 for 2 on the power play.

Michael DiPietro (24 saves) earned the win in net for the Canucks (11-12-3-1).

Francis Marotte made his second start of the season in net for the Gulls and finished with 18 saves but was beaten by Phil Di Giuseppe, John Stevens and Tristen Nielson as the Gulls fell behind 3-0.

Forward Lucas Elvenes, who was signed off of waivers this week, made his Gulls debut and scored at 9:46 of the third period to draw San Diego within 3-1 but Abbotsford pulled away from there.

It was the seventh time this season that the Gulls were limited to one or fewer goals in a game.

Getting the call

Issues with COVID have created scheduling and roster headaches for most teams in the AHL but the almost constant roster fluctuation has led to some big moments for a few Gulls.

Forwards Jacob Perrrault and Brayden Tracey and goalie Lukas Dostal recently made their NHL debuts with the Anaheim Ducks after the big club faced roster issues related to the ongoing virus.

Most notably, Dostal recorded 33 saves for the Ducks in a 4-3 shootout win over Detroit last Sunday.

Dostal was also named one of the “Three Stars” of the game, quite a thrill for the 21year-old who was selected in the third round of the 2018 Draft.