Comeback Comes Up Short in San Diego
Nov 1, 2019
SAN DIEGO, CA. – The San Diego Gulls built a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes and scored the game-winner midway through the third period to defeat the Colorado Eagles, 5-4 on Friday. The win was San Diego’s first of the season and also represented Colorado’s first loss away from the Budweiser Events Center during the 2019-20 campaign. Adam Werner took the loss in net, surrendering five goals on 35 shots while Gulls netminder Anthony Stolarz stopped 30 of the 34 shots he faced to collect his first victory of the season.
San Diego would jump into the driver’s seat early in the contest when forward Sam Carrick grabbed a cross-slot pass on top of the crease and fed the puck into the back of the net to give the Gulls a 1-0 lead just 3:45 into the first period.
Colorado would strike back when defenseman Conor Timmins weaved his way through the right-wing circle before snapping a shot that would beat Stolarz and tie the game at 1-1 at the 8:10 mark of the opening frame.
The Gulls would jump back on top 38 seconds later, as forward Daniel Sprong collected a loose puck just above the top of the crease and snapped it home to give San Diego a 2-1 edge. The lead would grow just 38 seconds after the Sprong tally when forward Alex Dostie tracked down another loose puck on top of the Eagles crease and sent a backhander past Werner to make it a 3-1 Gulls advantage with 10:34 remaining in the first period.
Still down by a pair as the puck dropped on the second frame, Colorado would chip into the deficit when forward Sheldon Dries flew down the left wing before cutting in front of the net and sliding the puck past Stolarz to trim San Diego’s lead to 3-2 at the 6:58 mark of the period.
A power play would stretch the Gulls advantage back to two when forward Blake Pietila snagged a rebound in the low slot and banged the puck past Werner to put San Diego on top, 4-2 with 11:33 left to play in the middle frame.
The Eagles would fight their way back to within a goal when Jacob MacDonald centered a pass between the circles where forward Igor Shvyrev would one-time a shot into the back of the net to slice the Gulls lead to 4-3 at the 15:06 mark of the second period.
Colorado would finally knot things up just 2:04 into the final period of regulation when forward Julien Nantel grabbed his own rebound at the side of the crease and fired it home to tie the game at 4-4.
The deadlock would be broken later in the period when forward Isac Lundestrom fielded a centering pass in the low slot and fed the puck past Werner to give San Diego a 5-4 edge with 8:41 left to play.
The Eagles would pull Werner in the final 90 seconds of the contest, but the move would not be able to provide any additional goal scoring and Colorado would fall by a final score of 5-4.
The Gulls outshot the Eagles, 35-34 and finished the night going 1-for-5 on the power play. Colorado was held 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.
Colorado returns to action when the Eagles take on the San Diego Gulls on Saturday, November 2nd at 8:00pm MT at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
Tickets for all regular season contests are on sale now and can be purchased at ColoradoEagles.com or by calling (970) 686-SHOT.
