March 19, 2022

By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com

The San Diego Gulls and Henderson Silver Knights are tied 3-3 in the third period of tonight’s game at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

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Paul Dorofeyev brought Henderson within one, converting on a second chance 2:05 into the last frame.

Jake Leschyshyn equalized the game, tipping a Jonas Rondbjerg shot Olle Eriksson Ek at 5:57 of the period. Both players have multi-point performances, each registering a goal and an assist.

Summary of the second period

San Diego’s power play found its way into the second quarter, turning a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

Alexandre Limoges scored a power-play goal to tie San Diego at 8:20 of the first period.

The forward kept the puck at the blue line, finding the approach Nicolas Brouillard with a cross pass. His shot from the point was blocked, but the puck found Limoges in the slot, who beat an attempt past Henderson goaltender Dillon Kelley for his 13th goal of the season.

Limoges collected its seventh point (1-6=7) in its last six games while Brouillard extended its point streak (4-3=7) to five games.

Perreault, who collected the secondary assist, has 2-7 = 9 points in his last 11 games.

Trevor Carrick put San Diego ahead on the power play with 7:03 remaining in the period. The defenseman nailed a clearance attempt from Henderson, carrying the puck into the low slot before firing a shot past Kelley for his ninth goal of the season.

Bryce Kindopp scored seconds after a San Diego power play, extending the lead to two with 3:33 left in the period.

Danny O’Regan picked up the rebound from a Carrick shot behind the net, looking to move the puck past the goal line. His pass hit Henderson’s Ben Jones skate and found an open Kindopp in the slot, which buried his chance past Kelley for his ninth goal of the season.

Carrick has a multi-point performance (1-1=2) and 3-1=4 in his last five games. Kindopp has points in consecutive games and 2-2=4 points in his last four games.

Summary of the first period

Rondbjerg opened the scoring at 9:35 of the first period, converting on a loose puck past Eriksson Ek. Henderson defenseman Zack Hayes fired a shot toward the net, where the puck hit Leschyshyn and went free in front. Rondbjerg eventually picked up the rebound and shoved it into the net for his 12th goal of the season.

It’s the first time the Silver Knights have scored the opening goal this season.

Eriksson Ek kept Henderson from extending his lead, going down the right to stop an excellent scoring chance from Dorofeyev with less than a minute left in the frame. He finished the first period with six saves.

The Swedish goaltender begins his first American Hockey League shutout tonight, stopping 22 shots in a 4-0 win over reigning Ontario on March 12. Eriksson Ek is 5-11-1 with one shutout, a 3.29 goals-against average (GAA) and .883 save percentage (SV%).

Kelley, who was making his AHL debut, stopped all three shots he saw. The Petoskey, MI native played in 11 ECHL games with Kansas City and Rapid City, posting a 9-0-0 record. He also spent time with the SPHL’s Macon Mayhem, posting a 2-9-0 record with a 3.06 GAA and 0.913% SV.

News and pre-game notes

Tonight is the sixth meeting between the two Pacific Division opponents and the third in a four-game regular season series. The Gulls are unbeaten against the Silver Knights, including a 3-1 victory last night at Pechanga Arena. Jacob Perreault, Greg Printz and Brouillard scored for the Gulls, supporting the keeper by Lucas Dostal 34 backups. The win put the Gulls within four points of the sixth-placed Silver Knights in the ever-tighter Pacific Division playoff race. San Diego enters tonight holding the seventh – and final – playoff spot, six points ahead of the eighth-placed San Jose Barracuda.

The Gulls have also won four straight games, thanks in large part to their new front line of Perreault, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Limoges. Perreault has points in consecutive games and 2-6=8 points in his last 10 games. The same goes for linemates Limoges (0-6=6) and Groulx (4-2=6), both of whom have assists for six points in their last five games.

Brouillard continued his solid game, scoring the first shorthanded goal of his AHL career in last night’s win. With 4-2=6 in his last four games, Brouillard tonight leads all AHL defensemen in goals (12) and is tied for eighth in points (12-22=34). He leads the Gulls in assists and points and ranks second on the team in goals.