Mar 12, 2022
By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls brought peace to a vast and troubled Galaxy tonight as they shut out the Ontario Reign 4-0 to close out the team’s Star Wars Night benefitting Rady Children’s Hospital at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
This game marks the first time in franchise history San Diego recorded consecutive shutouts and the first of goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek’s American Hockey League career, who made 22 saves on the way to his fifth win of the season.
“It’s a great feeling, of course,” Eriksson Ek said. “I’ve been struggling a little bit here lately and it’s kind of a relief. It feels really good and helped the team to get a win.”
Benoit Olivier-Groulx also became one with the Force as the center tallied two unassisted goals (2-0=2) in the outing to record the second multi-goal performance of his career.
“Well, I liked the way we adjusted from last week to this week, from Wednesday to Friday and to Saturday,” Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said. “We’re in the trenches right now. We’re getting a lot of games, we’re playing some good teams, but I like the way the players bought into the adjustment and you can tell that they’re doing what we’re telling them and you can tell the success and the recipe works. So, it’s always fun. It’s a long season, it’s a long process, but I’m happy the way we adjusted, as a coach, and it was two games this weekend that were well played.”
Groulx guided the Gulls rebel fleet to an ideal start with a goal 4:49 into the first period to open the scoring.
Groulx carried the puck into Ontario’s zone and lost it at the far-side circle. However, he pressed Reign defenseman Markus Phillips, forcing him to cough up a puck that Groulx took to a wide-open slot and whipped past Reign netminder Matthew Villalta. The center extended his goal streak to a third game (3-1=4) with the goal, matching his career high.
“I think we’ve…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at San Diego Gulls…