The Gulls lost their first four meetings against the Henderson Silver Knights, the brand new affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. As the old saying goes, the 5th time is the charm.
San Diego got a pair of power play goals in the 1st period and some stellar goaltending from Lukas Dostal in a 4-1 win over the Pacific Division leaders on Saturday night in Irvine.
Andrew Agozzino and Vinni Lettieri both cashed in with a man advantage in the opening frame to give the Gulls a 2-0 lead. The Silver Knights tied it with a power play goal in the 2nd period but the final 20 minutes were all San Diego.
Benoit-Olivier Groulx (pronounced like the main character in Despicable Me) took a puck off the boards near the goal line and tried a backhander from a near-impossible angle. Sometimes good things happen when you throw the puck on net.
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The shot somehow found its way through goalie Jiri Patera and in for a 3-1 lead. Dostal made it stick, stopping 23 of 24 shots he saw, and Groulx added an empty-netter to pad his offensive stat line.
These same teams will meet again on Sunday night in Orange County.
