Watch the San Diego Gulls take on the Colorado Eagles tonight at 4 p.m. in the video player above.
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Gulls will seek their best start in their six seasons in the American Hockey League Sunday when they face the Eagles for the second time in two days in Irvine.
Vinny Lettieri scored twice, including the tie-breaking goal midway through the third period, in Saturday’s 3-2 victory, the Gulls’ fourth in four games. He said the team could do a better job of “just supporting each other” Sunday.
“I think a few times we were too far away and we had to make cross- ice passes that were tough asks to make for anyone,” Lettieri said. “So I just think supporting each other better pretty much solves all the other problems as far as just getting it deep or making plays off the rush.”
Lettieri was among three players assigned to the Gulls Saturday by their NHL parent team, the Anaheim Ducks. The other two also contributed to the victory. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves. Center Andrew Agozzino assisted on the tie-breaking goal.
Lettieri poked in a rebound of a shot from the point by Hunter Drew that hit the crossbar with 10 minutes, 30 seconds to play just before Eagles goaltender Peyton Jones had a chance to fall on the puck to stop play.
Colorado coach Greg Cronin pulled Jones for a sixth attacker with less than one minute to play, but the Eagles were unable to get off a shot.
Lettieri gave the Gulls a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal 1:48 into the third period off assists by two first-round draft choices by the Ducks, defenseman Jamie Drysdale and center Trevor Zegras.
Colorado re-tied the score at 6:33 when Ryan Wagner put a wrist shot post Stolarz.
Eagles defenseman Greg Pateryn opened the scoring 6:55 into the first period when they had a two-man advantage.
The Gulls tied the score on Sam Carrick’s power-play goal at 5:39 of the second period, his 158th point as a Gull, the most by any player in their six seasons in the American Hockey League. He had shared the record with Corey Tropp.
The Gulls led in shots, 38-33, including a 15-11 advantage in the third period.
The Gulls killed Colorado’s final three power-play opportunities after allowing a goal on its first. The Gulls scored on two of their five power- play opportunities.
The victory was Gulls’ coach Kevin Dineen’s 300th in the AHL over eight seasons, including six as coach of the Portland Pirates from 2005-11. They were the Ducks’ AHL affiliate from 2005-2008. His AHL career record is 300- 176-33-35.
The Gulls were also 4-0-0-0 to start the 2015-16 season, their first in the AHL.
The game was the first of the season for the Eagles, the Colorado Avalanche’s AHL affiliate. Their scheduled games against the Stockton Heat Feb. 5-6 in Loveland, Colorado were canceled because of Stockton’s shift to the AHL’s Canadian Division for the 2020-21 season.
The Heat will be based at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home of their NHL parent club, the Calgary Flames, this season.
This was also the Eagles’ first game after the death of their founder, Ralph Backstrom, who died last Sunday at the age of 83. Backstrom played 17 seasons in the NHL, winning six Stanley Cup championships with the Montreal Canadiens, and another four in the World Hockey Association.
The 26-year-old Lettieri was signed as a free agent by the Ducks Oct. 10, after scoring two goals and assisting on six others in 46 games with the New York Rangers over two seasons. He was scoreless in his lone game with the Ducks, a 1-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes Jan. 26.
Stolarz, 27, is 6-7-4 with a 2.99 goals against average in 26 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers and Ducks. He had a 21-12-6 record with a 2.66 goals against average with the Gulls last season.
Agozzino, 30, scored two goals and assisted on six others in 44 NHL games with the Ducks, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Avalanche.
The Gulls are playing their home games at the FivePoint Arena at Great Park Ice in connection with the Ducks’ desire to have all the players in their organization be in one location under the same health protocols.