Late Goal Gives Gulls Third Consecutive Victory To Open Season

SAN DIEGO, CA — Defenseman Keegan Lowe scored with 4.7 seconds to play on his only shot to give the San Diego Gulls a 2-1 victory over the Ontario Reign Wednesday evening in Irvine.

Lowe took a pass from Alex Dostie and put a shot from just outside the left faceoff circle past Ontario goaltender Matthew Villata for his first goal of the season. Matt Lorito was also credited with an assist.

"To be honest, I blacked out a bit," Lowe said of the goal. "I knew there wasn't much time up on the clock. I took a peek on the way up (the ice). They want us up in the rush so I followed the play up.

"The goalie tried to clear the puck so it went past their players. I just went in and tried to put it to the side he wasn't on and it worked out."

Lowe is a son of Hockey Hall of Famer Kevin Lowe, a six-time Stanley Cup winner with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers and later the Oilers' coach and general manager.

The Gulls (3-0-0-0) tied the score with 10 minutes, 59 seconds left in the third period when defenseman Josh Mahura scored on a breakaway nine seconds after getting out of the penalty box.
Dosti received the assist for taking control of the puck after a Reign pass at the end of the power play slid past the point and into the neutral zone and passing to the streaking Mahura.

Ontario (0-3-0-0) opened the scoring 1:16 into the second period when captain Brett Sutter carried the puck the length of the ice and put a shot over the shoulder of Gulls' goaltender Lukas Dostal for an unassisted shorthanded goal.

Sutter is a son of former Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter, who guided them to the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. The elder Sutter is now an advisor to the coaching staff of the Anaheim Ducks, the Gulls' NHL parent team.

The Reign are the Kings' American Hockey League affiliate.

The Gulls killed all six of the Reign's power-play opportunities, five in the third period, including two-man disadvantages for 1:05, :15 and 1:04.

The Gulls were scoreless on their six power-play opportunities.

The Gulls were out-shot 41-27, including 13-7 in the first period and 14-9 in the second.

Dostal (3-0-0-0) made 40 saves, lowering his goals against average to 1.67.

"It was for sure a weird game," Lowe said. "It wasn't our best but it will expose some stuff we can work on and get back to on the drawing board here.

"There's a lot of stuff we can do better. We had a great game from our goalie there. He definitely kept us in it. Keeping them to one goal on 40- plus shots is pretty incredible work by him. It slowed down a little bit in the third but when the scales are tipping their way in the penalties, eventually they're going to start coming."

Villalta (0-2-0-0) made 25 saves.

The Gulls have matched their best start in their six seasons in the AHL. They were also 3-0-0-0 to start the 2015-16 season, their first in the league.

The Gulls were involved in their first fight of the season with defenseman Keegan Kanzig and Ontario left wing Bokondji Imama both drawing five-minute major penalties for their brawl at 8:15 of the second period.

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.

— City News Service