The San Diego Gulls showed they don’t quit, even when down by three goals, but in the end they tasted defeat on Tuesday night.
Kristian Vesalainen scored with 13 seconds in overtime to give the Manitoba Moose (31-27-4-2) 4-3 victory over the visiting Gulls (32-20-4-3).
San Diego trailed 4-3 in the first period but scored twice within eight seconds near the end of the opening 20 minutes and tied the game in the third period. By picking up a point, the Gulls temporarily moved into sole possession of second place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with 71 points. San Jose, two games in hand, and Colorado both have 70 points.
The Gulls were down 2-0 after the first 5:37 when starting goalie Kevin Boyle gave up goals on the first two shots he faced. Backup Jeff Glass came in at that point and gave up a goal nine minutes later and it was 3-0 Manitoba.
However at the 18:50 mark, Kalle Kossila scored his 13th goal of the season on the power play and just eight seconds later Ben Street scored his fourth to put the Gulls right back in the game.
Center Kiefer Sherwood then scored a short-handed goal at the 9:36 mark of the final period to send the game to overtime.
In the five-minute extra time, the Gulls only managed one shot on goal while the Moose had three, including the game-winner.
“It’s not the start we wanted,” said Sherwood, “but I think it says a lot about our group, the way we responded. It’s a game of inches and it could’ve gone either way, but I think there are positives to take out of this one.
“Our team, we have a never-quit attitude so it doesn’t matter the score. I don’t think the score should dictate how we play. We know that if we stick to our systems and we can roll four lines, we have the talent and the work ethic to get things done.”
