Joe Patarino 
1. Game of firsts
It was mentioned above, but Jordan Spence scored his first career AHL goal on Saturday. The goal came on the power play, and he was able to contribute later on, too, as his power-play point shot took two deflections on its way in off of Anderson-Dolan’s stick. He was not hesitant to shoot the puck with the man-advantage, and with Martin Frk in Los Angeles, it was nice to see him take more of a direct approach.
Brent Gates Jr. picked up his first goal of the season for San Diego. It was just his second game of the season – his first coming on Friday against Stockton. In 14 games last season between the Gulls and Rochester Americans, Gates scored two goals.
Two goaltenders also made first appearances on Saturday. For Ontario, after Sparks was pulled with what appeared to be injury-related, Parik made nine saves on 11 shots in his first game in the AHL, picking up his first win in the process.
For San Diego, Marotte made his first AHL start. The 26-year-old netminder has spent the 2021-22 season in the ECHL with the Allen Americans. He did appear in two games last season in the AHL for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.