Staying on the road and heading further east the Gulls arrived in Colorado to face the Eagles on a Wednesday night, the first of a three game set that concludes this weekend. Brayden Tracey returned to the line-up from whatever mystery injury or illness kept him out of the last game but both BO Groulx and Greg Pateryn were noticeably absent after leaving the last game midway through with injury. Nathan Larose, called up from Tulsa earlier in the week – was inserted in to cover for Pateryn.
Danny O’Regan was moved to center to cover for the giant hole left by Groulx but no other changes were made to the lines, other than Larose coming in for Pateryn. Lukas Dostal was given his sixth straight start.
First Period:
Given the length of time between meetings for these two clubs it took the first three minutes of action before we saw any real scoring chances or shots on goal. Most of that feeling out process was spent matching hit for hit and drawing lines in the neutral zone as the battle for possession began in earnest.
Colorado took an early lead in possession and got to work on their speedy and fluid possession game. Keeping Dostal on his toes with point shots through traffic as well as trying to find seams or open cross-ice passing opportunities. The Gulls star goaltender was up to the task and turned aside everything as San Diego suddenly found themselves out shot 6-1 at the midway point of the period.
A flagrant cross-check that caused Brent Gates to ride dangerously against the glass in the Eagles zone resulted in the first Power Play of the game going the Gulls way and San Diego set to work with the man advantage.
It took the Gulls all of ten seconds to capitalize as a face-off win by O’Regan came back to Brouillard who then fed Lettieri in space. The veteran scoring winger wasting no time in firing it by Colorado netminder Justus Annunen before the Eagles could even get set to defend the play. 1-0 Gulls on just their second shot of the game.
Play continued at five on five and mostly back and forth for most of the rest of the period until a very obvious and bad interference penalty incurred by Nathan Larose put the Gulls under additional pressure. Once again Lukas Dostal was equal to the task – with San Diego missing their penalty killing face-off ace, the Bakery kept things tight and allowed his team to escape the minor unscathed.
The physicality dominated play for much of the rest of the period with Keaton Middleton going after Greg Printz after he kindly requested he keep out of his goaltenders crease. Hunter Drew came to the former Penn State forwards rescue but it gave an indication of what may be to come.
The Gulls heading to the first intermission up by one but way behind in shots 17-5. Lukas Dostal proving stellar and unfazed in turning any and all shots aside.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Colorado Eagles 0
Contrary to expectations it was the Gulls who came out with a definitive push to start the second lead by the Brouillard line. However; it did not take the Eagles long to re-establish their forecheck and continue to pile the shots on Dostal who in response, remained impenetrable.
During one such sequence of attack the Ducks blue chip goal-tending prospect made one seemingly impossible save with the paddle of his stick in mid-air across the front of the net, denying former Gull Keifer Sherwood of a sure goal (no pun intended).
As Colorado continued to dominate play the Gulls once again found a way to tally against the grain – with the Eagles highly regarded play-maker Jean-Luc Foudy leading a rush but then losing the puck near the blue line after a hit from Hunter Drew (that the Eagles faithful felt should have been a penalty) the Gulls counter-rushed and Drew continued his searing scoring streak by dropping a pass back to Jack Badini as he gained the Colorado zone. The former Harvard forward slamming home a shot to make it 2-0 Gulls on their tenth shot of the game.
Again the remainder of the period was spent with both teams escalating the physical play and trading hit for hit. It was refreshingly good to see some bite from the Gulls as they defended their crease – Trevor Carrick providing a good example for his squad by dropping the gloves with Stefan Matteau when the rugged Eagle forward attempted to get near the San Diego net.
Brayden Tracey was then called for a dangerous high stick that was largely unintentional but still avoidable as he went to bat a puck in mid-air but also struck an Eagle in the face in the process. Then during the Eagles Power Play Greg Printz was found guilty of roughing/interfering with Keifer Sherwood to give the Eagles a five on three for a full forty seconds. Sherwood proving his magic of goading/drawing calls even when playing for the opposition.
Once again Dostal frustrated the Eagles – as the Gulls successfully killed both penalties while garnering two scoring chances in the process, including the first few seconds of the five on three. The chippy play continued and didn’t appear to be going away any time soon as the Gulls headed to the second intermission up by two but again largely out-shot 21-12 on the period to bring the total to 38-18.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Colorado Eagles 0
There wasn’t a heck of a lot of space or clean play to start the third but the Eagles did – again – enjoy the greater quantity of shots through the first few minutes.
That said – San Diego once again added to their lead against the flow of play, gaining the Colorado zone, winning some puck battles and getting a shot on net from the point whose rebound was then pounced on by Danny O’Regan as he cruised by the front of the Eagles net unhindered. 3-0 Gulls.
Brayden Tracey drew a roughing call as he was hit up high in the neutral zone near the side boards and once again the Gulls Power Play wasted no time in making the Eagles pay. Brent Gates won the face-off and passed it off to Hunter Drew who skated down the right side before dropping it to Trevor Carrick at the point. The veteran defender had plenty of time to wind up and wire a shot that beat Annunen clean. 4-0 Gulls.
Greg Printz bravely faced down and partially held his own against the much bigger and seemingly roided-out Keaton Middleton as the two exited their respective penalty boxes.
Then Jacob Perreault was jumped by Jacob MacDonald off of the next face-off as the Eagles resorted to violence in response to being unable to solve Dostal.
The Eagles did finally get one by Dostal on a partial break created by a heavy hit on Vinni Lettieri near the player benches just past the midway point of the period. 4-1 Gulls.
With San Diego appearing to be running out of gas and with just under four minutes left the Eagles got another one by Dostal on another outnumbered attack as Mikhail Maltsev was able to collect a rebound from a Dylan Sikura shot and slide it by Dostal on his way to the Gulls net. 4-2 Gulls.
The Eagles pulled Annunen soon after the goal with three and a half minutes remaining, as the Colorado crowd grew louder in anticipation for every chance and opportunity. The Gulls managed to cling to their two goal lead and with under thirty seconds left a weak Eagles dump in allowed Dostal to step forth from his net, collect the puck and all in one motion measure a shot from behind his own red line toward the Colorado goal. The most beautiful, magnificent, spectacular Gulls goal of this early new year. Gulls 5-2.
Post Game Notes:
Temper Your Expectations
This game looked so one-sided on the scoreboard but it was anything but, Dostal was a wall and Annunen was a sieve. As the stats kids would say – the next few games things should regress to their normal levels and the score will be closer as a result. They also very clearly missed BO Groulx in the defensive face-off circle, something that will likely burn them under normal – non Dostal god-mode circumstances. That isn’t to say the Gulls played a very good game, they absolutely did. Just don’t expect the next two games to be anywhere near as easy.
I Miss Andy
I don’t know why but my AHL TV won’t play the away feed on the replays so I have been stuck with the opposing teams commentators for the last three games. It is nice to revel in their pain as their team loses but also sucks to hear them say EL VEIN US instead of EL VIN US.
BAKERY BAKERY BAKERY
This should have been point one but I mostly write these in the second intermission so I haven’t seen the goalie goal yet (though I know its coming). That said, if it isn’t at all painfully obvious that Dostal has elevated his game yet another level, it is now. He is now – in my opinion – at the AHL-era-Gibson stage of ability; that point where he is clearly too good for the AHL and single-handedly stealing games as he so pleases. The next test will be if he can keep this up on a consistent basis with the bigger breaks between games that the AHL provides. It also begs the question as to whether or not we see Eriksson Ek this weekend on the back to back if Dostal continues to keep just being lights out.
Player Movement Is Coming
The NHL trade deadline approaches and I know I said this last year but this time it is different – there is a new GM in charge and he has publicly stated that he wont let his pending UFAs walk without getting something in return. What that means for the Gulls is not exactly crystal clear but one thing that we can put a good bet on is some of the more consistent and high scoring players will likely be recalled once these UFAs are dealt. That is not to say the Ducks won’t receive prospects or players in return – who could either suit up for the Ducks or Gulls – or who may be too young for the AHL. Either way – it may not be good in the short term for San Diego, but it will be better in the long run as the Ducks continue their rebuild and stockpile some good young talent in the process.
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