Finding themselves in a battle for last place in the entire league the San Diego Gulls ventured east to the desert to face-off against the only team sitting below them in the standings.
Josh Healey served the final game of his four game suspension while Chase De Leo and Olli Juolevi remained out with injury. Brayden Tracey returned from his brief injury hiatus while Sam Carrick was mysteriously absent. Brent Gates Jr drew back in to the line up in place of Carrick.
Lukas Dostal was given the start.
First Period:
The Gulls looked extremely hungry to start and also a lot more decisive than we have seen thus far this season. They were awarded two Power Plays through the first ten minutes and cashed in on the second as the first unit held the Henderson zone before Rocco Grimaldi spotted an open lane to feed BO Groulx at the back door. 1-0 Gulls.
San Diego poured on the attack after the goal, looking the fastest they have all season and enjoying the most space and open ice they have seen so far this year.
The scoring chances came thick and fast over the next few minutes and it felt like only a matter of time before the Gulls would strike again, which they did with just under seven minutes left in the period as Brayden Tracey and Jacob Perreault proved they should always be on a line together by combining for a goal using both of their strengths. Tracey – using his speed and play-making ability to draw defenders to him, and Perreault finding a soft area to receive a pass with time and space to wire a perfect shot from near the goal-line. 2-0 Gulls.
The party was just getting warmed up and the chances kept coming as Josh Lopina entered the Henderson zone with speed before pulling up, turning and finding Drew Helleson coming through the high slot. The rookie defender finally getting his first professional goal as he sent a shot that beat Laurent Brossoit through traffic. 3-0 Gulls.
The Gulls continued to enjoy possession and it almost felt like they were playing NHL23 in easy mode as a Silver Knight defender broke his stick at the blue line leading to a three on one Gulls rush lead by Grimaldi. His pass to Justin Kirkland in the high slot ended in another hard shot hitting the back of the Henderson net. 4-0 Gulls with less than a minute left in the period.
San Diego skating to the first intermission with a four goal lead and up on shots 14-8 having played their most dominant first period all season.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 4 – Henderson Silver Knights 0
Henderson managed to settle things down somewhat and contain the suddenly surging San Diego offense but could only manage to contain it for so long and Rocco Grimaldi added to his multi point night by stealing the puck Henderson blue line and feeding BO Groulx down low who made a nice move to get his second of the night. 5-0 Gulls.
Henderson were given some life soon after the goal as Austin Strand was whistled for hooking in the neutral zone. The Gulls were able to kill the minor without giving the Silver Knights much chance to create and we settled back to five on five once again.
Rocco Grimaldi factored in the scoring once again as he and Justin Kirkland added insult to the Silver Knights lack of defense so far by playing catch across their offensive zone, Grimaldi finishing a one-timer at the left circle for the goal and fourth point of the night. 6-0 Gulls.
Less than a minute later it was 7-0 as Nik Brouillard looked to have a beautiful chance from a nice move entering the Henderson zone but the puck bounced away – fortunately to a Pavol Regenda who then fired it across to Danny O’Regan for the easy tap-in. 7-0 Gulls.
Henderson managed to stop the bleeding and spend some time in the San Diego zone but not for long as BO Groulx was tripped making a move exiting the Gulls zone with the puck.
The Gulls spent almost the entire man advantage in the Henderson zone but this time could not convert while attempting to continue momentum after time had expired but the Silver Knights fought back and drew a call of their own – once again Strand found guilty of the infraction, this time for tripping.
With fifty seconds left in the minor Luca Profaca was tagged for hooking to give the Silver Knights a brief five on three but the hosts flubbed the opportunity through mostly their own mistakes and errant passes.
Both teams continued to exchange penalties as the period expired with play at four on four. San Diego taking a commanding 7-0 lead and ahead 20-16 in shots.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 7 – Henderson Silver Knights 0
The third period featured more penalties than scoring as teams exchanged minors throughout almost the entire twenty minute span.
Despite continuing to look like they were playing in easy mode, the Gulls could not convert on their man advantage opportunities as Jiri Patera played a much better game in relief of Laurent Broissoit.
The Gulls taking a commanding and much needed confidence boosting 7-0 win in Henderson to finally get back in the win column before they head home to face Bakersfield.
Post Game Notes:
Temper your hype
Exploding for seven goals after being stifled in many of their last few games does look great and give hope that things could be changing for the better – but let’s put things in perspective here. The Silver Knights are dead last in the league, affected by injuries, call-ups and just overall terrible goal-tending. Turns out Logan Thompson might have been the glue keeping everything together for the last couple of seasons for them. They were also missing Pavol Dorofeyev and Brendan Brisson – a significant part of their offense.
That said
Seeing the Gulls fly and be able to create with speed and space was really fun to watch. Whether or not they can continue that against their upcoming opponents is something to keep a keen eye on. It seems most teams have been deploying a tight checking game with a strategy of clogging up the neutral zone to prevent any rush or zone-entries with speed. The Gulls need to figure out a way around that.
Standings Update
The win actually moved the Gulls up two places to 29th in the league – or fourth to last. They still sit second to last in the Pacific – needing another three wins to make it back to .500 and closer to the likes of Calgary, Colorado and San Jose. They aren’t out of the race yet – but will need to start winning consistently to become a factor.
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