In their last home game of the season the San Diego Gulls hoped to improve on their last minute loss from the previous night.
With Scott Harrington being a last minute injury scratch in the Ducks previous game – forcing them to roll with five defenders it was assumed and later confirmed that Drew Helleson was absent from the Gulls line-up due to being called up to see his first NHL action. Gage Alexander was given the start on the back to back with Luca Profaca drawing in to replace Helleson. Brent Gates drew in to replace Pavol Regenda who suffered a scary looking head injury in the previous game.
First Period:
It was all Wranglers for the first few minutes of action with three straight icings keeping the Caulfield line stuck without a change for the duration. They were eventually able to get off but the roll on effect of added Calgary momentum caused an early penalty to BO Groulx for hooking and the Wranglers took just eight seconds to convert. Winning the faceoff, setting up and firing a point shot that beat Alexander low through traffic. 1-0 Wranglers.
The Gulls tried to mount a response but it was short lived and play resorted right back to a suffocating Calgary forecheck disrupting any and all San Diego attempts at transition or play up ice.
With the defense continuing to bumble their way around in a mess of disjointed confusion an inexcusable turnover lead to another Calgary goal to make it 2-0 within the first five minutes of play. 2-0 Wranglers.
Finally showing some signs of what they spent much of the previous game doing the top line spent the next few minutes cycling the puck and throwing shot after shot on net – doing everything but get the Gulls on the board.
Then a seemingly harmless dump and chase play led to the Wranglers net-minder Oscar Dansk come out to play and throw the puck up the boards where it was intercepted and immediately shot on net by a streaking Connor Hvidston for his first professional and AHL goal in just his fifth game. 2-1 Wranglers.
Calgary gave immediate response and Gage Alexander had to be sharp – making back to back reactionary pad and blocker stops as a flurry of red and white sweaters buzzed the San Diego net.
A retaliatory penalty given to the Wranglers just before a TV timeout meant a rested Gulls Power Play went to work and came close on both units but could not get the tying goal. It should be noted that Connor Hvidston saw time on the second unit – in the usual spot of Pavol Regenda as the net-front bumper.
In between all of this Gage Alexander suddenly found the form that saw him win his first couple of AHL starts as he stopped two on ones and one on one plays from the Wranglers while the Gulls continued to make unforced errors and bad turnovers.
On one such sequence as the Calgary penalty kill made the Gulls second Power Play unit look less than sub-optimal forcing Nik Brouillard to take a holding penalty to prevent a sure goal, Alexander once again made the big stop to keep San Diego within reach.
As the following four on four sequence completed and the Gulls went to the kill – a rush up ice that featured Del Zotto, Kirkland and then Groulx finished in the later netting a shorthanded goal to tie things up and send Pechanga to their feet. 2-2 tie game.
The Gulls kept up the momentum and Michael Del Zotto came close to taking the lead as he made a nice toe drag to open up a shooting lane then attempted to bat in his own rebound out of mid-air but the puck remained out as he and Kirkland crowded the Calgary net.
A weak Del Zotto interference call gave the Wranglers a Power Play to close out the period but San Diego were steadfast in taking the 2-2 tie to the break and an even but deceptively low shot total of 12 a piece.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Calgary Wranglers 2
It was a frantic pace to start the second as the first five minutes flew by without a stoppage as the game opened up.
Surprisingly neither team were actually able to get a shot on net during the extended back and forth foray until Calgary slowly twisted momentum their way and a high sticking call to Jacob Perreault saw the Wranglers head to the man advantage.
Gage Alexander once again looked great turning aside chance after chance but was unable to stop the high and hard shot unleashed by Matthew Phillips who was given too much time and space to grab his 36th goal of the season. 3-2 Calgary.
The Gulls came back with a good response via their top line and came within inches of tying it back up but again were frustrated by either a bad bounce or a defensive stick in a lane. The resulting momentum carried forward and saw them awarded with back to back Power Plays for the remaining four minutes of the frame as they hunted for the equalizer.
The first unit spent the majority of the first minor in the Calgary zone with some very good looks but could not convert while the second unit saw the dying seconds of the first infraction and featured a stand out play from Connor Hvidston skating the puck up ice after winning a puck battle in the Gulls zone, speeding through and past Calgary players en route to eventually swinging in a pass out front to Jacob Perreault who had been trailing him on the play. This resulted in the the second penalty as Perreault was cross-checked before he could get a shot away.
San Diego did manage to get set with the second unit – strangely without Hvidston on it this time – despite him earning the penalty but again could not convert and took the 3-2 deficit to the second intermission. Shots were 22-15 for the Wranglers.
Third Period: Calgary Wranglers 3 – San Diego Gulls 2
San Diego continued with their quest to find a game tying goal to start the third but Calgary did a great job of shutting down the neutral zone and preventing any extended passing sequences while preventing the Gulls from generating any speed coming through in transition.
The Judd Caulfield line momentarily broke through the Wranglers blockade thanks to some hard work from the large rookie himself and the continued zone time and line-change saw the Gulls earn a Power Play as Chase De Leo had his stick slashed from his hands as he tried to get in on the attack.
Once again the first unit spent the majority of the time in the Wranglers zone but could not complete the full two minutes as Chase De Leo was found guilty of high sticking in the final seconds to put the Gulls down a man with under seven minutes left in the period.
Killing the minor the Gulls went right back to the attack and play once again resembled the controlled chaos 80s style hockey we saw in parts of the second period of the previous game.
One last Power Play chance in the final two minutes of action seemed the perfect opportunity to finally even things up but once again the Gulls man advantage could not solve the Wranglers determined penalty killing unit as the San Diego umbrella set up produced successive one-timers to both Sikura and Priskie at opposite sides of the net that were either bravely blocked, saved or hit the post.
It was a nail biter to the finish but again San Diego came up short – making up for their dismal season by providing their fans great entertainment until the final buzzer.
Post Game Notes:
Confirmed one and done
Among the post game fan appreciation night festivities was a speech from Coach Sommer announcing his retirement and thanking the Fans for sticking with the team through this hard year.
I wrote about the rumored potential new coach in this post game recap, but it is weird to know that its officially official now. The Gulls will soon have their fourth coach in as many years. All I can hope is the roster overhaul isn’t too great so that this existing chemistry and end of year momentum can carry over to next season. Yes there will be a lot of new faces but if they can retain at least half of the current roster – that should help things a lot.
More encouraging signs from Hvidston
I wrote about him in the previous games post game notes (as well as about Caulfield) but it had to be said again. This is kid is just 18. Scoring his first AHL goal in his fifth game and getting elevated to the second Power Play unit shows just how well he has already acclimatized himself to the pro game. It made me quietly once again rue the CHL rule that dictates he cannot play in the AHL until he is 20. If you are unsure what I am talking about – here is my cheat sheet (which I will update after this upcoming draft) for when a player can play in the AHL. Because Hvidston is a September birthday he is the worst case scenario of being almost entire year younger than most of the peers in his draft class and thus will not be 20 until the 2024-2025 season. Contrast that to Pavel Mintyukov and Nathan Gaucher – both taken in the same draft as Hvidston but effectively a year older and thus able to play in the AHL next season as they will both turn 20 before December 31 of this year. Returning to my original gripe – if Hvidston already looks this good and settled in the AHL, he is not going to learn anything playing against kids for the next two seasons – it might even hinder his development as certain habits become further ingrained and harder to shake once he goes pro. The kid is a play driving forward – as evidenced by the clip I took and featured about his rush in the second period. We haven’t seen the like on the Gulls since perhaps Isac Lundestrom and Antoine Morand.
I will summarize this rant by saying this: If I were a betting man I would put good money on Hvidston lighting up the WHL next year.
Two games left, two more black aces?
San Diego finishes the season in Colorado this coming weekend. They also may be joined by two more black aces – if not one. Jackson LaCombe’s Minnesota Golden Gophers lost a heart breaker in overtime to come second best in the Frozen Four Final. He had already stated he would sign with the Ducks so whether or not he goes straight to them and see’s a game against the Canucks and Kings this week then comes down to the Gulls after remains to be seen but keep an eye out. The other lesser talked about Black Ace is my personal favourite dark-horse, Sean Tschigerl. His Calgary Hitmen were eliminated in overtime by another Ducks prospect who we will see next year also – Ben King.
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