Dropping their last three games the San Diego Gulls headed East to Texas to battle a central division opponent with a 25-20-3 record.
Judd Caulfield was announced as injured and out week to week with a lower body injury. Jacob Perreault was elevated to take his spot on the second line while both Pastujov and King were promoted to the third line. Brayden Tracey was dropped to the fourth line and Travis Howe drew back in to fill out the remaining forward spot.
Tomas Suchanek was given the start with Stalock backing up once again.
Nick Wolff and Calle Clang were announced as the healthy scratches, while Judd Caulfield joined Jaxsen Wiebe on the injury list.
First Period:
San Diego started the period well and had a point blank chance to take the lead off some great work by the top line followed by the Perreault line but a wide open net opportunity went begging.
As the Gulls lamented the missed chance the home team struck first, Antonio Stranges allowed too much space to skate across the San Diego slot and send a backhand shot through the legs of Tomas Suchanek. 1-0 Stars.
Attempting a response the Gulls once again came close thanks to Jacob Perreault and his hard work in the offensive zone but again San Diego could not execute.
The Gulls heading to the first intermission down by one but still in the game with a close 9-7 shot disparity and the shot map indicating the home team deserved of the lead given the chances they were allowed to generate in front.
Second Period: Texas Stars 1 – San Diego Gulls 0
It was all Stars for the first three minutes of the second that also saw the Gulls go down a defender as Colton White was seen to take a puck in the arm in a vulnerable area. White would later return.
Weathering the storm it would be the Gulls who struck as Nikita Nesterenko battled loose a puck at the blue line and sent himself in alone on a breakaway, his long strides taking him clear of Stars defenders and allowing him time to execute a quick forehand to backhand back to forehand move that beat Stars goaltender Matt Murray (not that one). 1-1 tie game.
The Stars came close to tying things up minutes later on an established shift in the San Diego zone that had the Gulls scrambling but a clear chance from the high slot rang off the right side post.
Riding momentum from the opportunity the Stars did not let up and got to a rebound around the crease as Tomas Suchanek made an outstretched save to stop an earlier high danger chance. 2-1 Texas.
Texas thoroughly outplayed the Gulls for the remainder of the period with San Diego managing to squeak the odd chance in here and there.
Jacob Perreault once again proving a potential difference maker as he chased down a puck to create a chance for Chase De Leo who fired a puck wide of an open net from a severe angle.
The Stars taking a 2-1 lead to the second intermission and looking ever the more hungry team. Shots were 10-7 for the Stars on the period – increasing it to 19-14 overall.
Third Period: Texas Stars 2 – San Diego Gulls 1
Killing a cross checking minor to Pavol Regenda the Gulls set about trying to get a game tying goal while fighting an uphill battle against a squad that had more momentum.
Time flew by on the period as long sequences of play were rarely broken by a whistle while the Gulls saw time and the Stars stringent defense work against them.
With just under two minutes remaining San Diego pulled Tomas Suchanek for the extra attacker and as three Gulls players fought for a loose puck behind the Stars net a cross-checking call to Artem Grushnikov provided one last chance.
With the goaltender pulled and playing at six on four it felt inevitable that try as they might – the Stars would still emerge victorious and that they did as a Glenn Gawdin one-timer was blocked and then sent into the empty net to firmly put things out of reach. Stars win 3-1.
Post Game Notes:
The Home Play Theories
I have seen a LOT of talk regarding why the Gulls have played so poorly at home while appearing to be a different team on the road. Most of it centers around San Diego being a nice place to live – and play. A bit of a “reverse Vegas flu” as one person put it. As confusing and frustrating as it is that this team is able to play and compete with the best of them when on the road and then turn around and stink it up against some of the worst in the league at home, I don’t think you can buy too much into that talk. The Ducks would never allow that kind of culture to thrive and damage the development of their prospects. The more likely answer is – this is a young team who play better in an opposing teams building where there is less pressure or expectation on them.
Wheelers Rankings
Scott Wheeler ranked the Ducks as 5th in his annual prospect pool rankings, up from 8th last year despite the graduation of several players like Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov and Lukas Dostal. I agreed with a lot of his analysis in the article but kept wondering where Tyson Hinds was until I eventually got to him – ranked below Nathan Gaucher, Damian Clara, Calle Clang, Sasha Pastujov, Carey Terrance, Jacob Perreault and Sam Colangelo. From his brief overview it feels like he only watched a few Gulls games and drew his conclusions from there. In my opinion Hinds is having a phenomenal rookie campaign, logging first pairing minutes and is consistently game in and game out one of the better defenders on the squad. I’d say he should have been ranked higher than Clang on that list but I guess I am just a basement blogger. What do I know?
Hope Is Fading
This loss puts the Gulls at .459 points percentage and an 18-22-8 record with 24 games remaining. The Reign currently occupy the final playoff spot with a 25-19-3 record and a .560 points percentage. The Gulls will likely need to win at least 18 of their remaining 24 games if they have any hope of making the playoffs and they need to learn to do it at home as 13 of their remaining games are at home. At this point I don’t have high hopes but I am looking forward to what happens at the trade deadline – things could look a lot different after that.
2023-2024 Game 72: San Diego Gulls at Coachella Valley Firebirds
In the final game of the season after surrendering a three goal lead to go down 5-4 in ove…