Coachella Valley, California. After their parent club dropped their season opener on the road to the Seattle Kraken the San Diego Gulls hoped to avenge the loss with a victory over their feeder club and newest division rival.
With Nathan Gaucher still nursing an injury sustained during camp and with a plethora of capable defensemen – Coach McIlvane opted to insert Nik Brouillard onto the wing on the fourth line – a place the second-stint Gull found himself in a few times already in preseason games. The top line from last season carried over while newcomer Matthew Phillips took Judd Caulfields spot on the Pastujov line with Caulfield joining Yegor Sidorov on a new look third line featuring Tim Washe at center.
The deepest and most experienced defensive depth we have seen in a few years made up the three pairings with Stian Solberg the only rookie – matched alongside the veteran Rolan McKeown.
Ville Husso got the start in net with Calle Clang backing up while Tomas Suchanek had been assigned to Tulsa.
Nathan Gaucher was the only injury with Owen Lindmark, Drew Elliott, Ryan Lautenbach, Konnor Smith and Jeremie Biakabutuka the scratches.
First Period:
The Gulls fore-check was noticeably faster and more aggressive through the first few minutes of play and an offensive zone face-off saw Stian Solberg create the first real high danger chance of the night as he faked out a defender and created space to skate into the middle slot for a wrist shot that sailed high and wide.
Follow up pressure on the shift saw the Gulls head to the first power play of the game as Cal Burke was tripped trying to track down a puck.
The first Power Play unit featuring Tristan Luneau, Mathew Phillips, Jan Mysak, Ryan Carpenter and Sasha Pastujov did a very good job of gaining the zone, getting set and generating chances. They were only let down by off-timed passes to the slot that were easily picked off. Coach McIlvane wisely distributing his one-timer trigger men on two separate units while newcomer Phillips proved a zone-entry masterery with his speed. The second unit which consisted of Nik Brouillard, Yegor Sidorov, Nico Myatovic, Cal Burke and Justin Bailey had a bit more trouble gaining the zone but managed to create some disjointed chances with the abbreviated amount of time they were given.
Returning to five on five the Firebirds tried to stem the Gulls quickly growing momentum by picking up the hitting but San Diego responded in kind as Stian Solberg started showing some of his trademark reverse hits and blue-line stand-up collisions we had seen on his pre-draft highlight films.
Another Gulls Powerplay was awarded on a hooking call but the first unit was prevented from getting a decent zone entry and with the second unit coming on after the first minute of minimal offensive zone possession and doing a much better job at generating offensive off the rush. San Diego then followed up that pressure and their speed quickly began to overwhelm the Firebirds net front coverage.
With the Gulls enjoying a dominating 13-3 shot advantage the Firebirds attempted again to shift momentum, generating their best chance of the night when Stian Solberg got lost and allowed a man to sneak to the left side of Husso alone but the veteran netminder stonewalled a point blank chance set up from behind the Gulls net.
San Diego countered and play was back and forth for the next few minutes until the Gulls finally broke through on some great work by the top line as Ryan Carpenter gained the zone, found space and sent a perfect pass to Nico Myatovic whose hard and high one time shot was stopped but the followed up play from both Carpenter and Roland McKeown saw Carpenter lift a backhander past a pile of bodies and into the Firebirds net with twenty seconds left in the opening period. 1-0 Gulls.
Shots were 18-5 for the Gulls utterly dominating play as per the shot map.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Coachella Valley Firebirds 0
It was all San Diego for the first few minutes of the middle frame until a bad pinch by Stian Solberg saw a partial break for the Firebirds. Solberg attempted to correct his mistake by chasing down and throwing a last minute hit on the Firebirds player – into his veteran goaltender Ville Husso who bore the brunt of the collision while holding the post and the attempt out.
The Gulls hit right back, pushing play back the other way and creating more pressure through the Pastujov line and then following that up with continued tight checking and cycling from the Washe line. Washe himself making it 2-0 as he turned and fired a loose puck out front from behind the goal line which appeared to go in off Travis Howe but was credited to Washe. 2-0 San Diego Gulls.
Play was back and forth for the next five minutes as time approached the midway point of the frame. The Firebirds tried to open things up but the Gulls were more than happy to play the stretched ice counter-attack-by-counter-attack pace.
The Gulls continued to assert their dominance, keeping possession and easing themselves into the Coachella Valley zone with ease. Judd Caulfield joined the scoring party as he finished off a great play started by Roland McKeown. 3-0 Gulls.
The Firebirds again tried to mount a response in front of their suddenly subdued crowd but each time they did find space for a potential high danger chance the Gulls displayed some great individual skill on defence. Tyson Hinds expertly timing a sliding block to prevent a cross ice pass on a two on one.
Time started to quickly approach the final few minutes of the frame as the action settled down into a more conservative tighter checking rhythm.
San Diego happy to let the clock wind down to take a commanding 3-0 lead and 13-7 shot disparity on the period to take it to a huge 31-12 advantage into the second intermission.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Coachella Valley Firebirds 0
Coachella Valley did a better job of containing the Gulls attacks to start the third and seemed to have settled down a bit in their own zone although the shot disparity did continue to mount in favour of San Diego.
A swift three man break out saw Jan Mysak gain the zone and drop the puck to Sasha Pastujov while he and Phillips drew defenders with them as they headed toward the net. Pastujov made the Firebirds pay with the extra space allowed as he skated into the high slot and wired a shot that beat Coachella Valley goaltender Nikke Kokko clean. 4-0 Gulls.
San Diego continued to put the pressure on, applying simple but quick effective breakout plays to escape their own zone with ease and winning puck battles and consequently possession in the offensive zone. The ongoing pressure resulted in another Power Play as the Firebirds Lukas Dragicevic sent the puck over the glass on an errant clear.
Starting with the second unit the Gulls were unable to get set as they were denied entry twice before being replaced with the first unit. Tristan Luneau, Sasha Pastujov and Matthew Phillips then generated three clear cut scoring chances with the later two showing great chemistry by combining on the last two.
As play returned to five on five and the lines continued to roll the Phillips and Pastujov combination would not be denied as the two continued to find time and space until the inevitable execution of a pretty backside post goal for Matthew Phillips. 5-0 San Diego Gulls.
The Firebirds again attempted a meek response but the Gulls were by then playing like a tight unit, swarming every puck and blocking every shot.
An ill advised tripping call to Judd Caulfield as he got a bit overzealous chasing down a 50/50 puck on the fore-check sent the Gull to the penalty kill for the first time in the game – yes that’s right – the first time, at the midway point of the third period.
Much like last season – there were no specific penalty kill units – just pairings of forwards and defenders. Washe and Myatovic were the first pairing of forwards, with Carpenter and Bailey following that and Burke and Brouillard to close it out.
As play returned to five on five the Firebirds suddenly found some space down low and a rare mental lapse from Ville Husso saw a scramble in front of the Gulls net as Coachella Valley tried to pounce on a rebound in front.
Play was largely tight checking for the remainder of time with a rare partial break from Stian Solberg generating one last Power Play as he was tripped executing a nice toe-drag move.
With two minutes left in the game and leading by five – Coach McIlvane gave Travis Howe an opportunity to get his first AHL goal but unfortunately the Firebirds were not having that.
The Gulls skating away with the 5-0 win – their first season opening shut-out win in club history and a huge statement over a recent top of division opponent.
Post Game Notes:
More Moore Please
If it wasn’t immediately clear that Ian Moore is in a league of his own – you only needed to see every shift of his in this game. Are the Gulls finally in that sweet spot of having players that are clearly too talented for the AHL but are biding their time for a spot to open on the big club? Tyson Hinds got another long look in Ducks camp this season as did Noah Warren. While Tim Washe is looking ahead to a year of shuttling back and forth on the i5. The combined depth of both the Ducks and Gulls have finally approached that happy medium that allows both clubs to compete – although I feel the the Gulls are probably going to have the better season.
What’s New?
Much has been made of a new play style being implemented by incoming Ducks coach Joel Quenneville that ultimately Coach McIlvane would need to emulate for the Gulls. That was definitely evident in this game. It has been noted that the Ducks have moved away from a man to man defense that left them exposed by overlaps and change-ups a lot in previous years under Greg Cronin but what I saw the Gulls doing in this game seemed like a three-man fore-check. Whereby one player engages the puck carrier with two support players coming behind to either side – cutting off passing lanes but also there to support or collect a loose-puck that is freed up by the leading player. Its smart but simple. I also noticed the breakout was a lot crisper and faster but again – simple; using the standard wingers on the boards and center curling in – or just simply swinging it all the way around the edges with a player stationed at each area moving it on.
The only area where they seemed to get exposed – and I have seen this with the Ducks too – is with the defender actively joining the rush. If the other team turns it over it’s a clear cut partial break and the forwards are not fast enough in getting back.
Stomping Stian
It was nice to see Stian Solberg looking comfortable enough to start throwing some trademark hits that caused so many Ducks fans to fall in love with him when they watched his pre-draft highlight video. I saw examples of the reverse hit, the open ice stand-up at the blue line and the near-side board slam. The later of which caused him to be out of position twice and give up a scoring opportunity but it’s the first game of the season and he has all season to get the timings and risk evaluations right.
Fluid Roster
With the Ducks opening season goal-tending not looking too flash and with Husso posting a shutout in a game in which he clearly looked bored. There has been noise for his recall and subsequent demotion of Petr Mrazek. Mrazek got the win – thanks in part to the Ducks offense outscoring his mistakes but also Yaroslav Askarov looking equally leaky at the other end. It does make a lot sense given Husso’s deal is just over a million and Mrazeks is 4.25 – making him highly unlikely to be claimed but I bet the Ducks will wait and see with this; it wouldn’t be fair to demote a guy you just acquired after only giving him just the one game to make an impression.
As for the whole playing Nik Brouillard at forward thing – I can’t see that lasting too much longer; with the Ducks heading East to Pittsburgh and Carolina this week they will need to take an extra defender for cover, likely Ian Moore, which will free up a spot for Brouillard to drop back. The domino effect from there means either Drew Elliott or Owen Lindmark likely draws in on the fourth line.
I have no idea how long Nathan Gaucher is out for but it is concerning that he is injured to start the season given how much time he lost last year on the shelf.
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