San Jose, California. With a 5-1 win putting them back in the win column the San Diego Gulls headed north to take on the third in the division San Jose Barracuda.
Staying with the winning hand both up front and in net the coaching staff made no changes to either the forward lines, defensive pairings and in net.
Calle Clang getting the start in net once again with Tomas Suchanek backing up.
Travis Howe and Roman Kinal were the only healthy scratches.
First Period:
The pace was frantic through the first three minutes as the two combatants wasted no time in getting acquainted. Exchanging Power Plays early on and keeping both goaltenders busy early with some high danger chances that were thwarted only at the last second.
Time flew by as game play resembled a beer-league scrimmage with teams skating back and forth with no whistles and little to no tactics or regard for looking to get set in either offensive zone.
With San Jose largely enjoying the majority of chances and the lead in shots it took the home squad by surprise when a Sam Colangelo shot from the top of the circles caused a rebound to sit perfectly for Judd Caulfield to follow up – the puck settling just in time for him to wire it upstairs. 1-0 Gulls.
The sporadic scrimmage style of play continued as time again quickly ticked by on the period with some slight uptake in the physical battles.
The Gulls opted to take the narrow 1-0 lead into the first intermission – icing some defensive specialists in the final minute of play as Nathan Gaucher and Tim Washe saw some rare time together. Shots were an even ten a piece with the shot map showing momentum could really swing in any direction at any moment.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – San Jose Barracuda 0
The chaotic style from the first period carried over to the second as first the Barracuda fired back to back chances on Clang before San Diego turned things right back the other way – narrowly avoiding connecting on a two on one rush but staying with the play which saw Justin Bailey once again get revenge on his former club as he sent in a shot from the near side. 2-0 Gulls.
San Jose pushed back and although they did not get one back right away they did eventually after some poor work by the Gulls in their own zone, losing puck battles and allowing Cam Lund to get to a loose puck behind their net and slide it by Clang on the wrap around. 2-1 Gulls.
Momentum instantly swung in the Barracuda direction and it was all San Jose for the next few minutes as Calle Clang had to be sharp to turn aside point blank opportunities while his team-mates desperately tried to catch up to the sudden step in their opposition.
San Diego could only counter with the odd one in and out rush opportunity but an element of chippiness entered the game as behind the net Stian Solberg was cross checked by Filip Bystedt – who broke his stick in the process. With no call evident Solberg took it upon himself to get even – laying out Anthony Vincent as he crossed the Gulls blue line on the next rush.
As time crossed over the midway point the Barracuda were pressing and the physicality picked up including a very short bout that saw Nathan Gaucher take care of Anthony Vincent with two short jabs after he laid a heavy hit on Yegor Sidorov by the player benches – likely in retaliation for the Solberg hit.
Fight night continued as Noah Warren dropped the gloves with Braden Hache who wanted someone to answer for the hit by Solberg as well. Warren did very well in the much more conservative and traditional style fight.
As time closed on the final few minutes of the period each team traded chances although the Barracuda were looking the more likely as they beat Gulls defenders to loose pucks and were extremely unlucky not to have a game tying goal on two separate but eerily similar opportunities with the near side open and Clang down and out.
San Diego had some chances of their own off the rush and largely thanks to the Mysak line before the final buzzer sounded on the period. As it did the simmering tempers that had flared all period spilled over and a net front tussle ensued for a minute or so the highlight of which saw Stian Solberg tackle down Shane Bowers before being separated.
San Diego taking a narrow 2-1 lead into the second intermission but out shot on the period 14-11 and allowing the hosts back into the game. The shot map showing San Diego needing to clean up in front of their own net.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – San Jose Barracuda 1
The temper flare up that closed out the middle frame did not quite continue to start the third but the underlying chippiness was prevalent as Nico Myatovic was cross checked from behind chasing down a puck in the San Jose zone.
The Gulls Power Play did look less static than it had been of late but still wasn’t really connecting on much – the best clear cut chance coming in the form of Ryan Carpenter finding a wide open Sasha Pastujov sneaking in from the left point but the Gulls sniper over-skated the puck as he went to take the shot.
As play returned to five on five the Gulls settled into a conservative road game style – getting pucks out of their zone swiftly but under-committing on the fore-check whenever they entered the San Jose zone.
The chippiness and frustration on the part of the Barracuda continued as Tyson Hinds had his stick chopped out of his hands and the Gulls went back to the Power Play with just over four minutes remaining. They again looked better with more movement but again could not connect and as the minor expired they settled back into defending their lead with just over two minutes left in the game.
San Jose pulled their net-minder as soon as they could gain possession but Calle Clang shut the door as he turned aside back to back chances before the Gulls relentless fore-check allowed Judd Caulfield to ice the game with an empty net tally.
San Diego taking the win on the road by a score of 3-1 over a division rival sitting just above them in the standings.
Post Game Notes:
Early Birds Get The Goal
This game marked the eight time in nine games in which the Gulls have opened the scoring – they are 4-2-3 in that stretch.
Da Mystery of Chessboxin
Calle Clang wasn’t his usual calm self tonight. He was a bit … for want of a better word .. swimmy at times. Coming out much too aggressively and lucky to not get burned by it. Granted that also worked to his benefit on other occasions where he did have some fairly major stops by coming out and cutting down the angle and he was great with chances in close but overall it was a tad worrying to see. Thankfully the goal-tending situation in Anaheim looks to be improving with Dostal traveling with the team on this East Coast swing and taking part in team practices. Ville Husso is currently playing in his eighth game and has just one more remaining before he will need to clear waivers again. The Ducks next game is against the Devils on the 13th – if Husso plays in that one he will need to clear waivers before coming back to the Gulls. Watch this space.
Standings Update
The win brings the Gulls to 9-6-6 through 21 games played and fifth in the division by points percentage but seventh in points with 24. The two game win streak is the second best in the division at the moment – with the Reign’s three game streak the only better. I didn’t mention this last time but they also hold the second least losses in regulation in the division with the six losses which is second only to the Eagles five.
Stats Update
Sasha Pastujov and Matthew Phillips are your current team leaders in scoring with 18 points each followed closely by Tim Washe with 17 and Judd Caulfield with 16. Washe is the team leader in goals with 10, followed by Judd Caulfield and Justin Bailey who have 9 each. Phillips is the leader in assists with 15, followed by Pastujov with 12 and Carpenter with 10. Pastujov has the team lead in shots with 83 and it’s not even close – second best is Jan Mysak with 59 followed by Yegor Sidorov with 56. Justin Bailey is the hero with a team leading 5 game winning goals while Yegor Sidorv still leads the team with 4 first goals scored.
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