Abbotsford, British Columbia. Riding high after a two game sweep in Tucson the San Diego Gulls headed north of the border for a back to back with the bottom of division Canucks.
Much to my slight surprise but immense satisfaction the coaching staff elected to stick with the exact same line-up as the last game. Keeping Cal Burke in the line-up.
Calle Clang was once again given the start in net with Suchanek backing up.
Travis Howe and Konnor Smith were the scratches.
First Period:
Right off the opening face-off Nathan Gaucher showed some of his underrate play-making ability as he sent a soft area pass ahead for Judd Caulfield to skate into on a partial break. His backhand to forehand move stopped and the follow up also denied.
Jan Mysak was called for tripping moments later and the Gulls went to the penalty kill less than three minutes in.
With the Canucks winning the offensive zone face-off the Gulls penalty kill struggled mightily to prevent Abbotsford from sending cross-ice passes through their four-man box. Calle Clang had to be sharp to keep things scoreless. Nikita Nesterenko chased down and created his own chance in close with a turnover but was slashed before he could finish. The Gulls brief Power Play was uninspiring and saw Clang again have to face more Canucks opportunities as San Diego struggled to gain the Abbotsford zone and keep possession once they eventually did.
Play started to open up and as Tristan Luneau lead a rush into the Canucks zone and fed Cal Burke for a shot that rang off the cross bar, Jonothan Letterimaki joined a counter rush and slid into the mid-slot before turning and wiring a snap shot that fooled Clang. 1-0 Canucks,
San Diego tried to respond after the goal and started to put together some slick passing in the Canucks zone. Tyson Hinds just inches from trying things up after a rebound landed at his feet at the side of the net.
The Gulls had to make some desperation defensive moves in the final few minutes of play including a nice diving poke-check from Stian Solberg in the final ten seconds as the Canucks took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Shots were 10-6 Abbotsford with the shot map showing that the Gulls did manage to put together two high danger chances in front but were largely out-played on the period.
Second Period: Abbotsford Canucks 1 – San Diego Gulls 0
San Diego came out guns blazing but lost a casualty early as Nathan Gaucher headed down the tunnel after taking a shot to the face/nose – blood was visibly leaking from his facial area as he headed off the ice.
The Canucks managed to negate the Gulls initial push and went back to the Power Play as Nico Myatovic was called for high sticking at the fifteen minute mark.
San Diego killed the minor and looked much better doing it than they had in the first period – although Clang did have to make some sure stops.
As play returned to five on five – a high sticking penalty – this time by the Canucks, gave the Gulls their first Power Play of the game.
San Diego looked deadly on the Power Play but could not finish several opportunist and with play returning to five on five the fourth line carried forward momentum and stayed hot as Cal Burke spotted Coulson Pitre on the right side and hit him with a hard cross-ice pass through the neutral zone – allowing the winger to enter the zone with speed before executing a nice toe-drag move on the last Canuck back before sending a chance on net His shot was stopped but the rebound sat nicely for Yegor Sidorov following on the play. 1-1 tie game.
Nathan Gaucher returned to the ice on the shift after the goal – sporting a full face visor and San Diego attempted to keep up the momentum as the Canucks in turn tried to retake the lead.
It was relatively even back and forth play for the remainder of the frame and our first real indication of bad blood carry over from the previous back to back last week appeared right at the final horn as Sasha Pastujov followed through on a hit. Running through Danil Klimovich as he sent a shot on the Gulls net at the final horn. Klimovich got up immediately and went after Pastujov but the San Diego forward skated away indifferently seemingly unaware of uncaring of the rabid Canuck player trying to get to him.
The Gulls and Canucks all tied up at one going into the third period. Shots were 10-8 Gulls on the frame to make it 18-16 Canucks overall. The shot map showing the Gulls coming back to play a much better middle frame.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Abbotsford Canucks 1
Abbotsford had the most jump to start the third and had the Gulls on their heels early. Finally breaking through to re-take the lead after Stian Solberg laid out to make his second block of the game but then found guilty of not tying up his man’s stick later on the same play. Vilmer Alriksson able to fend him off and send a backhand shot top corner. 2-1 Canucks.
Nikita Nesterenko once again drew another call as he was rugby tackled from behind fighting for a loose puck in the neutral zone. With thirty seconds left on the man advantage Yegor Sidorov was prevented from connecting on a perfect pass into the slot and the Gulls headed to a five on three.
Essentially only able to generate the one opportunity with the brief time allowed the Gulls squandered it by not getting the puck on net and the Canucks were able to clear. Unable to convert with the remainder of the time at five on four the Gulls tried to keep momentum going as time passed over the midway mark.
An essential hooking call assigned to Sidorov saw the Gulls head to the penalty kill on a play that likely would have resulted in a Canucks goal as Danil Klimovich dragged the puck across the front of the San Diego net. As San Diego killed the minor they were given a Power Play of their own as the fourth line came close to tying things up once again on a net front scramble and Tristan Luneau was tripped behind the net trying to get the back out in front.
San Diego were again unable to convert with the man advantage but the fourth line continued to show prowess and kept the Canucks zone until the final two minutes of play when the Gulls pulled Calle Clang for the extra attacker.
It was a valiant effort but the Canucks Arshdeep Bains was too good and the star forward collected a loose puck, skated into the Gulls zone, waited out diving defenders and sent a shot high into the empty net to ice the game. 3-1 Canucks.
Post Game Notes:
Yet Another Post Game Note About The Fourth Line
This one is for all of the “why is Sidorov buried on the fourth line” commenters I get on Twitter and Blue Sky. Possibly my second most asked question after “whats with Tristan Luneau”. If you haven’t been reading my post game notes you probably are not aware that the fourth line has been coming on and as of right now is possibly the Gulls best. Tonight was a big example of that – they were pressuring and holding the zone for lengthy periods whenever they were on the ice and its becoming more obvious that the confidence levels of both Coulson Pitre and Yegor Sidorov are growing game by game.
Enter The Wu-Clang
Now that he has played enough games to qualify – Calle Clang is finally showing evidence of his play of late. He is ranked sixth in the league by GAA with a 2.22, 11th in SV% with 0.912 and tied for seventh in shutouts with two. Husso is still tied for second with three.
It is so very good to see him finally realising his potential after some shaky years and if you had told me he would be the more reliable goaltender between he and Suchanek a year ago I would have asked what the hell happened to Suchanek? The question for tomorrow’s game is – does he again get the rare start on the back to back? Or do they go with Suchanek? Suchanek didnt look bad in his last game – which turned into a blow out by the Firebirds; but it was no where near his fault. The Canucks are are a different beast and this might be the right time to throw him in to get some more confidence back.
Could Have Been Worse
It’s not ideal to drop points within the division but it could have been against one of the teams within the Gulls immediate vicinity in the standings. Thankfully it wasn’t. Tucson also dropped a game today – to the Silver Knights, so they stay idle behind the Gulls in seventh place. While the Barracuda stayed hot and took down the Condors to climb another two points ahead of the Gulls as their next closest team. Abbotsford picking up the two points just means they are now two points closer to Tuscon in the final spot but still nine points back and still last in the division. The Gulls do need to turn this around and come away with the win tomorrow if they want to keep momentum going forward heading into the stretch drive.
February is going to be a mix – the Gulls face Bakersfield twice and two separate central division opponents twice in between dates with Henderson (yikes), San Jose (also yikes the way they have been playing lately) and Tucson. Rockford are currently second to last in the central but have a sort of respectable 16-22-2-2 record. Texas are middle of the division with a 18-19-3-1 record and on a three game win streak right now. That said – taking a break from potentially losing points within division four at least four games could be a blessing in disguise as we head toward the end of the season.
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