2025-2026 Game 47: San Diego Gulls vs San Jose Barracuda

San Diego, California. After dropping the second of the home and away weekend split which started with a win over the Bakersfield Condors after defeating them 3-1 the San Diego Gulls refocused and regrouped to be ready for the encounter with the red hot San Jose Barracuda.

With Ian Moore as a late loan to the Gulls during the Olympic break – the coaching staff elected to sit a forward and play the 11-7 formation. Meaning a forward would need to sit to make room.

That forward was surprisingly Yegor Sidorov.

Nikita Nesternko moved up to take Sidorov’s spot on the top line, leaving an empty spot on the fourth line.

Calle Clang was given the start with Tomas Suchanek backing up.

Yegor Sidorov, Cal Burke and Travis Howe were the healthy scratches.

Coulson Pitre and Konnor Smith were announced as being assigned to Tulsa.

First Period:

Calle Clang had to be sharp early as a bad pass in the Gulls zone led to a point blank opportunity for the Barracuda within the first minute of play.

Some poor break-out formation from the Gulls a few shifts later had me wondering if this might be one of those games but the veterans quickly proved me wrong as Nikita Nesterenko took a nice lead pass with space into the offensive zone. He drew a defender to him before dropping a pass to the following Ryan Carpenter who then perfectly timed a pass into space for Roland McKeown to then connect on the one time blast. 1-0 Gulls.

The Gulls strategy appeared to be defense through offense – controlling the neutral zone and applying an aggressive fore-check to ensure constant possession whenever possible.

Ian Moore drew a hooking call as his stick was lifted while attempting to get to a loose puck on the side boards and the Gulls went to the man advantage. The first unit spending the majority of the time in the San Jose zone and able to set up Pastujov for two chances. The second unit managed the one opportunity courtesy of Nikita Nesterenko smartly firing a quick snap shot on net from a severe angle but the rebound didn’t quite bounce the Gulls way. As time expired on the penalty Justin Bailey took it upon himself to rush the puck himself – gaining the San Jose, ducking wide of his defender then cutting in front and jamming the puck into the net. The goal light did not go off but as the crowd behind the San Jose net celebrated as did Justin Bailey, the Officials checked the play and confirmed he had indeed scored. 2-0 Gulls.

The bad blood began to simmer and Jan Mysak showed some rare frustration as he gave a punch between face-off takes to the Barracudas Lucas Vanroboys. On the very next face-off Mysak and Vanroboys dropped the gloves but Mysak found himself immediately on his back. Once the Barracuda player had taken a few liberties and the two were separated, Mysak skated right to the dressing room favoring his leg in a worrying sign.

San Diego defended the remainder of the period and their lead to keep it 2-0 as they headed to the first intermission. Shots were 14-12 on the period.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – San Jose Barracuda 0

Starting the period killing the remainder of the dubious Luneau minor the Gulls were able to erase the minor but as play returned to five on five, a lost face-off in their zone resulted in the Barracuda getting on the board as Nathan Gaucher lost his man off the draw and could only watch as the visitors got one by Clang from the mid slot. 2-1 Gulls.

Jan Mysak had not returned for the period and Nik Brouillard was moved up to play forward as the Gulls tried to keep to their original strategy but struggled with the line-up changes.

San Diego’s steady downward spiral continued as their penalty kill uncharacteristically allowed the Barracuda too much time and space in their zone, eventually victimized by the danger man Oliver Wahlstrom. 2-2 tie game.

The Officials deemed it worthy of giving the Barracuda some infractions of their own as a clear interference call on Matthew Phillips was finally called but then the Barracuda were dinged again as Ryan Carpenter received a cross check as he cruised past the San Jose net after the whistle. Giving the Gulls a full two minutes of five on three.

Spending the entire two minutes in the San Jose zone the Gulls frustratingly could only hit iron on their best chance. As play returned to five on five San Diego tried to keep up the pressure,

San Diego continued to allow the Barracuda under their skin as Justin Bailey was called for roughing behind the play after he took exception to a hit from Vanroyboys.

The veterans almost did it again as Roland McKeown and Ryan Carpenter broke out on a two man shorthanded rush in the final five seconds of the period. Their in-close chance was denied and the post whistle scuffle saw yet more penalties dealt out.

San Diego surrendering a 2-0 lead to go to the second intermission tied up at two a piece. Shots were 10-7 San Diego on the period and 22-21 overall.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – San Jose Barracuda 2

The Gulls started the period with much more focus and did a better job of being the aggressor and not the responder to the Barracuda’s shenanigans.

A defensive breakdown and scramble in front of the Gulls net cost them once again as San Jose took advantage of a stick-less Calle Clang. 3-2 Barracuda.

San Diego tried for an instant response and the ice began to open up as time crossed over the midway mark of the period.

A San Jose penalty to Lucas Carlsson gave the Gulls life but the Gulls Power Play stayed snake bitten despite some nice passing and opportunities.

The Gulls kept up the pressure – holding possession and the San Jose zone for much of the next few minutes but the clock started to become their enemy as time approached four minutes left.

With just over two minutes left San Diego pulled Clang for the extra attacker and despite the Barracuda getting possession and several opportunities to try for the empty net, they elected not to. The Gulls kept pressing.

Just when it felt like the Gulls might drop another disappointing loss in regulation a goal mouth scramble finally saw the puck get by the Barracuda goaltender as Ryan Carpenter was rewarded for the punishment he took in front of the net to swipe the puck in with just 13 seconds left to send Pechanga into madness. 3-3 tie game.

Overtime

Winning the face-off the Gulls held possession for a good two and a half minutes including a minute and a half sequence on a delayed call as Justin Bailey drew a high sticking call behind the San Jose net trying to collect a rebound.

As the penalty was expiring with the Gulls unable to take advantage of a clearly hurt left pairing San Jose defender Tristan Luneau was called for tripping when challenging for a loose puck.

San Diego killed the minor and the remainder of the extra time period and we headed to a shootout.

Colangelo gave the Gulls the early advantage by finishing his shot. Clang stopped the San Jose first shot but could not prevent the next one and as the shoot out entered the fifth round the Barracuda got one more by Clang while the Gulls were stopped at the other end. Giving the Barracuda the 4-3 victory in the shoot out.

Post Game Notes:

Concern For Mysak

It is no surprise the Gulls fell apart after Mysak left the game, I have said this a lot in the past but he is a pure play driver. His line was absolutely lost without him. The fight that caused the injury was needless and stupid but he was clearly incensed by something. That is where he needs to leave it for the big boys to take care of it for him. Who knows how long he will be out for now and who takes his spot in the line-up? I am assuming Cal Burke – who can also play center and is defensively responsible. I also like his speed game on that line but they may elect to reshuffle the combinations.

Also as an aside – not sure why Sidorov was the odd man out to be scratched but I would expect him to make the trip and be back in the next game. It makes more sense to scratch a defender to give Moore playing time.

Well At Least They Got A Point

I honestly didn’t expect much after Mysak left the game. The writing was on the wall for me after that but it was great to see San Diego rewarded for the last minute game tying goal. They really should have gotten the two points given the disparity in skill and experience so their play was disappointing overall but I am glad they at least got a point to keep pace within the division.

Next Up

The shoot-out loss sees the Gulls staying in sixth with a 22-15-6-4 record and only two points ahead of Tucson. They next head East to Rockford for a rare cross division match-up with the Ice Hogs, a team who has been similarly inconsistent in their last five games. This is the last opportunity to make use of the on-loan NHL players before the Olympic break ends so the Gulls absolutely need to take advantage of the opportunity to grab out of division points.