2025-2026 Game 50: San Diego Gulls vs Tucson Roadrunners

San Diego, California. Coming home after the weekend split in Rockford the San Diego Gulls looked to reset as they took on the hungry Roadrunners, the team sitting just below them in the Pacific Division standings.

With Jan Mysak missing his third game with injury after sustaining it in a fight against the Barracuda and the earlier week announcement of the recalls of Tim Washe and Ian Moore – both Cal Burke and Travis Howe were slotted into the line-up.

Lines were juggled to account for the changes with Nikita Nesterenko finding himself in the Center position on the second line. While Howe and Burke joined Myatovic on the fourth line.

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

The recalled Jonny Hooker was likely the only healthy scratch.

First Period:

San Diego had the better looks early – thanks to a nice rush and zone entry led by Stian Solberg.

Tucson responded, coming against the Pastujov line as Nikita Nesterenko lost an offensive zone draw.

Nesterenko was tripped in the neutral zone to send San Diego to the Power Play, the top unit were soundly shut down by aggressive Tucson penalty killing but the second unit had a nice look from Judd Caulfield (making a rare man advantage appearance) and Yegor Sidorov making some shifty moves to take the puck all the way to the slot.

Another Power Play awarded after Noah Warren was “DTD’d” to the ice in the San Diego zone went begging as the top unit could barely muster a shot on net.

At five on five the Gulls looked much better, and steadily increased the shots on net until periods end when they led by 11-5 at the buzzer.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 0 – Tucson Roadrunners – 0

The first five minutes of the second played out much like two teams unwilling to make the first mistake with a lot of stick work and neutral zone battles.

Just as it seemed a broken play would likely result in nothing as Justin Bailey and Ryan Carpenter fought to bounce some off-key passes to each-other, a return pass from Bailey from behind the Roadrunners net allowed the Gulls captain to one-time a chip shot over the shoulder of the Tucson net-minder. 1-0 Gulls.

The Roadrunners came with an instant response and held the Gulls pinned for a good three minutes until Judd Caulfield was called for tripping in his weariness. Tucson spent almost the entire two minute sequence in the San Diego zone but the Gulls managed to escape unscathed.

Sasha Pastujov had a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 moments later but made possibly one extra move too many after being fed a perfect pass in the high slot.

Things started to heat up as Calle Clang was called upon to make a big stop on a two on one rush and shortly after Travis Howe and Montana Onyebuchi dropped the gloves at center ice in a medium to short length bout that saw Howe leave the ice immediately after clutching his arm and shoulder.

Time quickly expired on the final few minutes of the middle frame with Tucson firmly in control as the Gulls headed to the second intermission ahead by one but needing to take back control to start the third.

Shots were 9-5 Tucson on the period and 16-14 Gulls overall.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Tucson Roadrunners 0

Tucson started the period much as they had finished the second but San Diego eventually took back possession and had some concerted time in the Roadrunners zone thanks to the first two units.

Frustratingly Roland McKeown would likely have made it it 2-0 but his stick broke on a left side one-timer.

A bad change and caught pinching Stian Solberg saw the Roadrunners skate in on a three on one rush but Calle Clang made an amazing lunging stop with his left pad.

Clang had to come up big again as they cycled the Gulls zone, playing a subtle pick game to eventually drive the puck on net and cause the San Diego goaltender to dive on a loose puck among a forest of legs.

A weak tripping call assessed to Brouillard sent the Gulls to the PK with just under nine minutes and needing to defend their 1-0 lead. After initially clearing the zone the Roadrunners got set on the next entry and peppered Clang who looked composed even after he lost his stick and Tyson Hinds was forced to make a huge goal saving shot block.

The neutral zone once again became a battle ground for puck possession but San Diego were playing too passive in their own zone and as god-mode as he was playing, Clang could not stop everything and a bang bang passing redirect play beat him with three and a half minutes left. 1-1 tie game.

Despite the much needed wake up call the Gulls continued to sit back and let the Roadrunners come at them as they searched for a go-ahead tally.

A coordinated sigh of relief seemed to pass through the building as the Gulls played to the end of regulation without surrendering another goal and teams went to three on three overtime.

Overtime:

Despite winning the face-off and holding possession all the way to the Tucson net the Gulls never looked likely in the extra session and it took less than two minutes for the Roadrunners to win it as Scott Perunovich was left all alone skating down the slot where he was fed a pass off the boards while two Gulls watched on. 2-1 Roadrunners win.

The players on the ice for the Gulls were Nikita Nesterenko, Nik Brouillard and Matthew Phillips.

Post Game Notes:

Player Movements

So with Washe and Moore going back up, Mysak out with injury and now possibly Travis Howe out with injury also it has to mean a Coulson Pitre recall regardless of the strange recall of one Jonny Hooker.

There were Ducks scouts in the building tonight – which should not be surprising given the NHL trade deadline is approaching but also is a punch to the gut because I like the make-up of this team right now and Id rather nobody was traded. But if I had to guess I would say Nikita Nesterenko could be on the move given the Ducks did that weird thing earlier this season where they waived him, then kept him around and even played him after he wasn’t claimed before eventually assigning him to San Diego.

Standings Update

The loss puts the Gulls at 23-16-7-4 with exactly 50 games played and just 22 remaining in the season. It also allows the Roadrunners to sneak up another two points to sit just three behind them for the 6th spot while as noted on the broadcast tonight – the Silver Knights and Wranglers are coming on strong as well.

San Diego next heads back to the Central Division – this time to fave the Texas Stars who sit higher in the standings than the IceHogs and will be a much tougher opponent. This will close out the February schedule before March begins with some match-ups against the Barracuda, IceHogs and a four games in five days slug out with the Eagles.

Final Thoughts

This was a weird one. The Gulls looked mostly in control for the first half but just let it go in the second and did not look themselves after that. Nesterenko in particular did not look his usual self at all. Cal Burke – understandable given how little game time he has had – looked a step behind game shape and the big guns were not firing. As noted – its a very tough run to the finish and the Gulls will need to sort their shit out and stay consistent doing it or they will find themselves outside of the playoff picture once again.