Austin, Texas. Turning right around after their close 2-1 victory the night before the San Diego Gulls were hungry to continue their stellar play and try to get the weekend sweep in Texas.
Leaving the lines and defensive pairings completely intact the Gulls only made a change in net as Tomas Suchanek was given the start on the back to back with Clang backing him up.
The recalled Jonny Hooker was likely the only healthy scratch.
First Period:
It was good start for the Gulls as just over a minute in they headed to the man advantage with the Stars Trey Taylor called for holding.
The top unit went to work right away, winning the offensize zone face-off and spreading the ice, finding it almost too easy to open up some gigantic shooting lanes – such as the one Matthew Phillips created to set-up Sam Colangelo for the left side one-timer. 1-0 Gulls.
Texas seemed to gain a sense of urgency following the goal and after gaining and pressuring the Gulls in their zone they were awarded a Power Play of their own as Nik Brouillard was called for tripping.
It didn’t take long for the Stars to even things up as an offensive zone face-off win allowed them to get set, feed the left side point and send a low wrist shot that beat Suchanek through traffic. 1-1 tie game.
Following up on the goal with more pressure the Gulls were suddenly on the back-foot.
Just as the Texas Stars initially celebrated what they thought was a goal it was not called as such by the Officials and although I did not catch a replay I believe Tomas Suchanek was largely responsible for the desperation leg stop while he was lying on his stomach.
Taking play the other way the Gulls drew a call and looked deadly on the man advantage but could not connect, even when a huge rebound sat on its lonesome at the side of the net for a good ten or so seconds with no players in the immediate vicinity.
Texas were awarded a penalty of their own when Noah Warren was called for hooking behind the play but the Gulls were so aggressive on the penalty kill that just thirty seconds into killing the minor the entire four man unit made a rush up ice, led by Ryan Carpenter. His feed to Tyson Hinds and subsequent quick low wrist shot from the slot squeaked through Texas netminder Arno Tiefensee. 2-1 Gulls.
Texas could not convert with the remaining time on their man advantage and the Gulls took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Shots were an even 12 a piece with the shot map showing a fairly even spread of chances from all areas for both squads.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Texas Stars 1
Texas had the initial jump to start the second, keeping the Gulls under pressure early and despite San Diego being able to ease off the tension in fits and spurts a concerted sequence in which the Stars held the Gulls zone and made the simple play of throwing a point shot on net was enough as Suchanek was unable to track it through traffic. 2-2 tie game.
The Gulls came with an instant response. Seeing some momentum build through a strong shift by the Burke line that was followed by a nice heavy hit by Noah Warren to dislodge a puck and hold the zone, the Gulls gave Texas back some of their own medicine as Judd Caulfield fed Nik Brouillard at the point who waited for a screen to set before sending a low shot that beat Tiefensee on the left side. 3-2 Gulls.
It was if San Diego suddenly turned into a monster – looking like the broad-street bullies as they got in on the fore-check, thew some massive hits and dislodged a puck at the Stars blue line to set up a two on nothing rush led by Yegor Sidirov. The sniper looking off his team-mate to make a nifty forehand to backhand move and beat Tiefensee to make it 4-2. 4-2 Gulls
Tensions started to simmer for the hosts as the Stars Sean Chisholm took exception to some defensive mistreatment from Roland McKeown on one of his team-mates in front of the Gulls net. The short bout was explosive and featured the Stars player actively ripping off McKeowns helmet and ending the fight by grabbing him in a headlock and slamming him off balance.
Just as it felt the Gulls may be able to hold possession and control for the rest of the period a bad pass and bounce from behind the San Diego net saw Roland McKeown inadvertently assist the Stars in getting one back as his no look pass bounced to a Stars player who immediately fed it out front. 4-3 Gulls.
Texas controlled play for much of the rest of the period but the Gulls held firm to take the 4-3 lead into the second intermission. Shots were 11-6 Stars for the period and 23-18 overall with the shot map showing Suchanek was under siege – particularly from the right side.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 4 – Texas Stars 3
San Diego had a sluggish start to the third and saw themselves tied up once again as a Texas zone entry that featured a very obvious pick / interference play saw a shot beat Suchanek once again low through traffic. 4-4 tie game.
Sniffing blood in the water and the definite sense that the Gulls appeared to have left their motivation in the second intermission the Stars continued the attack and took the lead as they took advantage of a combination of a lucky bounce in front and some poor defensive coverage. 5-4 Stars.
Time was quickly becoming the Gulls enemy but they hardly looked likely as it took them to well into the second portion of the period to get their first shot on net.
Just as it felt like it might be another one of those nights Nik Brouillard decided to drag his squad back into the game as he took the puck through the neutral zone, noted the space allowed to make his own zone entry and the even more space allowed to walk into the slot, made a swift move and wired a shot that beat the Texas goaltender top corner. 5-5 tie game.
The goal gave San Diego new life and they started to create more chances but the Stars also countered with some of their own. Some added adversity in the form of a Stars Power Play came after Stian Solberg was caught with a bouncing puck at his own blue line and he was forced to take a tripping penalty on a Stars two on one rush.
Killing the minor without too much trouble the Stars held the Gulls zone and possession briefly after play returned to five on five but a break lead by Sam Colangelo ended in a warzone of bodies in the Texas crease including Tristan Luneau and somehow the puck stayed out.
A literal final ten second rush led by Judd Caulfield saw the Power Forward make his way all the way to the Stars net but forced too wide to get a decent shot away and we headed to Overtime.
Overtime:
In a groundhog day of all previous overtime games the Gulls won possession off the face-off and smartly held possession where they could – but also didn’t make any changes to their initial starting trio of three while the Stars made changes behind them whenever they eased pressure off out of their zone. Just as Cal Burke changed for Matthew Phillips a two on three rush led by Sam Colangelo saw his hard shot go wide, spin back out and end up as a breakaway for a fresh Stars player with Phillips desperately chasing. 6-5 Stars win in overtime,
Post Game Notes:
CONSISTENCY
I will never understand why the Gulls cant look at how they score goals and not try to repeat the process. The Sidorov goal was perfect. They created it with pure pressure, a turnover and an outnumbered attack down low.
For some reason – after the McKeown fight – they didn’t finish a hit again until perhaps the final five minutes of the third after the Brouillard goal.
I know I sound like BJ when I say this – but hitting, finishing your checks and bodying your man is generally* always going to lead to good things. *Depending on the opponent.
How To OT?
I guess it’s not as if they aren’t learning – at least this time they held onto the puck a bit longer and were clearly making it their lead tactic for this overtime session. That is until Colangelo decided to wire that shot on a play when he and his other team-mate had already been on the ice too long and were in need of a change. I hate to tend to always be on his back but I am pretty sure the last OT loss was due to a turnover that was ultimately after either a Colangelo shot or attempted drive to the net.
The smart play is to keep holding onto the puck and handing off to a fresher team-mate. Being patient.
One Last Game
Trying not to be too dramatic with that title but the Trade Deadline is this coming Friday. The Gulls play one last game before then – against the Barracuda. That could be the last game some of the players on this squad are Ducks/Gulls. I hope that isn’t the case but if some are dealt – I sincerely wish them well. This is always the hardest part of the season (other than the off-season of course). Like I said in my previous post game notes – I thought Nesterenko would be the most likely given the Ducks treatment of him before he was eventually sent down but honestly it could be anybody. Up top the rumors on who would be moved from the Ducks largely surround Mintyukov, Strome and maybe Helleson. Its true the Ducks do need to start clearing out some room on defense but I don’t think punters quite understand the Mintyukov situation as it currently stands
As for the Gulls – one things is for sure, they cannot bring in anymore veterans unless one of theirs goes the other way. As evidenced by Cal Burke being a healthy scratch for much of this season – they have too many and ideally need a young scoring center or play-driving forward; given they have been sorely missing Jan Mysak since he has been on the shelf.
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