2025-2026 Game 58: San Diego Gulls vs Colorado Eagles

San Diego, California. After dropping back to back losses to the Barracuda and Eagles at home the San Diego Gulls needed to bounce back and play some desperate hockey to stay in the playoff picture.

Looking for some kind of spark the forward lines were thrown into the wash and a combination of Pastujov – Carpenter and Phillips was tried for the top line. The second line then saw Sidorov – Burke and Bailey while the third kept Nesterenko and Colangelo together but saw Coulson Pitre join them instead of Nico Myatovic who was moved to join Nathan Gaucher and Judd Caulfield on the consistent energy line.

Defensive pairings remained the same.

Roman Kinal and the recalled Drew Elliott were the healthy scratches.

First Period:

It was a much more polished look from the Gulls to start the first as compared to how they finished the night before. Breakouts were well executed and rushes were defended with better gap control and closing lanes.

San Diego seemed focused and made a concentrated effort to hold possession – and were awarded the games first Power Play after Sasha Pastujov was cross checked by Keaton Middleton behind the play.

The first unit looked good – generating some open lanes from the point and Tristan Luneau had perhaps the best chance of the two minute sequence but San Diego carried forward momentum after play returned to five on five. Keeping possession and cycling the Colorado zone first via the fourth line and then the top unit which opened the scoring after Nikita Nesterenko got a stick on a Coulson Pitre low shot from the right side point. 1-0 Gulls.

Expecting a response the Gulls did a good job of diffusing the best Colorado could throw at them and Nathan Gaucher in particular proved a defensive stalwart as he clearly found himself under the Eagles skin early. A collision between he and an Eagles player going after a loose puck led to a post whistle scuffle and only Gaucher being penalized for roughing.

The Eagles were given an early advantage on the Power Play as Roland McKeown had to drop a broken stick and when Colorado eventually did open a shooting lane to create a chance Suchanek was quick to swallow the rebound.

Tomas Suchanek continued to look sharp and as San Diego killed the minor tempers flared up once again with more post whistle scuffles taking place in the San Diego zone resulting in four on four play as roughing penalties were assessed.

With the extra ice allowed the Gulls suddenly forgot their conservative strategy and play was hectic for the next two minutes but San Diego managed to build momentum toward the tail end of it, once again controlling the attack and by the final minute it looked like they could get another but they ran out of time on the period.

San Diego taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission despite a 6-4 shot disadvantage.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Colorado Eagles 0

The neutral zone saw a lot of traffic as the first four minutes were rush after rush until Stian Solberg was sucker punched in front of the Gulls net.

With yet more four on four play the Gulls seemed familiar with the setting and started to take control, stringing together some coherent passing and up-ice transition. They carried this strong play over to five on five play and slowly but surely started to control momentum and subsequently the lead in shots.

Colorado were always a threat on the counter rush and came close on one play that saw Suchanek make the stop but the puck starting to trickle behind him before it was saved off the goal line by a team mate and the resulting flurry of shots after gifted the Eagles back some momentum. A slashing call assessed to Nikita Nesterenko put the Gulls down a man but they did a relatively good job of keeping the Eagles to the perimeter although they could have done better at preventing entries.

As play returned to five on five they went right back to the attack but just as it seemed they had things relatively steady an individual rush by Tristen Nielsen forced a flat footed Stian Solberg into a cross-checking call to break up the potential high danger play.

It was one penalty too many as this time the Eagles cashed in on – taking advantage of a bad bounce as Tomas Suchanek initially made the stop on a one timer but it bounced off a team mates skate and right to an Eagle. 1-1 tie game.

Colorado spent the entire final four minutes of the period in the San Diego zone drawing another call in the final five seconds as Solberg was forced to take another call to prevent a goal as Suchanek was left without a stick and floundering to get to loose pucks.

The Gulls heading to the second intermission tied at one after surrendering the lead and momentum to the visitors once again. Shots were 11-9 Eagles on the period and 17-13 overall.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Colorado Eagles 1

Starting the final period on the penalty kill the Gulls managed to kill the minor but struggled to regain possession after play returned to five on five.

As San Diego managed to cycle through their lines they started to create chances in the Colorado zone and Justin Bailey led an inspired rush with his speed but couldn’t finish. Cal Burke drew a high sticking call on the play and the Gulls Power Play looked suddenly dangerous as they were just inches and posts short of retaking the lead on close calls by Sam Colangelo and Sasha Pastujov.

Play was again largely back and forth across the neutral zone as time crossed over the midway mark but it would be the Gulls who would be rewarded for their chances as Tristan Luneau was right place at right time to finish a rush lead by Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko that saw a rebound fall right to him in the low slot. 2-1 Gulls.

Colorado came with an immediate response but the Gulls tightened up defensively and battled to maintain their lead. With the Eagles continuing to probe their zone the Gulls were given a reprieve as Justin Bailey was tripped attempting a spin move.

Neither Gulls unit could get much of a look against an overtly aggressive Eagles penalty kill but as play returned to five on five there was suddenly less than five minutes left in the action with San Diego still holding the slim 2-1 lead.

With exactly two minutes left the Eagles pulled their goaltender but the Gulls managed to close out the victory with Nathan Gaucher proving a difference maker with some strong work in the face-off circle, winning three back to back face-offs after three missed attempts at the empty net. He finished the game off himself with a final individual rush at the Colorado empty net attempting to fight off the attentions of Danil Gushchin but could not convert and went back after Gushchin after the final horn. The post whistle hostilities taking a minute or so to sort out and providing more intrigue for the final two games off the mini-series this week in Colorado.

Gulls taking the win 2-1.

Post Game Notes:

So Hot Right Now

Tristan Luneau fans rejoice – he back baby! The Ducks second round pick in the 2022 draft is riding a seven game point streak and has 11 in that stretch to give him 29 in 58 games. He also has four multi point games during this point streak and seven on the season. His strong play that has been evident all season is starting to now also show on the scoreboard and prove he is a difference maker for the Gulls in these close contests.

Nathan Gaucher has also started to quietly contribute and was an absolute beast in the final minutes of this one. He was a big reason why the Gulls got the win with his work in the face-off circle and defensive side of the puck while defending the lead. Of course we have always known this about him but it’s nice to see him prove it in big games like this.

Tomas Suchanek is also back – at least for this game – posting a 0.966 SV% and 1.01 GAA in the win. He looked calm, confident and his usual battling self in this game. His style seemed to suit the Eagles attack – with good reactionary saves to their deflections and athletic dives for their speed and cross-crease moves.

Magic Number Watch

As of the start of this game the Gulls magic number was 28, equal with Henderson with whom they shared a point total of 62 with but the regulation win tie breaker placing them just back of in the final playoff spot. At this point I am really keeping an eye on those chasing and with a magic number of 43 and 13 games remaining I think it would be safe to say the Canucks are out. Which leaves the Wranglers and Roadrunners with magic numbers of 34 and 39 respectively. The Wranglers are on life support but acquired some big fire power at the deadline thanks to their parent club so could make a miraculous push. While Tucson – well Gulls fans are very familiar with how Tucson have stolen playoff positioning in the past.

The win keeps San Diego afloat as Henderson also beat the Canucks tonight so the brief move up to sixth has been short lived. The good news is the Roadrunners lost to the Barracuda and the Condors lost to Texas.

After these next two games against the Eagles the Gulls close out March with three out of four games against teams below them with one at home against Calgary and two in Abbotsford, they will need to be locked in, disciplined and ensure they do not take these teams lightly to secure some very important points.

Mysak Still MIA

Just an update on Mysak to say I don’t have an update other than the fact that Drew Elliott being recalled likely means he is long term injured. From what I remember it looked like a lower body injury sustained when he fell awkwardly in a fight with the Barracuda’s Vanroboys. That game was back on the 18th of February so he has now missed 11 games and has been gone almost a month. Again I would like to reiterate it was a stupid idea to drop the gloves.