2025-2026 Game 59: San Diego Gulls at Colorado Eagles

Loveland, Colorado. Heading inland for the final two games of their mini series after a two game split in California the San Diego Gulls hoped to keep momentum going against one of their toughest rivals.

The only line adjustment made was the swapping of Nico Myatovic and Yegor Sidorov between the second and fourth lines.

Defensive pairings remained the same.

Tomas Suchanek was given the start again after the win on the weekend.

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

First Period:

It was a frantic pace to start and teams exchanged chances early. Suchanek had to be sharp to make his first save through traffic while at the other end Matthew Phillips made a very nice move to send a backhand pass through the crease to a waiting Ryan Carpenter.

It would be the Eagles who struck first however as a streaking Taylor Makar beat Nik Brouillard with speed and swung in alone on Suchanek to send it by him for the early deficit. 1-0 Eagles.

San Diego attempted a response and did a fairly good job of holding possession in the Eagles zone – eventually culminating in a call as Nathan Gaucher was held by Jayson Megna battling around the Colorado net.

The first unit looked much too nervous and overly cautious when they did eventually get set in the Eagles zone. Tristan Luneau passed up a golden opportunity as he skated deep into a wide open lane but sent a 50/50 pass across the zone instead. The second unit looked more aggressive but could not do much with the time allowed.

Play returned to five on five and soon settled into a battle for momentum with the action switching ends every other shift as the clock ran over with minimal stoppages.

Nathan Gaucher drew his second call of the night as he took a high stick from Aiden Hansen-Bukata during a puck battle in the Eagles zone. Once again the first unit struggled – this time playing too spread out and allowing the Eagles to easily isolate and win the puck by outnumbering down low. The second unit again looked much better but were unable to create enough with the time allowed.

Time expired on the period with the Gulls continuing to press at five on five but still trailing by one as they entered the first intermission. Shots were 8-6 Gulls on the frame.

Second Period: Colorado Eagles 1 – San Diego Gulls 0

After initially playing some good disciplined hockey to start the Gulls surrendered their first penalty of the game as Coulson Pitre was called for slashing – getting his stick on an Eagles chance in the slot before he could pull the trigger.

San Diego had perhaps the best scoring chance of the man advantage in the early goings as Ryan Carpenter set up Nik Brouillard for a nice one on one chance but his forehand to backhand move was stopped in tight. The Gulls continued to harass the Eagles and created another offensive opportunity as Judd Caulfield and Nathan Gaucher worked together to keep the puck in the Eagles zone and eventually get into the net for a short-handed tally. 1-1 tie game.

Nikita Nesterenko created a partial break of his own before the kill was over but he was stopped on his opportunity. As play returned to five on five the Gulls jumped out to their first lead of the night as some nice work by Matthew Phillips and Cal Burke set up Sam Colangelo in the slot and the sniper did not miss. 2-1 Gulls.

Sensing the instant momentum shift the Eagles called a time-out and came right back at the Gulls on the very next shift. Suchanek looked strong denying their initial chances but a suddenly very physical Colorado unit literally ran over the Gulls to regain the puck and send a puck out front where they beat the under fire San Diego net-minder through traffic and the Gulls defense temporarily down a man as Brouillard was still recovering from being sent flying in the corner. 2-2 tie game.

The Eagles came right back the Gulls after the goal but this time San Diego were able to weather the storm – taking the lead right back as they took advantage of a poor breakout and line change by the Eagles. Sasha Pastujov intercepting a flubbed pass from Eagles netminder Trent Miner down low, patiently waiting and sending it to Ryan Carpenter out front who sent it right back to Pastujov and his stuff attempt bounced to Matthew Phillips heading to the back post. 3-2 Gulls.

The shooting gallery continued as the Eagles got one right back to tie it. Again beating Suchanek through traffic from the point. 3-3 tie game.

After it seemed the game might get to double digits in goals per team the play settled down somewhat but both goaltender still had to be sharp as attacks came in waves.

After drawing two calls earlier in the game the hard nosed play of Nathan Gaucher also went the other way as he called for holding in the Gulls zone. Without his presence in the Face-off dot the Eagles won the offensive zone face-off and immediately set-up a set play that they converted on. 4-3 Eagles.

The Gulls tried to respond and started to build momentum back through the final few minutes left in the period but it was halted by another Gaucher penalty as he was called for tripping on what initially looked like a dive from Eagles Assistant Captain Jacob Middleton but showed on the replay to be closer to a slewfoot from Gaucher.

Despite the Eagles again winning the face-off and spending the entire remaining time of the period in the Gulls zone, this time San Diego was able to shut down lanes and keep chances to the perimeter as they escaped the period down by just the goal with under a minute left of penalty kill left to start the third.

Shots were an even eleven a piece on the period with the Gulls holding the slim 19-17 lead overall.

Third Period: Colorado Eagles 4 – San Diego Gulls 3

Starting the third on the penalty kill for the remaining thirty something in change on the Gaucher penalty the Gulls evened things up right away as Roland McKeown drew an interference call at the Gulls blue line.

The four on four play was short but allowed the Gulls to hold possession into their abbreviated man advantage but despite some better looks the score remained the same.

Time started to become their enemy as the clocked ticked closer to the halfway point of the period but slowly and surely they built momentum and started to create chances of higher quality.

The Nesterenko line came close on one such opportunity, forcing Eagles netminder Trent Miner into a diving stop and were unlucky to finish on the vacant opposite side of the net.

At the other end Suchanek had to make some highlight reel diving stops of his own as some poor defense and communication between Hinds and Luneau saw the Gulls net suddenly under fire with their Czech netminder made unbelievable scorpion stops as he lay prone.

San Diego desperately tried to reward their goaltender but could not get a clean look other than perhaps one Cal Burke chance in front and as time closed in on the final four minutes the Eagles got another one by Suchanek – once again getting a point shot on through traffic that he only just got a pad to and outnumbering the Gulls down low to pot in the rebound. 5-3 Eagles.

With just over three minutes remaining the Gulls pulled Suchanek for the extra attacker and held the Colorado zone for the majority of the time before Sam Colangelo was tripped as the Eagles tried to get a clear by their blue line.

With the six on four man advantage and needing two goals with just over two minutes remaining the Gulls kept their big guns out there and despite getting a clear off the next face-off the squad stuck with it and a re-entry with time and space allowed Tristan Luneau to be set up near the point to step into a shooting lane and wire a blast that beat Miner clean. 5-4 Eagles.

With just over a minute left the Gulls went right back to getting another goal and after several attempts to gain the zone and get set they made good on one as they were able to set up the desired play, sending the puck around the perimeter with enough pace to hit Sasha Pastujov with the one-timer on the right side and his blast hit net. 5-5 tie game with thirty three seconds left.

Each team made sure to be conservative with the remaining time left in regulation and we headed to overtime.

Overtime:

The age old question of whether the Gulls have learned from their previous history of poor showings in the extra session was partially answered as they played a more conservative game with the puck but Suchanek was still a huge factor as he had to make yet more desperation stops and had to spend the final minute of the session under siege after Roland McKeown was called for hooking. Surviving the overtime session but only just the Gulls headed to a shootout with come confidence knowing their goaltender was locked in.

Shootout:

With the home squad electing to shoot first Suchanek made the stop on Ivan Ivan while Sam Colangelo made it look easy with a backhand to forehand move at the other end.

Suchanek could not stop Danil Gushchin’s forehand to backhand move while Sashas Pastujov’s move from the left and top corner attempt was stopped.

Tristen Nielsen gave the Eagles the advantage after his shot came in right under the cross bar and suddenly Ryan Carpenter had to make good on his attempt to force another round. His silky smooth inside outside move to short backhand shelf did so and we headed to the sudden death rounds.

Luke Toporowski put too much sauce on his attempt as the puck sailed over the net and Nikita Nesterenko stepped up with the game winning goal on his stick. The former Minnesota Wild draft pick looking NHL calibre as he used speed change-ups and a fake to expertly get Miner to bite before sending the puck in from the left side. 6-5 Gulls win.

Post Game Notes:

Coming Together

I have been eating a lot of crow lately. Firstly – I admitted I was wrong about the Viel acquistion by the Ducks. Now I am glad to state that Nathan Gaucher and Stian Solberg have been coming ahead in their development of late. As stated in previous post game recaps – Gaucher has been a beast in the face-off dot but also on the defensive side of the puck at critical points of the game. He is also showing a lot of the play-driving aspect of his game that saw him get some notice at points in the previous two seasons. It should be noted that Gaucher did not see much ice while the Gulls were trailing by two and he was replaced by a double shifted Nikita Nesterenko on his line but as soon as the score was tied he was right back out there to take the next face-off. He and Caulfield work well together and their shorthanded goal was pure blue collar work ethic. Solberg has also been figuring it out, I haven’t seen him out of position on a goal for what feels like a good few weeks and he is deservedly seeing time on the second Power Play unit.

Magic Number Watch

The win gives the Gulls a magic number of 24 and some breathing room in the final playoff spot where they currently sit. Tucson has a magic number of 30 and are feasibly the only team that can really catch them now. Meanwhile Henderson and Coachella Valley are only two and three points ahead of San Diego respectively.

HOW BOUT THEM GULLS

This team has always shown fight but to come back from two goals down, on the road, in Colorado, against a foe they have always struggled to score against shows a definite turning point in their development. I feel more confident in a playoff spot now and even if they bow out in the first round – it will only get better from here. This is a team on the rise – so long as management can keep them somewhat together; or as much together as possible in a development league.