Loveland, Colorado. Riding high off of their come from behind 6-5 victory the night before the San Diego Gulls looked to try keep things rolling on the back to back.
Forward lines were changed up once again with Justin Bailey moving back to the top line and Matthew Phillips moving to the second to join a new look combination featuring Sam Colangelo. Only the fourth line remained intact.
Defensive pairings remained the same.
Calle Clang was given the start on the back to back with Suchanek backing up.
Roman Kinal and the recalled Drew Elliott were the healthy scratches.
First Period:
Perhaps still enjoying their pleasant sleep after the dream two goal come back from the night before the Gulls were caught napping as the Eagles put up two goals early to put them down 2-0 after the first four minutes.
Settling in after that San Diego tried to respond but Colorado played a much more disciplined game than the night before and there was little to no space to create.
The Gulls surrendering two early to head to the first intermission down by two after twenty. Shots were 9-8 Eagles with the shot map giving some hope given the high quality looks San Diego still generated after initially falling behind.
Second Period: Colorado Eagles 2 – San Diego Gulls 0
Needing to get some goals on the board to get back in the game the Gulls continued where they left off from the first but the Eagles still stubbornly played defense through offense, further increasing their lead in shots as time closed in on the halfway point of the game.
On what seemed like a standard offensive zone face-off play a face-off win from Ryan Carpenter went to Sasha Pastujov who sent it to Stian Solberg at the point before skating into an open area in the slot. Solberg fed it back to him and it was all the left shooting sniper needed. 2-1 Eagles.
A Nik Brouillard hooking call temporarily halted some building momentum but the Gulls were able to kill the minor thanks to strong work from Caulfield and a stick-less Gaucher with Calle Clang looking very sharp in net however very perturbed with Officials after the whistle.
With just over two minutes left in the middle frame the Gulls headed to the Power Play as Sam Colangelo was cross-checked behind the play after he and Matthew Phillips skated in on a two on one that was denied.
It was a script flip from the night before as this time the Eagles looked the better team shorthanded – forcing Clang to make two good saves during the sequence.
San Diego heading to the second intermission making up one on the two goal deficit but still trailing. Shots were 16-12 Eagles and 25-20 Colorado overall.
Third Period: Colorado Eagles 2 – San Diego Gulls 1
It was a standard Colorado game as the home squad were content to frustrate and slow down the Gulls rush through the neutral zone while counter attacking whenever they saw opportunity to.
Calle Clang had to come up big when a bad Gulls clear ended up up on an Eagles stick and only his lunging stop kept the score at 2-1 with just over fourteen minutes remaining.
With the Eagles enjoying a far too easy time of cycling and sending shots on Calle Clang for two to three minutes straight a nice chip and chase by Justin Bailey would have resulted in a clear cut breakaway for the speedster but he was taken out right after he chipped it along the wall and the very clear interference call awarded the Gulls their second Power Play of the period.
San Diego again could not finish with the man advantage and as the penalized Eagle player exited the box a three on one rush was too much as they fed the late man to beat Clang. 3-1 Eagles.
It was all downhill from there as penalties and poor play cost the Gulls. Colorado finishing the game by a total score of 5-1.
Post Game Notes:
Sigh
Well at least they got two three wins against the Eagles this season as opposed to other seasons when they tend to get maybe one or two tops.
Magic Number Watch
The loss isn’t ideal for Magic Number watch but it could have been worse, by bagging four points out of eight instead of none at all the Gulls have managed to stay afloat and put themselves in a good position down the stretch as they face some teams below them as well as those also fighting for playoff positioning. They currently have a number of 24 which should hopefully either decrease slightly or stay stationary as neither Tucson or Calgary played today. Coachella Valley lost to the Barracuda by a score of 5-1 also which is good news while the Reign currently have 1-0 lead over the Canucks in a game that is largely ineffectual.
Coming Up
San Diego now has a total of 12 games remaining on the season, five of which are against opponents outside of the playoff picture including three against Calgary and the Canucks back to back to close out this month. If the Gulls can put together a four game in streak starting with a clash against the Condors this Friday they put themselves in good stead to see out the rest of the regular season on a high.
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 tw…