2025-2026 Game 67: San Diego Gulls at San Jose Barracuda

San Jose, California. Getting back to back wins at home to stay alive in the playoff race the San Diego Gulls looked to keep it going as they headed north to take on the Barracuda.

With it recently announced that yet more Black Aces would be joining the squad in the form of Lucas Pettersson and Damian Clara both coming over from Byrnas in Sweden. I was skeptical as to how they would find room to fit Pettersson considering Nathan Gaucher was also returned to the Gulls from Anaheim.

When the line-up was announced it was revealed that Nikita Nesterenko would sit to make room for Pettersson while Yegor Sidorov was sat to make room for for Gaucher. The strong play of Cal Burke of late keeping him in the line-up.

The top line stayed intact as did the second line but Burke was moved up to play wing on the second line, alongside the newcomer Pettersson, Gaucher returned to his usual spot on the fourth line.

With Tyson Hinds recalled to the Ducks, Konnor Smith drew in and was paired with Luneau in place of Hinds. All other defensive pairings remained the same.

Calle Clang was given the start in net once again with Suchanek backing up.

Nikita Nesterenko, Yegor Sidorov, Herman Traff, Drew Elliott and Coulson Pitre were the healthy scratches.

First Period:

I had my own misgivings with the early start game in San Jose as the Gulls have a very bad history of beginning poorly in those but Roger McQueen in just his second game, made his presence immediately known as he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, skated with speed into the San Jose zone, drew defenders to him and then fed a perfect pass to Matthew Phillips at the left side post. 1-0 Gulls.

It was all Gulls for the next five minutes or so as the Barracuda had no answer for their speed, fore-check and possession game in transition. Shots were 4-0 Gulls through the first seven minutes of play as San Diego rotated through all four lines.

Right as FloHockey started to shit the bed and the next few minutes became unwatchable the Barracuda started to push back and with eight minutes left in the period they had managed to level the shot totals and drawn a call as Roger McQueen was called for high sticking.

FloHockey continued to shit the bed and I missed seeing how the Barracuda scored on the Power Play but they did. Oliver Wahlstrom skating through several Gulls on a rush and beating Clang from the mid slot. 1-1 tie game.

Just as San Diego were getting momentum back the Barracuda switched things up and took the lead by getting the puck deep in the Gulls zone, sending it back to the point while traffic was still forming in front and beating Clang with a point shot through bodies. 2-1 Barracuda.

The Gulls doing well to start the period on the road with some energy but allowing the Barracuda to take back momentum and a 2-1 lead as teams headed to the first intermission. Shots were 11-8 Barracuda with the shot map showing the Gulls getting some very good looks in close while the Barracuda were able to beat Clang from distance via traffic in front.

Second Period: San Jose Barracuda 2 – San Diego Gulls 1

Just twenty seconds into the middle frame the Gulls were awarded a Power Play as Jet Woo was called for slashing. The first unit held the zone and set up several looks through the majority of the time and the second unit could barely get set with their time allowed as the Barracuda killed the minor and went back to the attack.

The physicality picked up as teams exchanged chances and the Gulls would pick up the next penalty as Roger McQueen was given another – this time for holding as he was involved in a battle in front of the Gulls net.

After killing the minor frustrations continued to flare and tempers boiled over as the bodies started to fly.

The top line emerged from the fray and set about generating some chances in the San Jose zone on a shift where multiple infractions could have been called against the stick-happy Barracuda but eventually the Officials did deem it feasible to call Jet Woo as he tripped Ryan Carpenter before he could take a shot out front. On the delayed call the Gulls continued to cycle, tiring the existing Barracuda line out there before Sasha Pastujov found room and a lane to wire a shot that beat San Jose goaltender Laurent Brossoit. 2-2 tie game.

Riding the wave of momentum the Gulls continued with the third line who kept pressure in the San Jose zone before being switched for the fourth line and as they caused headaches for the Barracuda defense a rush into their zone led by Myatovic who stopped up and spotted a trailing Nik Brouillard at the blue line in open space. The veteran defender then smartly sent a shot-pass to the waiting Nathan Gaucher who was crashing the San Jose net. 3-2 Gulls lead.

With three minutes left in the period Jet Woo gave the Gulls another Power Play as he was called for interference and as the first unit spent almost the entire two minute sequence in the Barracuda zone the Gulls looked in control as they skated to the second intermission up 3-2 despite not converting with the man advantage. Shots were an even ten a piece and 21-18 Barracuda overall.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – San Jose Barracuda 2

It was a battle of wills for the first five minutes to start the third as San Jose pressured in the Gulls zone but came up against a determined defense and as play finally came into the neutral zone a cross checking call was made as Jan Mysak was hit from behind near the benches.

Winning the face-off in the San Jose zone the first unit went right to work and opened a shooting lane for Sam Colangelo within the first few seconds. The Sniper looking off a pass as he nailed his shot left side corner. 4-2 Gulls.

Expecting a push after the goal the Gulls turned the tables and threw everything they could at Brossoit before the Barracuda eventually turned momentum back in their direction.

San Diego held firm under the pressure – rolling lines and easing pressure at each opportunity until Nik Brouillard was goaded into taking a cross checking penalty near center ice with just over twelve and a half minutes left in the action.

The Gulls killed the minor thanks to some great defensive structure at their blue-line, Konnor Smith in particular standing out as a massive disruptive presence.

San Diego continued to wind the clock down, frustrating the Barracuda by closing down the neutral zone and clogging shooting lanes.

With less than four minutes left Stian Solberg had a minor brain fart as he batted a loose puck out of the air and over the glass for a delay of game penalty.

San Jose pulled Brossoit for the extra attacker to make it a six on four advantage. The extra space allowed saw the Barracuda start to create some high danger chances, but Clang was locked in.

Killing the minor the Gulls were still under pressure in their zone, but broke out and some inspired effort first by Nico Myatovic to negate an icing call and then Nathan Gaucher to harass the Barracuda in their own zone to close out the win. Gaucher even getting credit for an empty net goal scored by the Barracuda as an errant pass from the Gulls zone caromed off the boards and all the way down into their own net.

Gull taking their third straight win by a score of 5-2.

Post Game Notes:

Win The Second Period Win The Game

That is now back to back games the Gulls have outscored their opponent in the second period and taken the win as the result. I am not saying that is the reason they are winning but it is a very nice change from the second period collapses we have been used to during the previous skid.

Another Day Another Debut

I tried my best to keep a keen eye on Lucas Pettersson tonight but with the poor camera work in the San Jose building (seriously, isn’t it an NHL arena? Whats with the shitty cameras???) it was incredibly difficult to do so. There were more than a few hiccups – immediately passing back to a team-mate in the defensive zone where there was room for him to skate it and some missed passes here and there but overall he did not look too out of place. In the final five minutes he did try get a deflection in front of the San Jose net showing he is unafraid to go there. He is small – which I had expected based on his draft profile write-ups and my own but he has a tenacious back-check and clear ability to force turnovers using his speed to close on opponents. Long time followers of mine will likely find this hilarious but he reminds me of a …. Antoine Morand – with more upside and a scoring touch that I am sure we will see eventually. Either way – with both he and McQueen joining the squad next year, its going to be a fun season!

Will also note that even though we have seen him before – Konnor Smith was as always a joy to watch on the defensive end as he kept Barracuda forwards honest with no-nonsense pure physicality. Again I couldn’t spot who it was that he absolutely plastered near the beginning of the first – ideally it would have been public enemy number one Lucas Vanroboys but I don’t think it was.

Too Many Forwards

The introduction of so many Black Aces at a critical time of the year has lead to an awkward conundrum. Who sits and who plays. How do you determine who sits? The victims for this game were Nesterenko and Sidorov. Neither of which I don’t feel have played horribly lately, Nesterenko has 14 points in 31 games and has come off of two seperate point streaks. Sidorov has 28 points in 65 games and has not had a great sophomore season, he is yet to surpass last years totals with six games remaining but he has been coming on lately and showing signs of his high excitement skill game. Neither he or Nesterenko registered a point in the last win over Bakersfield and if coaching staff are using that as a measuring stick then Mysak, Bailey, Carpenter, Pettersson, Burke and Judd Caulfield are your choices to scratch next game.

Meanwhile the Ducks are currently deploying two defenders as forwards on their fourth line…

Magic Number Watch

Going into today’s game the Gulls magic number was 7 while Bakersfields was 3, with Tucson still in it but a distant 18. The win today should move the Gulls number down to 5. 5 more points required to clinch. The win gives the Gulls 76 points, just two behind Bakersfield; which as I mentioned in my last post game notes – could provide an opportunity for San Diego to leap-frog them in the standings in this next two game series, If the Gulls can pull off another two wins in Bakersfield they would move into sixth and at this point would face the Coachella Valley Firebirds; a team which I feel they would match-up well against.