2026-2027 Game 7: San Diego Gulls at Tucson Roadrunners

Tucson,Airzona. After starting the season 2-3-1 and sitting in the middle of the Pacific as a result, the San Diego Gulls looked to rebound after dropping a low scoring 3-0 decision the night before.

Following the shut-out loss and still experimenting with his line-up in the early season Coach Manson brought Nathan Gaucher and Cruz Lucius into the forwards, sitting Travis Howe and Yegor Sidorov in the process.

On defense – Roman Kinal was sat in favour of Konnor Smith.

Damian Clara was given the start on the back to back with Laurent Brossoit backing up.

First Period:

Just forty seconds in the Gulls had a shaky start as a miscommunication between Schuneman and Basgall resulted in a clear cut break away for the Roadrunners that Damian Clara calmly stared down and got a piece of with his left pad.

Less than a minute later the rampant pace the Gulls inadvertently brought to start the action paid off as Nico Myatovic finished off a nice give and go play with Nathan Gaucher to give San Diego the early lead. 1-0 Gulls.

San Diego tried to keep the pressure on but Cruz Lucius was a little overzealous in doing so and was called for tripping as he draped his arms around a Tucson player and took him down coming out from behind his net. On the resulting penalty kill Corey Schueneman was also found guilty of tripping as he took down a Roadrunner player attempting an entry at the Gulls blue line.

Travis Mitchell stood out on the abbreviated five on three penalty kill as he denied multiple attempts at the backdoor play. Tucson were guilty of a tripping penalty of their own and the penalties eventually washed out as play returned to five on five with time approaching the eight minutes left mark.

San Diego kept up the pace and had some very good looks on the Tucson net while Clara also looked sharp at the other end.

Some relentless pressure from the Roadrunners eventually broke the young Italian born net-minders clean slate as an inability to regain possession in their own zone saw a point shot beat Clara through layers of traffic with just over a minute left in the period. 1-1 tie game.

San Diego managing to get on the scoresheet but still finding themselves in a battle against a tough opponent as they headed to the first intermission tied at one. Shots were 10-8 San Diego.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Tucson Roadrunners 1

Tucson had the better of play through the fist three minutes of the middle frame, commanding possession and putting Clara under siege before earning a Power Play as Jet Woo was called for tripping after he slid to block a two on one partial rush.

San Diego killed the minor with some aggressive work and went to the Power Play themselves just seconds later as Corey Schunemann was tripped near the neutral zone.

The Gulls appeared to initially have trouble getting set as the Roadrunners were aggressive in the neutral zone, slowing play down as they clogged lanes but once San Diego did eventually gain the zone and get shots on the Tucson net, they went to work. Outnumbering and winning a puck battle down low the puck was sent back to the point where Sian Solberg showed some maturity and poise as he looked off a very open left side option ( but a pass may have been cut off ) and instead wired a shot on net where the rebound was converged upon by multiple Gulls including Phillips who sent it into a empty net. 2-1 Gulls.

San Diego kept up the pressure following the goal, using some refreshingly basic hockey to throw the puck on net with traffic, win loose pucks and get it back to the point to rinse repeat. An interference call to Julian Lutz gave the Gulls another chance on the man advantage but this time they could not convert and the Roadrunners appeared to gain some momentum from the kill as they started to build up the shots on Clara with less than five minutes remaining in the period.

The Gulls continued to surrender chances as time closed to the final two minutes of the frame until James Hamblin made a heroic individual effort to regain possession during a four on four sequence and draw a call in the process to setup a forty second four on three man advantage for the Gulls. San Diego did look good during the rare man advantage but also showed some lack of cohesion as a “right idea but not on the same page” quick one-time pass from Sean Farrel was picked off and killed the remainder of the four on three. With San Diego holding possession in the Tucson zone now at five on four they seemed to be unaware of the ticking clock and the buzzer sounded before they could get another shot away. The Gulls heading to the second intermission up 2-1 and with forty five seconds left on the man advantage to start the third.

Shots were 13-11 Tucson after the second and an even 21 a piece after forty minutes of play.

The shot map showing Tucson taking charge on the period and Clara standing strong.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Tucson Roadrunners 1

Starting the period on the man advantage – Damian Clara had to be sharp once again as Tucson sprung their man from the box for a clear cut breakaway which he faced down and stopped once again. The Roadrunners once again continued to take it to San Diego whilst earning a Power Play as Matt Basgall was called for tripping just under five minutes into the final period.

The penalty parade continued as Stian Solberg was called for tripping also just moments after San Diego had killed the Basgall minor and it proved too much as the Roadrunners solved Clara with a point shot that presented a rebound down low. 2-2 tie game.

The tripping calls kept coming as this time the Gulls were awarded a Power Play after Montana Onyebuchi took down a Gulls player in the Tucson zone. San Diego could not convert with this man advantage either and the score remained locked at two with just over five minutes remaining.

With a minute and a half remaining the Roadrunners still largely held the advantage with a 30-26 lead in shots but the Gulls seemed content to play for the extra period as they held possession for the buzzer to end regulation.

Overtime:

Starting with Lucas Pettersson, Nico Myatovic and Stian Solberg the Gulls needed only that trio to take the win as Pettersson won the face-off to get possession. The first rush – with a zone entry from Pettersson that ended in him giving up possession with a low shot on net was saved at the other end as Clara was deft with the stick to break-up the Roadrunners counter attack and Solberg and Myatovic combined to regain possession. Myatovic then turned on the jets to beat his man wide – execute a toe-drag move on the lone defender left and all in the same motion send a back-hand shot on net that beat the Tucson net-minder for the game winner. 3-2 Gulls win.

Post Game Notes:

New Season, New Coach, New Personnel

Those who follow me will know I place a lot of the blame on the Gulls down years on the constant turnover of coaches and players as teams took almost half the season to build chemistry and get a rhythm going and by then it was too late. Despite their record only being a game under .500 going into this contest – this feels eerily similar to teams Ive watched during those down years. Not for lack of talent. Just cohesion. Players are clearly still figuring each-other out and learning a new system (given a lot of them were not with the Ducks or Gulls last year). Looking over the line-up for today’s game – only four out of the twelve forwards were regulars last year and only two our of the six defenders. That’s three quarters of the forwards learning each-other and the system and two thirds of your defensemen.

That said – I do like this mix of skill, tenaciousness and physical style up and down the line-up. Wahlberg in particular impressed me a lot while others like Drew Elliott surprised me with some flashes. Speaking of which…

First Pastujov, now Sidorov?

Seeing the line-up posted and taking a bit to figure out who was missing I was shocked to see Sidorov scratched. I am not quite ready to panic just yet – it is after-all early season and Coach Manson is clearly still deciding who should play where but it is not a great sign that Sidorov is one of those that is selected to sit. Gaucher was another in the previous game. Not to discount Drew Elliott who looked very good with his touches – combining speed and deft touches to move the puck into the offensive zone as well as a displaying a very dangerous shot in the third. I just hope this isn’t the beginning of the Ducks giving up on Sidorov like they did with Pastujov.

Early Season Depth Check

As mentioned – Wahlberg impressed and it isn’t surprising to see he leads the Gulls in scoring with seven points in seven games. Nico Myatovic is not far behind with six points in seven games including a team-leading four goals. Those two are the clear-cut next-one-up for a call-up should the Ducks require it (which hopefully they don’t). While on defense – Solberg is tied with Myaotic for second on the team – also with six points and has two goals. Clara WAS very good in net and I can see why Suchanek – as good as he has been – has been related to Tulsa to start the year. Clara is just so big and teams really struggle to beat him with standard AHL scoring plays because he takes up so much of the net. My only concern that I saw in this game is he visibly lost sight of the puck on more than one occasion. Something that he will hopefully improve as he settles and gets more used to the speed of the game.