San Diego, California. After fighting back from a 2-0 deficit but falling to the Henderson Silver Knights in overtime, the San Diego Gulls hoped to pick themselves up against the always dominant Colorado Eagles.
With the arrival of Nick Jensen from Anaheim after clearing waivers Coach Manson elected to also give Jake Lee a look – but kept Travis Howe in the line-up, moving back to his natural position of forward. Surprisingly Yegor Sidorov was sat to make room.
The lines were slightly shuffled again. The top line stayed intact while Nathan Gaucher was moved to the second line to join Pettersson and Nico Myatovic. Sean Farrell was moved to the third line alongside Ethan Procysyzn and Herman Traff while the Captain started as center of the fourth line for the first time since he joined the club. Forming yet another new look fourth line with Drew Elliott and Travis Howe.
Defensive pairings stayed the same but for the final pair which was made up of Lee and Jensen.
Tomas Suchanek was given the start with Damian Clara backing up.
First Period:
San Diego started well – playing a committed fore-check and held possession as well as the majority of the opportunities for the first five minutes of play but the shots remained low on both sides as neither could get a clean end to a sequence.
You got the sense the Gulls were taking extra motivation from the short lived playoff series at the end of last season as they threw the body at every opportunity which in turn led the Eagles to respond in kind.
Tomas Suchanek had to be sharp whenever a gap appeared amongst the frenetic hitting melee and sharp he was, turning aside some point blank chances as well as snagging long range point shots with traffic in front.
Nico Myatovic drew yet another stick infringement (this time hooking) call and the Gulls headed to the Power Play with four minutes left in the period.
The Gulls struggled with their first unit against the divisions leading penalty killing group but once the second unit came on they did manage to get some good looks including a very nice Herman Traff one timer to finish that was only matched by a just as good reaching glove save from the Eagles goaltender Ilya Nabakov.
There was some more rough stuff right at the whistle as Herman Traff was engaged with one Eagles player at their bench and then got head-locked and taken down by another. The Gulls eventually skated away as a collective but you got the sense there were likely to be more fireworks to start the second. Shots were 12-9 Eagles after the scoreless first.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 0 – Colorado Eagles 0
It felt like Colorado had the edge to start the period as they maintained possession and put the Gulls under pressure for the first few minutes of play. Tomas Suchanek had some adventurous saves – including some Dominik Hasek-esque looking desperation stops.
But the Gulls turned the tide as Anton Wahlberg continued his strong play of late as he skated in on the Eagles net with a direct route but then executed a very nice move to find Matthew Phillips at the back post. 1-0 Gulls.
A miscommunication lead to Nathan Gaucher being whistled for interference but in addition to some luck and the goal post the Gulls for the most part killed the minor without too much trouble as the bad blood continued to spill over with Drew Elliott growing incensed during a post whistle scrum and throwing punches at the Eagles Maros Jedlicka.
The four on four sequence to follow initially looked like an Eagles power play with the Gulls playing submissive and in a box formation but once they regained possession they suddenly found some life as Nico Myatovic showed some amazing speed and skill to hold the puck and gain the Eagles zone before getting it to a pinching Corey Schuenemann. The veteran defender then poised with the puck and spotted a streaking Lucas Pettersson arriving from the bench. 2-0 Gulls.
A too many men penalty called against the Eagles put the Gulls on the Power Play but it was San Diego on the back foot as Tomas Suchanek had to go full Hasek once again after Stian Solberg fumbled the puck in his own zone and allowed the Eagles to come at Suchanek two on one. The Czech goaltender making an amazing leg stop and then diving in all directions to eventually bring the puck under control in his crease.
Colorado killed the remainder of the penalty and both teams reverted to borderline physical assault for the rest of the period.
San Diego taking a 2-0 lead over their most recent post-season rivals. Shots were 8-7 Eagles and 20-16 Eagles overall. The shot map showing Tomas Suchanek proving the difference.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Colorado Eagles 0
Another good start to the period saw the Gulls keep possession for most of the first eight minutes of the final frame.
The hitting started to pick up again and just seconds after Stian Solberg was tripped in his own zone with no call from the Officials, a hooking call to Nathan Gaucher on a resulting Eagles counter rush saw the Gulls go down a man with eight and a half minutes remaining on the period.
Killing the penalty with some great team work the Gulls earned a Power Play of their own as Anton Wahlberg was hooked on a partial break as he barreled toward the Colorado net.
Colorado played the penalty as aggressively as possible, clogging the neutral zone and sending a fore-checker low into the Gulls zone. It resulted in some intense back and forth rushes as the Eagles were not shy about trying to get a shorthanded tally. With the Gulls failing to convert on a four on two rush an Eagles rush back the other way ended in San Diego taking another penalty as Ryan Carpenter was called for slashing.
Colorado scored right off the face-off as a shot caused a rebound that bounced high in the air and all players lost track of it but Eagles Captain Jayson Megna who batted it out of the air and into the Gulls net. San Diego asked for a look at the goal and they did show a brief replay which the Officials deemed a good goal even though the height of his stick was debatable. 2-1 Gulls.
Colorado kept coming after pulling their goaltender for the extra attacker and with just over a minute left they did it again, whacking another rebound by Suchanek to tie it up. 2-2 tie game.
To their credit the Gulls managed to mount some offensive chances and stopped the Colorado onslaught for the final minute but once again the Gulls headed to overtime in a game which they deserved to have won in regulation.
Overtime:
Losing the face-off but gaining back possession the Gulls held possession and were smart with the puck, seemingly only making a push on net when they were sure they could recover the puck if it failed. With just over a minute left the Eagles had perhaps their best chance of the extra session but Suchanek was square to the shot and squeezed the arm. San Diego had the last chances of the overtime session with the trio of Pettersson, Phillips and Solberg but a goal could not be found and a shoot-out was needed to decide this matchup.
Shoot-out:
The shoot out did not start well as Lucas Pettersson was stopped on his smooth inside outside move to the backhand that was only stopped by a lunging blocker. Then the Eagles countered with a speeding left to right move that beat Suchanek. Matthew Phillips was stopped but Suchanek responded with a stop of his own on Eagles leading scorer Adam Beckman. Then James Hamblin scored via the five-hole to keep it alive and Suchanek stopped Eagles captain Jayson Megna and we went to sudden death rounds.
Sean Farrell went first and looked good with his skating and hands but was stopped on the backhand.
Vinnie Hinostroza came in with speed but Suchanek stayed with him and turned him aside.
Captain Ryan Carpenter came from the opposite side and slid a perfect backhand in to give the Gulls the edge.
Then Tomas Suchanek was given the chance to earn his win and that he did with a great stop of Matt DiMarsico.
3-2 Gulls well deserved win.
Post Game Notes:
Suchanek More Like SucHASEK
Its games like this that make me feel vindicated for saying Suchanek should have been up here this entire time. That is not to discredit Clara. He has been sharp. But he doesn’t battle like Suchanek does. They are completely polar opposite styles. Clara is big and plays the angles like a big goalie does. He is not however, athletic. Teams have realised this and have gamed a strategy that if they can expose the Gulls defense on the rush, they can likely beat Clara at the back door.
Suchanek has his faults also but when he is on his game, he is very hard to beat.
The frustrating thing is going to be. Do the coaching staff rightly stay with the hot-hand or do they go back to Clara.
New Blood
Nick Jensen was a much needed breath of fresh air on defense. His veteran presence was a much needed steadying anchor and although he was initially paired with Jake Lee – it seemed that as the game went on; the coaches shortened the bench and rotated him with Solberg.
Unsure if whether this strategy will work long term but given Ian Moore is due back in possibly a few weeks, there should hopefully be some more help coming down soon.
Early Coaching Philosophies
Yegor Sidorov was scratched once again. This time in favor of Travis Howe. I did mention at the hiring of Manson and his assistants that I hoped it didn’t mean a lean in the direction of brawn over skill but given this was an understandable decision based on the opponent – a traditionally heavy Colorado team – I am giving the benefit of the doubt. If Sidorov is scratched again – against a team like maybe San Jose or Bakersfield for example; then I start to worry. It does seem a tad unfair that he is being singled out but at the same time I get why they are trying to tough-love him into breaking out of this early season funk. He did show some flashes of his old-self in that last game against Henderson – doing his patented spin-o-rama in the offensive zone but there needs to be more consistency in his game.
2026-2027 Game 10: San Diego Gulls vs Henderson Silver Knights
San Diego, California. With a long way off between games but still looking to keep focused…