In Kalle Kossilas surprise early return to the line up it was a positive start as San Diego drew a penalty early and had several chances – including a perfect pass from Terry to a streaking Kossila – but were unable to convert; even when Troy Terry was tripped for a brief 5 on 3 advantage.
Just before the midway point of the first period an innocent play resulted in the opening goal for Stockton as former-Gull Scott Sabourin blasted a slap shot from the blue line and caught Boyle off guard; who likely assumed it would just be a dump in.
A minute later Jaycob Megna took a silly holding penalty as he was caught pinching and lost his stick on the same play. Stockton converted on the power play off a face-off win and a blocked shot that ricocheted to the left of Boyle where the Heat had an easy shot past the out-of-position 2nd year netminder.
A few minutes later, with the 2018 version of the NHL line (Tropp, Carrick and Thomson) caught up ice on a turnover, the Heat came back with numbers to setup an easy cross ice pass on the rush which was fired by a struggling Boyle.
With four minutes left in the period the Heat converted again with the man advantage with Max Jones serving a penalty for an elbow.
After twenty minutes it felt like Josh Mahura was by far the best player on the ice for the Gulls – he was consistently breaking out with ease and getting zone entries with his silky smooth skating.
Jared Correau relieved Boyle to start the middle frame and the action was balanced but slightly frenetic until Luke Gaznic got the Gulls on the board with a rush accompanied by Dostie and Sideroff- he looked them off before shooting a hard wrister by the Stockton netminder.
Two minutes later Larsson almost got in a fight after a Gulls defensive zone draw and subsequent Correau save. In the same fracas Curtis Lazar showed incredible bravery by dropping his gloves and then refusing to fight Sam Carrick, the Gulls went down a man owing to Larsson starting the hostilities.
San Diego killed the penalty but a tired Giovanni Fiore sent a backhander over the glass as the Gulls failed to clear the Stockton pressure and sent his team right back to the PK.
With the Gulls gaining momentum thanks to back to back kills Deven Sideroff intercepted a pass behind the Stockton net and fed Luke Gaznic for his 2nd of the night at the 8.40 mark of the middle frame.
On the ensuing shift San Diego drew a penalty via some good work by Troy Terry off the half-wall but squandered the power play as well as giving up a dangerous short-handed chance that Correau was equal to. The second period ended with the Gulls getting hemmed in late and grateful to hear the buzzer.
Four minutes into the third, a double face-off violation gave the Gulls a power play and Giovanni Fiore fired home a bullet from just above the right face off circle on a set play one timer.
Just over a minute later on another powerplay thanks to a holding penalty drawn by Ben Thomson. Kalle Kossila fired a shot from the slot (off a beautiful pass from Corey Tropp near the point) for the game tying goal.
With four and a half minutes left, and after some inspiring work in the Stockton zone, the Gulls appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal, but it was called back immediately and it was revealed Corey Tropp punched the puck in with his hand. Jake Dotchin attempted a lob pass up from his own zone but over-cooked it and put San Diego a man down for a delay of game penalty with 3 minutes left in the game – effectively killing all the momentum for the home team.
Partway through the OT Josh Mahura lost his stick (but still managed to catch it in the same motion), but the delay caused him to lose his man and forced Logan Shaw to slash the free Stockton player to prevent a scoring chance. The drama didn’t end there though, as on the following face-off the Heat were assessed yet another face-off violation penalty and we were back to 3 on 3. There was a flurry of action on the rare (once the penalties had expired) 4-on-4 OT session and both Max Jones and Troy Terry almost ended it on sepatate chances but the score remained tied at the conclusion of five minutes.
In the shootout – Sam Carrick scored on his opportunity in the 3rd round but Stockton equalized with their final attempt. Chase De Leo finished on the next round but again Correau was unable to stop the Stockton shooter Spencer Foo. It eventually made it to the 14th round before Matt Taormina mercilessly ended it and took the win for the visitors.
2024-2025 Game 25: San Diego Gulls at Tucson Roadrunners
Tucson, Arizona. After seeing their point streak ended at the hands of a 2-0 shut-out the …