Game 36: San Diego Gulls vs Texas Stars – Jan 16

On the day Pontus Aberg was traded for Justin Kloos (who featured in the Gulls most recent game against the Wild) the Ducks also made a flurry of movements prior to this game. Calling up Max Jones, Troy Terry and Sustr while sending down Kiefer Sherwood, Jake Dotchin and assigning Patrick Eaves on a long term conditioning loan.

San Diego ran play for much of the first, the Stars had some opportunities but kept shooting high and missing the net entirely. Kiefer Sherwood had a good chance at the midway point – getting open for a brief moment inbetween the hashmarks but his wrist shot was stopped. With seven minutes remaining Ben Street gained the zone with speed, drew the defense and dished to Holzer on the right side. The veteran defender sent a hard shot that beat the Texas goaltender Bow but hit the post. Alex Dostie also had a good chance as he accepted a pass through the neutral zone with speed but his shot was just a tad too low on the glove side. He drew a penalty on the play as he was slashed at the moment of truth.

The Gulls appeared to be missing the presence of Terry and Jones on the man advantage as they seemed to be looking around for someone to be the play maker or be the man to take it into traffic. Some calm and patient passing did eventually lead to a cross-ice pass from Cracknell to Tropp who put in an easy goal to the wide open net to take the lead.

San Diego continued to dictate play – allowing the odd rush from the Stars into their zone but never any sustained possession time. Matt Berry was forced to take a slashing call when he prevented a clear shot from the trailing winger on a Texas two on one and on the ensuing penalty kill Sam Steel broke up a pass and came in with Adam Cracknell, feeding the veteran for a two to zip lead.

San Diego kept up their momentum early in the middle frame, thanks in most part to the Dostie line. Eakins rewarded them with an additional shift within the first three minutes because they single handledly controlled play with hustle and tenacity on the forecheck.

Texas began to shift things as time went on, getting some point blank opportunites on Boyle that he was equal to while also being thankful to his posts.

With five minutes left in the middle frame Simon Benoit fumbled a puck at the blue line and was forced to take a holding call to prevent a clear cut scoring chance. The Texas Stars got one back with the man advantage – potting in a rebound of a shot that changed direction on Boyle.

Three and a half minutes into the third the Stars were awarded a power play on a dubious double minor occured when Mahura attempted to swat a puck away as it was falling near the Gulls net – on the replay he appeared to hit the Texas players stick which then swung up and hit him in the face; drawing blood in the process.

The Gulls were able to kill the extended disadvantage thanks in part to some strong blocks from Korbinian Holzer and Ben Street as well as a strong effort from all three iterations of the penalty killing unit.

Texas kept pressing for much of the rest of the third but the San Diego defense played perhaps their best game of the season. It should be noted that Jake Dotchin appeared to be playing with a massive chip on his shoulder, attempting to start a fight with anybody that might be willing.

With under two minutes left the Texas Stars pulled their goaltender and kept the Gulls hemmed but San Diego were able to relieve pressure with sporadic icings. Patrick Eaves attempted to hit the empty net with a shot taken from his own goal line but missed by inches.

The Gulls came out 2-1 winners and extended their points streak to fourteen games.