Game 58: San Diego Gulls @ Bakersfield Condors – March 13

With Trevor Murphy out with injury and facing the hottest team in the division, let alone the conference, the Gulls had a tall ask to get back in the win column while staying afloat in the suddenly tight playoff race. Keaton Thompson drew back in but all other lines and pairings remained the same as Eakins hoped to begin developing new chemistry to a line up that had faced too much upheaval since the trade deadline.

From the outset it was evident that this game would be vastly different from the previous two neutral zone cold war-like affairs with the Eagles as both the Gulls and Condors played back and forth hockey through a wide open neutral zone for the first six minutes of the period until Patrick Sieloff was given a hooking penalty. San Diego managed to kill the penalty but just as Sieloff came streaking out of the box, the Condors gained possession as Sustr was erased down low, they then cycled and got the Gulls watching – leaving a man open in front who wasted no time depositing the perfect pass fed to him past Boyle for the opening score. 1-0 Condors.

On the very next shift Chase De Leo drew a penalty as he was tripped coming into the Bakersfield zone. The first unit passed around the top of the circles for a bit before setting up a one timer shot from the low slot that Kloos didn’t quite get the full momentum on but the rebound bounced out to Sam Steel who flicked the puck between a Condors legs and skated in toward the net, passing to Kloos in front of the net who quickly faked out the net-minder to put it by him. It was the Gulls first goal in three games and you could sense the wash of relief from the players as they celebrated the tying score.

Continuing the pattern, Matt Berry took a hooking penalty on the very next shift. Andy Welinski then took a boarding call to put the Gulls down two men with 39 seconds left to kill. San Diego killed the brief two man disadvantage but came very close to going down 2-1 during the 5 on 4 when a net front scramble was seconds away from being put in until Simon Benoit was able to locate and clear the puck.

With four minutes left the Condors Luke Esposito caught Kalle Kossila with a shoulder and his head down in an open ice hit that the Finn was not expecting given he did not have the puck nor had he had recently given up possession of it. Kloos immediately went after Esposito as well as Sustr but play went on and Kossila bounced back up thankfully. It should be noted that this hit was potentially a turning point in the game.

Bakersfield controlled play to start the middle frame and took the lead once again off of a face off in the Gulls zone with the San Diego line tired and stuck out there after an icing call, winning the puck back and firing a quick wrist shot that stunned Boyle before he could get his glove hand up. 2-1 Bakersfield.

Eakins answered with his veteran line on the next shift and Corey Tropp wasted no time letting Esposito he was now a target after the Kossila hit, giving him a hard hit on the boards and exchanging words but the former Harvard forward knew better than to tangle with the Gulls number 12.

At just before the midway point of the second Adam Cracknell took another penalty when he checked down a Condors player who was waiting to control a puck that was still in midair. San Diego killed the minor with the same controlled flawless execution as their previous 22 consecutive kills but found themselves down a man three minutes later when Keaton Thompson tripped a Condors man who had managed to step around him. San Diego managed to kill this one also albeit with slightly more difficulty as they allowed multiple high danger scoring chances but Kevin Boyle was able to stop them all. From there the game opened up even more and both teams traded end to end rushes. Patrick Sieloff then drew a call when he was not only hooked but also boarded while retrieving a puck in the Gulls zone. San Diego returned the Condors “goal off the face off” favor when Kale Kosilla tied up his man on the face off, Jack Kopacka skated in from the left side, collected a pass that had been flicked back from Kloos, skated across the net and neatly flicked a perfect backhand shot over the surprised Condors net-minder. 2-2 tie game.

San Diego finished out the middle frame with another Power Play owing to Kevin Roy drawing a tripping call but could not convert on this one. The period ended with the Gulls taking back momentum, out-shooting the Condors 12-8.

The Gulls kept up the pressure early in the third as the Sherwood and De Leo line caused havoc for the Condors. Eventually culminating in the first go ahead goal for San Diego on the night when Sherwood finished off a nice feed from De Leo behind the net.

A minute later the Gulls were caught sleeping when the Condors entered the zone with time and space, dropping back to the late man who wired a shot past Boyle to tie things back up at three.

Riding the momentum and their boisterous home crowd the Condors scored again less than a minute later on an odd man rush, again taking advantage of some poor man to man defense from the Gulls. 4-3 Condors.

Sam Steel, frustrated with yet another non-call to add to the long list of non-calls missed during the tenure of the game was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct when the officials had had enough of his respectful disagreements.

The Gulls killed the penalty – their sixth straight kill of the game and 24th straight in what is nearing a club record. Kevin Roy came close to tying things up when he got to a loose puck in the slot but it would not settle and his knuckling shot was stopped. San Diego did get a power play opportunity out of the shift and continued their momentum, holding the zone for almost the full two minutes and retrieving pucks when they could not cleanly feed them through the Condors formation. Eventually Steel created space for himself on the right side, drew defenders in and then slid a neat drop pass to Andy Welinski between the top of the circles which the third year pro then hammered home to tie the game.

For the remaining eight or so minutes of the third period both teams traded heavy possession shifts in the other teams zone as the physicality picked up while the checking became noticeably more conservative. San Diego gained the edge in chances when they were given another power play with less than five minutes left and despite their run of success with the man advantage on the night – they could not convert this time. San Diego were forced to defend a sudden Baskersfield onslaught in the final two minutes but survived to head to overtime with shots in regulation favoring the Gulls 32-29.

Coach Dallas Eakins started the three on three extra session with Kale Kossila, Justin Kloos and Andy Welinski and the trio managed to win back possession at the end of their shift via some good work from Justin Kloos. Roy, Carrick and Benoit came on next and held possession for the entirety of their shift but could not create enough space to get a good opportunity on net, then Sam Steel jumped on. He instantly jumped on the puck and handled it around the high end of the Condors zone, making a drop pass that was briefly intercepted before Chase De Leo regained it and fed it back to him as he found open space just inside the Condors blue line. Speeding in he made several stick handles before sliding it five-hole for the game winning goal, capping off a four point – first star of the game night.

Gulls 5 – Condors 4.