Game 59: San Diego Gulls @ Manitoba Moose – Mar 17

With both Kalle Kossila and Andy Welinski seemingly unable to make it back in time from their emergency recalls, it was a pleasant sight to see Jake Dotchin and Ben Street returned to the line up from injury.

The Gulls were buzzing from the outset, drawing two penalties within the first five minutes and ramping up the shot total 9 to 6 as they went. Despite it being over three months since these teams last met in San Diego in a fight filled affair the chippiness left over from that game was still evident as players attempted open ice hits and face washes were aplenty after stoppages in play.

San Diego struck first with almost six minutes left in the period when Kevin Roy took the puck from behind his own net and went coast to coast, skipping a hip check but running out of room down in the Moose zone, he laid the puck back to Carrick who drew defenders in before flipping it back to a wide open Jake Dotchin who hammered a shot through traffic for the opening score.

Less than thirty seconds later Adam Cracknell pressured the half wall and forced a turnover, he then quickly fed the puck into open space where Ben Thomson wasted no time in firing a shot by the surprised Moose netminder to quickly make it 2-0.

With the Gulls unable to convert on their third straight power play in the first twenty minutes a neutral zone tennis match resulted in Keifer Sherwood finding himself on a two on one with Sam Carrick. He waited until the very last minute to perfectly time a pass across to Carrick at the backdoor and it appeared initially as though the Gulls leading scorer had put it away but it was later revealed to have gone in off a Moose defender – eventually credited to Sherwood for the 3-0 lead with a minute left in the first period.

The period ended with San Diego leading in shots 14 to 9.

The Moose came out strong to begin the second period, shifting momentum and tilting the ice in their favor as they pressured, harried and hit the Gulls whenever possible. San Diego survived back to back penalty kills to take their club record to 26 straight kills and started to move the advantage back in their favor as they generated several scoring chances – once shorthanded courtesy of Sam Steel and another less than a minute later from Sam Carrick. Both chances were saved by the shaft of the Moose goaltenders stick. The middle frame ended with the Moose outshooting the Gulls over the 20 minutes but still trailing 24-21 overall.

Both teams came out with speed but similar tight defensive formations to start the final period. Four minutes in Sam Steel had the best chance to add to the lead when he followed up Kevin Roy on a nice rush and fought off a check to have seemingly an unprecedented amount of time and space in front of the Moose net but goaltender and childhood friend Eric Comrie was equal to the moves he made and denied the opportunity.

The Moose would eventually get rewarded for their hard work by finally getting one by Boyle just over six minutes in courtesy of former Gull Ryan White. Who then showed pure class by proceeding to taunt Jake Dotchin about his rumored weight issues at the start of the season. Both players were given roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct minors and continued to exchange “yo momma so fat” gestures in the adjoining penalty boxes.

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The Moose carried momentum from there and kept the Gulls contained for much of the remainder of the third.

Sam Steel and Keifer Sherwood had back to back opportunities on the same shift but some *ahem* over enthusiastic defense meant neither could get a clear shot due to being hauled down on uncalled plays. Not a slight against the officials as they had missed plenty of calls on the Gulls earlier in the game.

With just under four minutes left Ben Street was given a holding call after a spirited shift where both Dotchin and White finished their hits in punishing fashion. The Moose coach pulled his netminder for the six on four advantage and the Gulls stayed physical – giving the Moose no space in their zone. With just under three minutes left an aerial clear found Dotchin ahead of the defence and he used his frame to fend off efforts to strip him of it as he deposited it into the empty net.

He then made sure skate by the Moose bench and rub his belly in what we can only assume was the general direction of Ryan White.

The Gulls came away 4-1 winners in a hard fought but perfectly executed road game. Shots were 39-37 for the Moose by games end.