Game 60: San Diego Gulls @ Manitoba Moose – March 19

Off of the impressive victory two nights before the Gulls were looking to close out their road trip with another win and head back to San Diego with a crucial six points. Kalle Kossila made his return to the line up at the expense of Ben Thomson but Andy Welinski mysteriously did not. It was later revealed that Jacob Larsson was day to day with a Charley Horse and so Welinski had stayed in Anaheim as defensive cover.

Two minutes and neither team had a shot on goal until the Moose forced a turn over down low in the San Diego zone and a pass out to noted minimal body fat activist Ryan White in the slot who wasted no time in shooting it by Boyle for the first goal of the game. 1-0 Moose.

San Diego took momentum back and made some good plays in the Moose zone across all four lines, no high danger chances as Manitoba perfectly boxed out any player that got too close to the net but it was looking positive until Logan Shaw took a puck from one such opportunity, skated around both Roy and Benoit and then beat Boyle on the far side post on a wrap around on the second Moose shot of the game. 2-0 Moose and the end of Boyle’s night as Glass was brought in.

The teams settled into trading chances for the next ten minutes before the underlying distaste for each-other reared its head when Tropp took exception to a cheeky slash after the whistle and he actively went to the Moose bench to engage the Moose player – Spacek; to answer for it. After a bench front skirmish eventually Tropp found a dance partner in the form of Lipon, taking him down easily in a one-sided affair.

San Diego immediately responded with a good shift from the Cracknell line and they had a decent chance on net but the Moose followed that up with an outnumbered rush coming the other way and an untidy rebound generated by noted minimal fat activist Ryan White was converted to give the Moose a 3-0 lead with five minutes left in the first period.

The Gulls made a huge push in the Moose zone with three minutes left and some good work from Dotchin, Kossila et.al was rewarded with a power play when Kloos drew a tripping penalty as he went to retrieve a loose puck, the Gulls controlled the puck in the Moose zone, executing one timers and retrieving rebounds – eventually breaking the passive Manitoba box as Sam Steel fed Kossila who scored into the empty Moose net from a severe angle to bring the Gulls back within two. 3-1 Moose.

Just 8 seconds later. Off a face-off win at center ice Kiefer Sherwood charged in and got a good chance on Comrie who made a huge save but De Leo followed up the rebound and got it to Ben Street who wrapped it around and past the outstretched net-minder to make it 3-2 Moose.

The period ended with shots 16-11 in favor of the Gulls.

San Diego controlled play for much of the start of the second and had another opportunity with the man advantage after Jack Kopacka was hauled down on a rush into the Moose zone. At one point Dotchin fumbled a puck but looked as though he would recover until he was tripped in his attempt and so the Gulls went on a five on three for a full minute.

Somehow Ryan White was able to get a breakaway during this sequence, yep, a breakaway during a five on three. Glass made the save and White wiped out in the corner – allowing the Gulls to come back five on two but were unable to execute. Eakins once again rolling the dice by icing a full five forward unit on the Power Play. The Moose successfully killed both minors.

San Diego continued to hold momentum for much of the rest of the period until Sam Carrick was sent to the box for tripping when he got a tad overzealous when trying to get the puck back from a Moose player in the offensive zone. He also got a tad overzealous with the camera in the penalty box.

The second period ended with no scoring and shots 27-19 for the Gulls.

Again, San Diego controlled things to start the period and had an opportunity to tie it when they were given another power play with five minutes gone. The Gulls failed to get set for the entirety of the man advantage as the Moose broke up every zone entry. Simon Benoit also accidentally inadvertently gave the Moose a point blank chance when he fanned on a pass to his defensive partner but Glass was equal to the task.

Two minutes after the Moose killed off the Gulls minor with ease, Patrick Sieloff sent a puck over the glass in a clearing attempt to send the Gulls to the penalty kill with 11 minutes left.

San Diego returned the Moose favor denying the first couple of zone entries and as the home team attempted to gain entry on their third attempt Kiefer Sherwood picked up the puck after knocking away a pass and sped up ice with Justin Kloos, looking him off and firing a quick shot through Comrie to tie the game.

Play opened up soon after as the Gulls killed the remainder of the Manitoba penalty and both teams traded end to end chances in a frenzy of desperate attempts to gain the lead. Playing in opposite divisions but still needing points with few games remaining will tend to do that.

With five minutes left Jake Dotchin was given an interference call when he leveled a Moose forward that was backing into him. The Gulls killed the minor with relative ease – De Leo, Sherwood, Kloos and Sustr playing major roles and the later taking a page out of Dotchins book and finally displaying some bite to go with his size as he flattened would be puck battle opponents in the Gulls defensive zone. Both teams continued to trade wide open chances as the final minute wound down but scores remained deadlocked to end regulation. Shots were 38-26 for the Gulls after 60.

Logan Shaw started things off by cutting all the way from his goal line to the Gulls net but was checked off the puck as he went down low. A desperate battle in the neutral zone resulted in Sam Steel chasing a puck down and flicking a perfect pass back to the slot all in one motion but the waiting Sherwood was denied. Eakins once again played it fast and loose and put Kloos, Kossila and Kopacka on at one point and then Carrick, Street and Tropp a shift later with a brief cameo by Benoit as the lone defenceman. The Moose had the majority of the chances as their speed could not be easily matched by the Gulls – at one point Vesalainen skated through Carrick and Street to the net but Glass was able to make the stop. Sam Steel had the Gulls best chance on a three on one but fanned on a shot after a toe drag to the slot. Curious but perhaps an indication of how Eakins is feeling about Roy at the moment – we did not see the speedy winger until the final minute of OT on a shift with Kossila and Benoit. They had a chance and forced an offensive zone face-off but Roy failed to control a loose puck and after the Moose forced an offensive zone face-off and held possession of the puck they were able to score as Moose was unable to completely strip his man of the puck as he came in on net and made a nifty move around him. 4-3 Moose but a valuable point that put the Gulls in sole possession of second place in the Pacific for the time being.