Game 64: San Diego Gulls @ San Jose Barracuda – Apr 3

With De Leo, Sherwood, Dotchin and Carrick returned to the Gulls – coach Dallas Eakins went again with 7 defensemen and 11 forwards. Strangely – Sam Carrick was sat, I’m not entirely sure if that was a veteran rule thing or an injury. Either way this was a must win game for the Gulls not only to stop a three game losing skid – but to gain points against a division rival that were looking increasingly like they may be their first round opponent in the play-offs.

The Gulls had the better of opportunities early on but a lack of execution felt like the result of residual rust due to not playing together in some time.

Kevin Boyle was huge when he needed to be, stopping last minute opportunities as a result of defensive breakdowns and it was beginning to seem like it might be another goal-tending duel until – with 14 seconds left in the first period – Matt Berry skated down the left wing and threw a hard pass across the crease that Kalle Kossila chipped by Bibeau for the opening Gulls goal. 1-0 Gulls.

Kalle Kossila was called for tripping a minute into the middle period and Jack Kopacka almost gave the Gulls are two goal lead when he poke checked and created his own breakaway from just past the red line but he was stopped. Moments later the Barracuda came in with speed and room, Jake Dotchin was a split second too late in closing the gap as the San Jose forward was able to measure a shot that blew by Boyle top corner to tie the game on the power play.

San Diego came back immediately with a huge push, hemming the Barracuda in their zone with shift after shift and five minutes later a good shift by Tropp, Street and youngster Brent Gates Jr resulted in the later scoring his first pro goal as he tidied up the rebound left by a Tropp one timer after Street dropped it to him in the slot on the rush.

The Barracuda responded with a concentrated effort in the San Diego zone for the next few minutes but Boyle stood tall. During that span Brent Gates Jr found himself with space on a two on one with Sherwood and only just missed getting his second after a nice move to his forehand.

A few minutes later Justin Kloos was absolutely robbed on a power play chance as a broken play at the blue line lead to passing lanes opening up and a tic-tac-toe play that finished in the sprawling Bibeau’s glove, the San Jose net-minder making an impossible save as he dove across the crease.

San Jose responded a few minutes later by entering the Gulls zone with speed, cutting across and firing from the slot through traffic and past a stunned Boyle. 2-2 tie.

Jake Dotchin upped the physical play by executing a hip check behind the Gulls net but out of camera-shot the player he felled – Jon Martin – responded with a spear which left Dotchin down, he left the game at that point and Martin was given a five minute major as well as a game misconduct. The Gulls had several chances but could not convert with the first two minutes of the major as the middle frame ended with the score tied 2-2 and shots 30-25 for the Gulls.

Jeff Glass started the third period with no sign of Boyle on the bench but after five minutes the former UMass standout emerged from the Gulls tunnel and took his place between the pipes once again.

Corey Tropp took an ill advised slashing penalty down low in the San Jose zone and the Barracuda power play went to work. With just over ten minutes left in the game San Jose finished a net front scramble and punished some poor net front coverage from the Gulls to take the lead.

But San Diego responded right away, first with a good shift from the Street, Tropp and Gates Jr line which was then followed up by the Sherwood, De Leo, Kloos line. With under ten minutes left Justin Kloos found himself in the slot and was able to take it wide of a stick check while out-waiting Bibeau to score the huge game tying goal.

Patrick Sieloff took another penalty when he tripped a Barracuda player coming into the Gulls zone and despite some anxious moments in the final few seconds of the kill, San Diego were able to neutralize the penalty.

San Diego took the lead once again with five minutes to play courtesy of the Kopacka line. Jack Kopacka entered the Barracuda zone with speed and fired a pass between the circles to Matt Berry who swung wide to move the overly aggressive Bibeau with him before firing it into just above the crease area where Ben Street was waiting to tap it in among a mass of sticks.

The Gulls played a textbox road shutdown system to close out the final five minutes of action and preserve the win – San Jose pulled Bibeau twice in that span but the Gulls were able to keep any and all shots to the perimeter, coming away winners in a game they desperately needed to take.