San Diego Gulls in action against the Chicago Wolves on a previous date. Credit San Diego Gulls.
With no further updates on existing injuries to Jones and Mahura – Coach Eakins elected to stick with the same lines and lineup that clinched the Bakersfield Series in game six.
San Diego came out with a good start, playing a good cycle in the Wolves zone for the first two minutes.
But then the Carr line came on and retook momentum, Chicago then rolled lined after line, hemming the Gulls in their zone until eventually capitalizing on a turnover from Patrick Sieloff as they intercepted his clearance attempt. Zach Whitecloud pouncing on the opportunity given and firing a shot from the point that Tobias Lindberg tipped just in front of Glass to put the Gulls down 1-0 early.
San Diego came back with a huge push, returning the favor and keeping the Wolves trapped in their zone for several shifts while skewing scoring chances 4-2. The best chance coming for Andy Welinski as he skated into a blue line turnover and launched a hard shot that Dansk was able to stop but looked unsure of himself in preventing the rebound.
In the final two minutes the Wolves gave the Gulls fits again after another San Diego turnover down low, a 2-0 lead only stopped by a key block from Andy Welinski after Glass was caught out of position on the play.
Corey Tropp got a much needed goal for San Diego a moment later as he benefited from an errant pass that found its way to him in open ice coming down the left side and he did not miss in throwing a hard shot high over Dansk to tie things up at 1 in the final 30 seconds of the opening period.
Teams headed to intermission tied 1-1, shots were 10-6 for the Gulls after twenty.
Play was fairly balanced to the start the middle frame as both teams enjoyed some time in the others zone but no real scoring chances were generated. At the fifteen minute mark Corey Tropp was given a slashing penalty to put San Diego down a man. The first look at the Wolves Power Play was curious. They appeared to play a similar style to their parent Golden Knights – passing around the box and trying to draw San Diego in to create space for an open man. There was one anxious moment when Kloos lost his stick but Sherwood was able to take over for both of them and get the clear. San Diego able to successfully kill the penalty.
With just under ten minutes left Simon Benoit was sent to the box for preventing Kolesar from getting a shot off on his odd man chance and this time the Wolves wasted no time in converting with the man advantage as a face-off win allowed them to send the puck down low to Carr in a dangerous area – the Wolves regular season MVP firing a shot in close over the shoulder of Glass to make it 2-1.
Once again the Gulls came back with a huge push and controlled play for the majority of the rest of the period, getting scoring chances from Steel and Berry as well as Adam Cracknell twice on one shift. It would be the Cracknell line that broke through as Max Comtois finished off a 3 on 2 rush after the Wolves turned the puck over at their blue line to tie things up at 2 with a minute left in the period.
Teams headed to the second intermission tied once again and shots 20 to 13 for the Gulls.
San Diego started the third looking like they were ready to take over the game, spending back to back to back shifts in the Chicago zone and generating several chances. It seemed like a matter of time before they would take the lead but a turnover and some lack luster coverage on the back check lead to the Wolves taking the lead once again as they came back on a 3 on 2 and finished the play through a perfect setup for Ty McGinn from Cody Glass. 2-1 Wolves.
The Gulls kept up their efforts, eventually drawing a call when Sam Carrick was tripped coming into the Wolves zone on his own. The San Diego power play looked extremely dangerous as they kept the Wolves at bay and generated 4 separate opportunities. Eventually cashing in during the final ten seconds as Andy Welinski fired a wrist shot that found its way through traffic and by Dansk to tie the game up yet again 3-3.
A few minutes later Max Comtois gave the Gulls their first lead of the game as he finished off a beautiful play. Adam Cracknell fired a hard dump in from his own blue line realizing that Comtois had the speed to win the race to the puck and the 20 year old Quebec native one-timed a shot as the puck came off the boards and by Dansk to make it 4-2 Gulls.
A minute later Andy Welinski gave the Gulls their third power play of the game as he took a stick up high from Brooks Macek in the San Diego zone. The power play was noticeably more conservative as it appeared the Gulls were unwilling to give up possession in case of a counter attacking rush.
Despite controlling play for much of the period a desperate sequence from the Wolves in the San Diego zone resulted in a game tying goal as the Gulls were unable to get a clear during the long shift. Tying things back up at 4-4 with three minutes left.
In the final minute of the game it felt like the Gulls might do it one last time as Sam Carrick came oh so close to winning a goal mouth scramble in front of a down-and-out Dansk but a Wolves defender was able to prevent the chance at the final second.
The teams headed to sudden death overtime with shots 33-22 for San Diego.
San Diego once again began the period strong, coming close to finishing the game on several chances but momentum soon shifted back to the Wolves and they in turn kept the Gulls stuck in their zone, Kloos again losing his stick and making things anxious for the tired defensive unit.
The Gulls could not quite generate the same kind of quality opportunities they were getting at the start of the period and with just under six minutes left an unfortunate breakdown in play resulted in a Cody Glass breakaway as the forward had his stick slashed out of his hands by De Leo but no call was made on the play. As the 2017 first round pick came back from his bench with a new twig he was set free all alone, shaking his coverage in the confusion. Glass could not stop his high slot shot and the Wolves took the game 5-4 in OT and game 1 to go up by one in the series.
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