Game 7: San Diego Gulls vs Colorado Eagles

With news breaking less than hour before the game that Deven Sideroff had been recalled due Andrew Poturalski suffering a broken wrist that would see him out 8-12 weeks; the adversity for San Diego to find that elusive first win grew that much greater.

At the same time – the Colorado Eagles were suddenly beset by injuries meaning their leading scorer among a couple of other key players were absent from the line-up also.

San Diego opened the scoring just three minutes in – after some great play from the top line. A shot from Moldenhauer at the point came back into the slot where Antoine Morand scooped it up, drove down low and around the diving Colorado net-minder. It looked as though he had finished off the move during live action but on the replay it was shown that Captain Sam Carrick finished off the play as the puck spun loose to his stick at the near side.

Colorado fought back and caught the Gulls puck-watching in their own zone as they weaved and too-easily found cross ice seams, eventually finding an open trailing man who fired a shot high over Stolarz shoulder to tie things up. 1-1.

The San Diego response was swift, just 38 seconds later Jani Hakanpaa fired a shot from the point that was stopped by traffic in front of the Eagles net-minder Werner – Blake Pietela then collected and fired another shot on net from the slot and Daniel Sprong pounced on the rebound the squirted loose from the left side post to make it 2-1.

Riding their new-found confidence and momentum, San Diego struck again less than a minute later when Alex Dostie converted a goal mouth scramble as the Gulls poured on the pressure.

The Gulls then proceeded to fire more pucks on Werner, out-shooting the Eagles 11-3 at one point before Colorado started to take back control thanks in part to a Power Play awarded after Justin Kloos was called for interference in the neutral zone. They finished off the remainder of the period by forcing San Diego to attempt to regain possession as they set up shop in their zone and fired shot after quality chance on Stolarz. Shots were 13-11 to the Gulls after the first period with the shot-map re-iterating San Diego’s dominance.

Things started out slowly to open the second period but started to open up as the Gulls looked to sneak behind the larger Eagles defense. Back to back two on one breaks were stopped and on the second instance (featuring Alex Dostie feeding a pass across to Jack Kopacka) Simon Benoit got caught out of position leading to a partial break. The Eagles Sheldon Dries bringing them within one by opening up Stolarz and sliding it five-hole.

A minute later Antoine Morand drew a call as he took a stick from Erik Condra up high. The Gulls Power-Play – which until that point hadn’t looked that threatening – suddenly came alive as a well positioned Daniel Sprong was able to wind up and fire a hard shot from the point which hit Werner and bounced to Blake Pietila in the slot. The former Devils forward firing the rebound home to make it 4-2.

But the Eagles kept up their forecheck and forced the Gulls into making some needless sloppy mistakes. An example of which was Chris Wideman throwing a pass out front that was intercepted and lead to a Colorado scoring chance. Stolarz was able to make the stop but the Eagles kept up the pressure and eventually got another one by Stolarz to make it 4-3 with just under five minutes left in the middle frame. The period eventually concluding with the Gulls still leading in shots 25-20 but the Eagles starting to look slightly more dangerous on the shot map.

An unfortunate mistake by Scott Moldenhauer to start the third period resulted in a Colorado odd-man rush and Stolarz was unable to make the final stop as the Eagles tied things up two minutes in.

The Gulls attempted to respond but Colorado was equal to the task and the two teams exchanged chances throughout the remainder of the period. Anthony Stolarz was forced to make a huge stop on a breakaway after Corey Tropp gained the Colorado zone on the Power Play and then telegraphed a cross-ice pass that was easily read and picked off by a streaking Eagle forward.

Just after the midway point of the period the Eagles Conor Timmins was called for slashing on Sam Carrick as he retaliated to a double team laid on him along the left-side boards. The San Diego Power-Play again didn’t look too dangerous and just when it looked like it might be another failed effort a loose puck that lead to some space for Blake Pietila and Isac Lundestrom ended in the latter getting the go-ahead goal and his first regular season tally in North America. 5-4 Gulls.

The Eagles tried to push back but the Gulls – realizing they were close to their first win of the season – tightened up on defense and made the quick clear whenever they could. Eventually grinding down the remaining time to take the win.

Post Game Notes:

Scoring, scoring, scoring. Getting goals from five different players and contributions on the scoresheet from eleven overall is just what the Doctor ordered. The only forward noticeably absent from the fun was Chase De Leo – but I am sure he will get on the scoresheet again soon.

Defense, defense, defense. A win is a win. It wasn’t pretty or as convincing as one would have hoped and that was mostly due to the Gulls still having issues playing a semi-cohesive defensive structure. Three of Colorado’s goals were scored inches from the crease. I am not sure how that can be fixed long term but if they have hopes of competing with the much improved Pacific Division, it needs to be.

Pietila steps up. Piteila had a three point night, earning himself first star and he deserved it. Much like Morand seemed to be the only noticeable play-driver in the previous two games, tonight it was Pietila leading the way but with a supporting cast. The former Devil definitely stood out as the most effective Gull on the ice.