Sam Carrick (25) celebrates a hat trick and win over the San Jose Barracuda. Credit San Diego Gulls.
With Max Comtois making his way back down to San Diego, Kevin Dineen also re-inserted Chase De Leo into the line-up. Jani Hakanpaa also came back in and was interestingly paired with the newcomer Ryan Johnston – curious because they both shoot right.
San Diego set the tone early with some crisp passing play, keeping possession of the puck as they found open space and eased pressure when necessary with a back-pass. Justin Kloos opened the scoring as he finished off one such play – finding space in the neutral zone and accepting a pass from Comtois to head in alone on Korenar – his neat forehand to backhand fake opening up the Czech net-minder to allow him to sneak it by him to make it 1-0 Gulls.
San Diego kept up the pressure, getting chances from Pietela and Kopacka but it would be the Barracuda who responded just before the midway point of the period as they hemmed the Gulls in their zone on back to back to back shifts. Yurtaykin collecting a pass in the high slot in space and sending it top corner to make it 1-1
Some sloppy play from the Gulls culminated in the Barracuda jumping on a 2-1 lead as Simon Benoit lost the puck off his stick near the hash-marks and as San Jose tracked it back behind the net they were able to catch Stolarz out of position and quickly put it in backdoor.
San Diego continued to exhibit disjointed and sloppy defensive play reminiscent of their initial first three opening games but Anthony Stolarz kept the Barracuda lead at one. The Pietela, Sprong and Broadhurst line got things going with some good work in the San Jose zone, Broadhurst finishing off the third of three dangerous chances when he took a great area-pass from Pietila and broke in on Korenar, tucking it around him to tie things back up 2-2. Sprong also made a nifty between the legs pass off the boards to free up Pietila initially.
The Morand, Dostie and Kopacka line followed that up with some offensive pressure – drawing a call in the process to put the Gulls on the Power Play with eight minutes left in the opening period.
Getting set in the zone the Gulls quickly created some open passing lanes as they kept the puck away from the aggressive San Jose penalty killers, Isac Lundestrom exploiting one of these open lanes to get a cross-ice feed to Sam Carrick who had eons of time to measure up and bomb a shot over Korenar’s shoulder to make it 3-2.
The Barracuda had a chance to respond when Alex Dostie was called for tripping but Stolarz came up big once again when called upon and San Diego were able to escape the brief adversity unscathed.
Chase De Leo made one of many big-effort plays on the night when he used his speed and power to strip John McCarthy of the puck as he crossed the Gulls blue-line and then in the same motion, fired a pass back up ice to Sam Carrick who sped in all alone to beat Korenar top shelf for his second of the night. 4-2 Gulls.
The opening frame ending with the Gulls on yet another Power Play and taking a 4-2 lead into the first intermission, but down in shots 14-10.
San Diego finished off the remaining time of their man-advantage to start the second period but could not convert; none-the-less they continued their momentum and generated several good chances including a between the legs play that would have made highlight reels had Max Comtois been able to elevate the shot.
Despite all the opportunities it would be the Barracuda who struck first in the middle frame, converting a rebound in front as they caught the Gulls puck-watching in their own zone to bring it back to 4-3.
Ryan Johnston made some good plays in his own zone and demonstrated why he was acquired with some great puck rushing as he sent a long pass up ice to Daniel Sprong but the former Penguin was stopped on the breakaway. On the same shift Sprong appeared to get hit by a hard pass or shot in the mid-section which seemed to cause him immense discomfort.
With five minutes left the Gulls were given another chance on the Power Play but could not get a decent chance on net despite getting set for the majority of the two minutes. Just as the penalty expired Patrick Sieloff attempted a pass at the blue line that was picked off and the Barracuda headed on a two-man break, Anthony Stolarz came up huge and shut down the opportunity while preventing a rebound to keep it at 4-3.
A minute later Daniel Sprong drew another call as he played a give and go with Alex Broadhurst and was interfered with after he let go of the puck. The Gulls got both units out for this man-advantage and as time wound down Justin Kloos came within inches of putting the Gulls back up by two as he was sighted back door by Isac Lundestrom who made a beautiful play to slow things down and find the open former Minnesota Golden Gopher.
The period ended with the Gulls up 4-3 but down 19-27 in shots with the shot map indicating that San Diego needed to tighten things up defensively heading into the third.
In the final period things quickly escalated as Justin Kloos drew a call, taking a stick high from Dolton Prout. On the ensuing Power Play, Sam Carrick collected a rebound in front from a Max Comtois shot and executed a textbook Corey Tropp between the legs move to complete his hat-trick. It was the first Hat Trick on home ice for San Diego in their five year history. Gulls 5-3.
Less than forty seconds later Alex Dostie made it 6-3 when he potted in a rebound after a smart low shot fired from the point by Ryan Johnston.
Three minutes later Dostie continued his stellar night by spotting Kiefer Sherwood sneaking behind the San Jose defense and sent the Ohio native on a breakaway – he placed a perfect shot over Korenar’s shoulder to make it 7-3.
The Barracuda tried to mount some semblance of a come back and Simon Benoit was assessed a tripping penalty as he took out his man to the side of the Gulls net. The San Jose extra-man unit were turned away at the Gulls blue line on two or three consecutive attempts and on the last attempt their attacking line was so flat that a loose puck was easily pushed ahead by an enterprising Justin Kloos. The second year Gull getting his second of the night on the breakaway to make it 8-3 shorthanded.
Killing off the remainder of the penalty the Gulls were put down a man again as Blake Pietila was given a hooking penalty during an attack in the San Jose zone. Eager for more the Pechanga Faithful were not disappointed as Kiefer Sherwood and Chase De Leo broke up a Barracuda zone-entry and set off on a two on one break. Sherwood lined up to take the shot but then unselfishly sent a perfect pass that somehow made it over to De Leo and the La Mirada native made it 9-3 and back to back Gulls shorthanded goals.
Patrick Sieloff was inches away from making it 10 in the final two seconds but had the puck knocked off his stick as he came by the San Jose net. The Gulls skating away 9-3 winners to win their third straight home game and fifth in their last six.
Sore Sprong: I didn’t see the play but it sounded like a shot or hard-pass hit Sprong in the mid-section just before the midway point of the second and left him in a lot of pain. He missed a shift and played through it for the remainder of the game but he did not register another shot on net after the second period. I will do my best to keep an eye on his injury status.
Firing on all Cylinders: The Gulls had scoring from all four lines tonight and it broke down as follows:
So hot right now: Multiple players are riding hot streaks including:
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