Game 30: San Diego Gulls vs Bakersfield Condors

Stuart Skinner (34) stops one of several Gulls shots as the Condors upset the Gulls. Credit San Diego Gulls.

Looking to square up on the back to back, the Gulls would have to do it without Daniel Sprong and Kiefer Sherwood; recalled earlier in the day to Anaheim to cover for injuries to Rickard Rakell and Ondrej Kase.

They also appeared to be without Chris Wideman, listed as a scratch on the night but with no explanation for his absence.

Coach Dineen changed up the lines once again to account for the changes – inserting Kopacka on the top line in Sprongs spot and reuniting Tropp and Carrick for the first time this season.

San Diego had a better start to the night as they found themselves in a scoreless tie after the first few minutes instead of being down by two goals early. Teams exchanged chances for much of the first ten minutes until just when it seemed the Condors were reverting back to their physically dominant play in front of the Gulls net – forcing Anthony Stolarz into making consecutive stops in close while Gulls defenders appeared helpless to prevent the shots. A rebound came free to Alex Dostie who fired a stretch pass to a streaking Sam Carrick, the Gulls captain made no mistake as he went in alone on Skinner to open the scoring. 1-0 Gulls.

Then the Officials made their presence known as they called the Gulls for tripping (Hunter Drew) and a very week hooking call on Chase De Leo for a brief two man disadvantage. Thankfully the Condors Power Play appeared to be having the same passing issues that dogged the Gulls last night and San Diego were able to kill the first penalty as time wound down on the period. Simon Benoit was also instrumental in preventing the Condors from getting properly set as he reduced time and space for the Bakersfield attack down low.

The period ended with San Diego up by one and leading in shots 9-6 despite needing to kill three penalties during the first twenty minutes. The shot map looking slightly similar to that of the shot-map after the first period of yesterdays game with the Gulls dominating the Condors net from the right side down low.

The Gulls started the middle frame by killing the remainder of the penalty assessed to Mahura for a perfectly legal stick lift (not bitter or sarcastic at all).

Then as things reverted back to five on five neither team seemed to be able to carry any sort of momentum at first until the hitting picked up. Started by Phil Esposito as he rocked Alex Broadhurst near the boards in the Gulls end, quickly followed by Josh Mahura lining up and perfectly executing an open ice hit that leveled Esposito to get the crowd on their feet.

The Gulls seemed to then feed off of that energy and kept the puck in the Condors zone for the next few shifts, finally earning a Power Play from the officials as Lowe was called for Hooking. The Gulls failed to convert on the first opportunity but were rewarded with back to back five on threes as the Condors overtly physical coverage in front of the net cost them.

Frustratingly the Gulls could not convert on either of the two man advantages as either an unlucky bounce or great save from Skinner prevented them going up by two.

Concerns that Bakersfield might gain momentum from killing the huge and lengthy disadvantage were momentarily halted when Condors rookie Kirill Maximov was called for slashing. The Gulls Power Play looked a lot less impressive than that of the previous span of man-advantage – likely because they did not have an offensive zone face-off to start it from. The Condors making quick work by not allowing the Gulls to properly get set or have a decent carry into their zone.

The Gulls thought they had scored when Alex Dostie one-timed a pass from the left circles by Skinner but the whistle had blown just before he took the shot as San Diego were called for too many men on the play.

Teams headed to the second intermission with the score unchanged, the Gulls getting massively frustrated by Stuart Skinner but still leading in shots 23-16, the shot map showing them doing a good job at keeping the Condors to the perimeter while getting some but not enough high danger chances down low given the amount of time spent with the two man advantage.

The Gulls had a great start to the third but were again stifled by Skinner. Morand in particular made a great play to setup Carrick on a partial breakaway, making a beautiful spinning no-look pass to set up the Gulls captain.

The Condors answered soon after with a strong shift in the Gulls zone that resulted in a point shot that deflected by Stolarz as the former Flyers second round pick could not track the puck through traffic. 1-1 tie.

San Diego re-exerted themselves on attack but Skinner continued to put up a wall. By the end of regulation he had faced down 37 shots as teams got set for three on three overtime.

The Gulls held possession for most of the extra session and Brendan Guhle had perhaps the best chance to win it when he went coast to coast on his own to create an opportunity in close but again Skinner came up big.

Controversy and adversity struck when Justin Kloos was called for holding when his helmet was ripped off in what should have been a roughing call the other way. The Gulls were thankfully able to kill the time remaining in the extra period while a man down and we went to a shoot-out.

The story of the game was Stuart Skinner and it ended that way as things went to two extra rounds but Stolarz could not stop Maximov on a beautiful move to extend the shoot-out after Mueller could not convert on his chance.

The Gulls unfortunately falling to four straight losses on a game they deserved to win but were unfortunately beaten by a hot goaltender.