Game 35: San Diego Gulls vs Tuscon Roadrunners

With news that Max Comtois and Isac Lundestrom had been re-assigned the Gulls forward lines were shuffled yet again. This time, surprisingly Alex Dostie and Blake Pietela were sat – while Deven Sideroff and Gates Jr stayed in. Defensive pairings stayed the same while Kevin Boyle was given the well earned start.

San Diego enjoyed the better run of play and appeared to be gaining momentum until Brendan Guhle was called for interference.

The penalty kill set to work and did a relatively good job of preventing the Roadrunners from generating any real high danger chances. Kiefer Sherwood had a clear-cut breakaway part way through it thanks to a great pass from Justin Kloos, but he was stopped.

The Gulls created some good but not high danger chances throughout the remainder of the period while preventing the Roadrunners from threatening on their own net.

In the final minute of the period Alex Broadhurst was called for tripping to put San Diego down a man for the second time in the first twenty minutes. This time the Roadrunners held the San Diego zone and generated some dangerous chances, one of which led to Kevin Boyle making one of his more spectacular saves of late as he reached back with the glove to snag a wide open chance.

The period ending in a scoreless draw with shots 14 – 9 for the Gulls. The shot map indicating high danger chances were relatively even with San Diego carrying the slight edge.

San Diego had roughly a minute of the Broadhurst minor to kill to start the second period and they did so with ease – leading to what should have meant a momentum shift and a gain in confidence but Tuscon had other ideas. The visitors controlled play and had the Gulls under fire to start the middle frame as they registered all shots for almost the first eight minutes of the period – including the opening score from Cam Dineen, a perfectly placed wrist shot executed with speed after a pass found him in space. 1-0 Tuscon.

The Gulls started to wake back up after the goal and were awarded their first Power Play of the night when Lane Pederson was called for Cross-Checking. They got set and looked slightly better than previous viewings of the man-advantage but ultimately did not generate any high danger chances and Tuscon were able to kill the minor with relative ease.

None the less San Diego kept up their attack and drew another penalty when Aaron Ness was called for Hooking as Max Comtois was hauled down cutting through the neutral zone. Thirty seconds into the Power Play Isac Lundestrom drew another hooking call as he forced Dysin Mayo to negate his progress on what I now refer to as a “vintage Lundestrom puck carry” – the Swedish rookie knifing through both zones while protecting the puck with his frame.
The Gulls did not take long on the five on three, executing what appeared to be a set play as Sam Carrick carried across the top of the zone from left to right before throwing a no-look pass to Chris Wideman at the left sideboards. The St Louis native one-timing a hard shot by Parks before he could even react. 1-1.

Still on the Power Play the Gulls gained the zone once again and this time Lundestrom carried into the zone and fired a shot from the point, the rebound came to Kloos who fired another shot on. Parks was able to make that stop too but Max Comtois was there to bury the rebound as it squeaked by the young net-minder to give the Gulls the lead 2-1.

Teams exchanged chances for the remainder of the period with the physical play picking up as the visitors appeared to be getting frustrated by San Diego’s stingy defensive play.

The period ended with San Diego controlling play while shorthanded, getting back to back rushes shorthanded but being denied by the rookie Parks. Antoine Morand had the very last opportunity as time was expiring but could not connect on his attempt as he was hauled down from behind but the play was not deemed illegal by officials. The Gulls carrying a 2-1 lead into the second intermission and leading in shots 25-20 with the shot map indicating that the Roadrunners laid out the red carpet for San Diego to set up shop in their crease.

As to be expected the Roadrunners came out with a big push to start the third, gaining the San Diego zone and opening up shooting lanes with cycle play. Antoine Morand sacrificed his body to make a huge shot block on one such play that left the rookie winger struggling to get back to the bench.

Moments before; Max Comtois had hit the post while skating in on a two on one break with Isac Lundestrom. The rookie looked to have picked the far post but the puck bounced painfully out of harms way.

San Diego started to shift momentum back in their favor – thanks in part to some great defensive play from Hakanpaa, Mahura, Benoit and most importantly – Guhle; who had a very good game.

As the Gulls made rush after to rush into the Tuscon zone you got the sense their confidence levels were rising and plays appeared to come that much more easily. Josh Mahura added to the lead when he accepted a pass into a soft area made by Sam Carrick and fired a hard wrist shot with speed by Parks to make it 3-1. Moments earlier Brent Gates had fired a very good shot that Parks had to make a desperation stop on, the rebound found its way to Carrick who then found Mahura rushing.

Sensing blood in the water the Gulls kept up the attack and Deven Sideroff joined the party. Finishing off a play lead by Jack Kopacka as the second year winger attempted to split the Tuscon defense, losing the puck just as he was about to shoot but Sideroff gathered and shot it as he kept pace with his line-mate. His shot sailed over the shoulder of Parks to make it 4-1.

San Diego continued to run the Tucson zone, only relenting their momentum when the Roadrunners pulled Parks with three minutes left in the game. Boyle was called upon to make one last big stop – denying a rebound on the backdoor and the Gulls took the win 4-1 to extend their streak to four and go over .500 for the first time this season.