Game 38: San Diego Gulls @ Grand Rapids Griffins

Grand Rapids celebrates an OT win over the Gulls. Credit San Diego Gulls.

Still carrying their roster full of temporary reinforcements the Gulls headed to the road determined to get back in the win column once again. Coach Eakins made just the two changes, inserting Hunter Drew as Jani Hakanpaa did not make the trip with an upper body injury while giving Anthony Stolarz the start in net.

The Gulls controlled the run of play for the first five minutes, locking up the neutral zone and turning over possession whenever the Griffins attempted to mount an attack. But as it were – the games first best chance came to the home team as a counter attack rush lead to several back to back chances on Stolarz.

Play remained tight for the next five minutes and the physicality began to pick up as the teams began to test each-other. Justin Kloos drew the first penalty of the game as he was hit long after he had released the puck by the Griffins Givani Smith.

It took San Diego just over a minute to capitalize on the Power Play as Max Jones tipped a shot from Daniel Sprong past Pickard to get the scoring started. 1-0 Gulls.

Things got slightly nasty as Troy Terry was called for hooking in the San Diego zone and Dylan McIlrath finished a hard check on Hunter Drew as he touched up the puck to stop play. The scuffle that followed ended with McIllrath picking up a minor for roughing to even things up at four on four for the next two minutes.

Grand Rapids had the first opportunity with the temporarily expanded ice as Philip Zadina blazed into the San Diego zone but his shot was blocked by Josh Mahura, Brendan Guhle then rushed the puck up ice and dropped a pass to Kiefer Sherwood coming late in space and the Ohio native did not miss. His hard wrist shot beating Pickard high blocker-side, 2-0 Gulls.

Antoine Morand was called for slashing with just under two minutes left in the period and the Gulls spent the remainder of the first twenty minutes down a man. The Griffins got two chances on Stolarz with the man-advantage but San Diego were able to escape to the first intermission unscathed and carrying a 2-0 lead but down in shots 10-9. The shot map indicating the Gulls had a great first road period, keeping the Griffins to the perimeter.

Things went from good to bad for the Gulls as a Power Play awarded after Terry was hooked coming through the neutral zone swiftly resulted in the Griffins gaining momentum via a shorthanded goal as a turnover at the blue-line turned into a one-on-one chance that Josh Mahura likely would love to had a redo on. 2-1.

Grand Rapids rode that momentum to get a Power Play as Scott Moldenhauer was called for roughing in the San Diego zone. Winning the draw in the offensive zone, a quick pass out to Philip Zadina was all she wrote as the 2018 first round pick hammered a one-timer by Stolarz to tie things up at 2.

With five minutes left in the middle frame, Chris Wideman found himself as the lone-man back and was forced to take a slashing call to break up a critical two on one break and a sure Griffins goal.

The Gulls were able to kill the minor and generate a small shift in momentum as Isac Lundestrom drew a call on the nearside boards but once again the Gulls gave up a dangerous shorthanded chance as Josh Mahura fumbled the puck at the blueline. Anthony Stolarz came up huge making the initial stop on the breakaway but it was deemed Mahura negated a clear chance and a penalty shot was awarded. With three seconds left in the period the Griffins Turgeon went in on the penalty shot chance with speed but ultimately came in too tight and Stolarz stone-walled the son of former great Pierre Turgeon to keep it tied up at two heading into the second intermission. Grand Rapids out-shot the Gulls 17-11 on the period to bring the total to 27-20 through forty minutes, the shot-map showing how wide-open and free-flowing things had become – to the detriment of the Gulls.

The Gulls came out with much better energy to start the third period, controlling play and enjoying the majority of the chances while leading shots 7-1 through the first seven minutes.

Riding their relentless forecheck and constant possession the Gulls retook the lead when Troy Terry came into the Grand Rapids zone with speed and executed his signature move – usingthe defender as a screen to toe-drag and fire a quick wrist shot that beat Pickard blocker-side. 3-2 Gulls.

The Griffins responded moments later, taking possession in the San Diego zone and deflecting a low point shot by Stolarz to tie things back up. 3-3.

With the game growing tighter, the chippiness and general distaste increased. Troy Terry was leveled by an open ice hit from Dylan McIllrath which lead to Sam Carrick and Max Jones issuing some wacks to the rugged Detroit defensive prospect. Alex Broadhurst was elbowed down to the ice in a board battle in the Griffins zone and the Gulls headed to the Power Play. During the man-advantage a recovered rebound found Troy Terry in the slot but he was tripped before he could maneuver himself into a shooting position.

The brief five on three did not quite have enough movement to start as both point men played catch for the first ten seconds, finally Sam Carrick cycled with the point-man and the Gulls were able to open lanes and generate some chances. It felt like it would be a matter of time before they got one by Pickard but alas they ran out of time as the Griffins were able to kill both minors.

With a minute left in the period Justin Kloos was called for boarding, on an obvious call that was very uncharacteristic of the small forward but was very much in line with the physical element that had entered the game after the game-tying score. Simon Benoit then cleared the puck on the full just five seconds into the disadvantage to give San Diego a tense finish.

Thanks to some great work from the penalty killing of Sam Carrick, Scott Moldenhauer and Brendan Guhle the Gulls were able to kill the remaining time in the period to head to OT and obtain at least a point.

The five on three carried over to the overtime session and the same penalty killing unit looked to have possibly staved off the extended disadvantage until a big rebound squeaked out to Matt Ford and he quickly put it away to send the Gulls to their second straight loss. 4-3.