2020-2021 Game 18: San Diego Gulls vs Henderson Silver Knights

Searching for a win to break their three game losing streak Coach Dineen made more changes to the line-up on the second game of the back to back at home. Moving Brouillard back up to forward as well as Jeremy Roy and inserting Keegan Kanzig on defense. I can only assume Brent Gates Jr suffered an injury after the first period in last nights game – which would explain why he was not so noticeable after having such a strong game to start. Max Golod was also absent though I cannot be sure if that was injury related or a Dineens decision to ice a more heavier lineup against Henderson which he has done before. Chase De Leo and Sam Carrick were split up in an attempt to balance the offense and Drysdale was paired with Trevor Carrick – with Guhle assigned with Lowe. Olle Eriksson Ek was given the start.

The Silver Knights took the lead early on the Power Play, with Chase De Leo sitting in the box for slashing. The visitors creating chaos in front with quick movement and finding a lane to send a puck through that bounced around before landing on Ryan Murphys stick as he snuck in from the point. 1-0 Silver Knights.

But the Gulls came right back with a great response goal, on the shift directly after – Andrew Poturalski remaining hot as he collected a loose puck and stick handled his away around a prone Oscar Dansk to tie things up just twenty seconds later. 1-1.

Determined to right the wrongs of their recent string of losses the Gulls pushed the envelope and lead in shots 8-3 through the first seven minutes of action.

San Diego continued to put Henderson under siege as they controlled their zone, winning puck battles and exerting an overtly physical game. As they generated several high danger chances on the Henderson net they were awarded a Power Play and set to work getting yet more shots on Dansk via some great puck movement and a complete lack of hesitation for getting the puck on net.

Shots were 18-5 with six minutes left in the first period and it was very obvious that only the NHL experience of Oscar Dansk was keeping the score tied and the Silver Knights in the game.

The Gulls closing out the period in as perfect a fashion as they could without scoring a goal by playing non stop offense and preventing the Silver Knights from getting any possession in their zone. The time ticking down and closing out with a fight as Brendan Guhle decided to take on Jake Leschyshyn for skating too close to Jamie Drysdale at the final horn. Shots were 21-6 for the Gulls after the first twenty.

San Diego aimed to pick up where they left off to start the second and did manage to spend almost the first two minutes of the second period in the Henderson zone but it took just one rush from the Silver Knights and a perfect pass from Dylan Sikura to set up Danny O’Regan on a tee for a one timer that he slammed top shelf over the shoulder of Olle Eriksson Ek. 2-1 Henderson.

The Gulls again attempted to hit right back but this time were met with a very determined and stingy Oscar Dansk, even as they generated back to back to back chances on a delayed penalty and the Power Play that followed.

Brendan Guhle came up with a fumble as he was pressured flat footed and lost the puck at the blue line, forcing Nic Brouillard to slide and prevent a shorthanded breakaway chance for the Silver Knights. With Brouillard assessed a tripping minor on the play teams skated at four on four for the next minute and then the Gulls faced down and killed the remaining minute on the penalty kill.

Trevor Carrick threatened to halt San Diego momentum with a tripping penalty and although the Gulls were able to kill the minor the visitors rode the sudden increase in possession and momentum to ease their way back into the game. As Olle Eriksson Ek found himself suddenly seeing a lot more rubber the Silverknights began to close the gap in shots.

San Diego managed to find themselves and generate some good chances in the final seconds of the period – including a great two on one rush that Matt Lorito missed wide on but still could not find that game tying goal. The Gulls headed to the second intermission down by one but still ahead in shots 32-23.

Early in the third San Diego faced another blow as Henderson added to their lead when a point shot off of a face-off win in the Gulls zone appeared to hit Brouillard en-route to grazing by Eriksson Eks shoulder. 3-1 Henderson.

Showing some great resilience the Gulls went right back on the attack, drawing a penalty with thirteen minutes left in the period. Once again Dansk proved the difference as he denied the Gulls with the man advantage while also making sure to deposit rebounds to safe areas on the odd shot he could not handle cleanly.

The Gulls had perhaps their best chances of the night during a Power Play that saw the Gulls spend a full two minutes in the Henderson zone and Dansk doing some frantic acrobatics to somehow keep the puck out.

With Eriksson Ek pulled and under two minutes left on the clock the Gulls finally broke through Dansk as Sam Carrick one timed a pass from Andrew Agozzino into the Henderson net to make it 3-2 with 29 seconds left.

But it was too little too late as the final push came up short and San Diego faced down their fourth straight loss, ultimately beaten by an NHL calibre goalie.

Post Game Notes

Trending in the right direction

Have heart Gulls fans, this losing streak will end and based on how San Diego has played in the last two games, I believe it will end soon. The Tuscon game – was ruined by too many penalties and some overzealous officiating. Tonight’s game, a hot goalie victimizing their already low confidence at being able to finish. It will all come together.

Assessing the Ducks depth

This season is strange in that all the cards are on the table. As opposed to previous years when one could expect some incoming Black Aces by seasons end and a sneak peak at the future. This season they are already here. The best the Gulls can expect from a possible Black Ace infusion this season is possibly Brayden Tracey coming back from the WHL but given that their season just started, its more likely the AHL will be done before the WHL. What we see is what we get right now in terms of the Ducks prospects. The only ones really missing are the College kids (McLaughlin, Thrun, LaCombe, Colangelo, Perbix and Janicke) and the Europeans (Galiamov, Andersson, Sundsvik and Nickl). I will write a more in-depth article on this as we get closer to the draft but it is becoming pretty clear that Trevor Zegras is great and all – but the Ducks need more of where that came from.