2021-2022 Game 5: San Diego Gulls @ Tucson Roadrunners

Fresh off their first victory of the season the Gulls looked to steal further points on the back to back in Tucson.

Captain Sam Carrick and Kodie Curran were given a rest to make way for Adams-Moisan and Axel Andersson to get some action.

First Period:

Tucson came out with a noticeably heavier and tighter fore-checking game which Bouchard may have predicted by putting Adams-Moisan in the line-up. With the physical play picking up Hunter Drew put his team down a man when he caught a Roadrunner player with an elbow coming through the neutral zone.

Tucson easily controlled the puck around the Gulls much too passive penalty killing box and opened the scoring by getting to a loose puck first. 1-0 Roadrunners.

The Roadrunners continued their physical play as Hudson Fasching turned the puck over in the neutral zone with a big hit on Greg Printz then came in with speed on the wing, beating Erikson Ek blocker side. 2-0 Roadrunners.

San Diego made a push in the offensive zone and came close on a nice setup by Jacob Perreault to Alex Limoges but his tipped shot went just wide.

As the Gulls continued to build momentum they were awarded a Power Play when Limoges was boarded in the Tucson zone. San Diego showed some great puck movement on the resulting man advantage but could not get one by Korenar and as the penalty expired Hudson Fasching again generated a Roadrunners goal by attacking the Gulls zone with speed, firing a shot on Eriksson Ek that bounced out to an open man. 3-0 Roadrunners.

San Diego picked themselves up and kept playing their game, gaining the Tucson zone and generating chances while the Roadrunners continued to lay the body at every opportunity. After one such occasion – after Bryce Kindopp was hit on a very late open ice check while chasing a dump in I was wondering why the Officials had not spotted the very obvious interference infraction – Kindopp still managed to win a puck battle down low to free the puck up to Guhle who fired a point shot through traffic and past Korenar for his first of the season. 3-1 Roadrunners.

San Diego heading to the first intermission down by two and getting outworked physically. Shots were 10-7 for the hosts.

Second Period: Tucson Roadrunners 3 – San Diego Gulls 1

Tucson continued to take runs at the Gulls, with Michael Carccone clipping Buddy Robinson up high on another late follow through.

The hit resulted in a double minor and the Roadrunners didn’t learn their lesson because moments later they took another penalty with their excessively physical play to give the Gulls a full two minute five on three.

San Diego made no mistake, moving the puck around the three man triangle and eventually getting Korenar out of position for a Mason McTavish one-timer. His first AHL goal and the second youngest Gulls player in history to do so. 3-2 Roadrunners.

Continuing on the Power Play and riding momentum as well as a suddenly silenced Tucson crowd the Gulls tied things up via a Danny O’Regan snap shot from the left side. 3-3.

San Diego enjoyed a few more minutes of momentum and chances before Tucson were able to re-establish their overtly physical play. Once again the Officials missed several obvious penalties, including a hook on Limoges and a deliberate goaltender interference as a Roadrunner made no attempt to stop as he charged the Gulls crease.

Things settled down again as time wound down in the period and both teams traded chances before the Roadrunners struck again via a ferocious forecheck in the San Diego zone. 4-3 Roadrunners.

Brayden Tracey had a chance to tie things up as he pounced on a loose puck and sped away down the left wing but Korenar did not bite on his side to side move.

The Gulls were once again their own enemy as a bad turnover down low in their zone once again cost them as Hudson Fasching was given a gift by the left circle. 5-3 Roadrunners.

The fourth line got one right back as Hunter Drew was fed the puck on a turnover and came in with time and space on the right side. He then wound up and fired a clap bomb that beat Korenar high. 5-4 Roadrunners just as the period came to a close.

The Gulls headed to the second intermission down by one but ahead in shots 20-16.

Note: Both Buddy Robinson and Jacob Perreault left the game during this period. Robinson after he was clipped high by Carccone as mentioned in the period breakdown above. Perreault as he was hit hard by the Tucson bench. Both would return for the third.

Third Period: Tucson Roadrunners 5 – San Diego Gulls 4

Entering the final period down by one things went from bad to worse when the Roadrunners added to their lead off a bad turnover in the Gulls zone as a result of a miscommunication on a pass from the sideboards. 6-4 Roadrunners.

The chippy and physical play continued and the Gulls were given a Power Play when Jan Jenik retaliated to some shoving in front of the San Diego net by cross-checking Bryce Kindopp in the face. Unfortunately the Gulls could not generate much with the man advantage.

Olle Eriksson Ek was pulled with two and half minutes left in the game but the Gulls could not find a way to get the extra two needed past Korenar.

San Diego falling 6-4 to end the month of October 1-4-0 and remain second to last in the division.

Post Game Notes:

Almost There

San Diego likely should have won this game if not for mental mistakes and some pretty poor officiating. There were a lot of obvious missed calls that likely would have kept momentum with the Gulls during that stretch in which they tied things up then continued to dominate play afterward. I won’t cry over spilt milk, you get one or two of these games every season. We just have to hope they learn from it and move on.

Porous Penalty Kill

Perhaps the most baffling thing about this poor start to the season is a lot of the Gulls issues can be placed on the defense. Which makes no sense because on paper it is most definitely their strong point. The Gulls have the worst penalty kill in the league right now, allowing 6 Power Play goals on 18 opportunities. I absolutely knew the Gulls would miss the likes of Chase De Leo, BO Groulx and to a more delayed extent – Antoine Morand, but this start to the season for the Gulls penalty kill is incredibly bad. So bad that it can’t all be blamed on the personnel or the change in it. Some has to be placed on the systems in place too, which leads me to.

Defense Coaching

I’m not sure who the Gulls new defensive coach is this season but results thus far have not been great. As noted above it should be much better given how strong the Gulls defense looks on paper. The Gulls have allowed 23 goals through 5 games, which equates to 4.6 goals per game. Ouch. It isn’t any specific thing they are doing wrong either, its a combination of being outplayed in their own zone and seemingly not knowing where each-other should be. I don’t really know how they fix this other than settling down and growing more accustomed to one another.

Meanwhile

To end on a positive note, the next wave of College kids set to join the Gulls at the conclusion of this season or the next are looking very good. Blake McLaughlin (definitely coming as a black ace this season) has ten points in seven games. Henry Thrun has 8 points in 2 games (albeit against a lesser ranked team). Lopina has 4 points in 4 games. Janicke has 6 points in 5 games. That doesn’t count Sash Pastujov leading the OHL scoring as a rookie who is eligible to join the Gulls at the conclusion of his season and every season until he is ready to go pro.