2021-2022 Game 17: San Diego Gulls @ Stockton Heat

After getting out-classed for the final half of their loss the day prior the Gulls looked to regroup and try again against the leader of the Pacific Division.

Max Golod was given the night off and Sean Josling drew in his place on a line with Marleau and Printz. In an effort to shake things up Jacob Perreault was moved alongside Groulx and Limoges. Brogan Rafferty was moved up to pair alongside Nik Brouillard while Olle Eriksson Ek got the start on the back to back.

Axel Andersson, Kodie Curran and Brendan Guhle remained out with undisclosed injuries.

First Period:

San Diego started well but soon found themselves down a goal when Jacob Larsson was called for slashing in the Stockton zone. The Heat Power Play took just over a minute with the man advantage to open the scoring via a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that appeared to take a deflection as it went by Erikkson Ek through traffic. 1-0 Heat.

The Gulls managed one good shift at five on five in the minutes after the goal that almost resulted in a Brayden Tracey tally off of a near tip in front.

In a surprising turn of events that could potentially have been the turning point in the game, BO Groulx dropped the gloves with Heat defender Connor Mackey, standing up for Jacob Perreault after he was ran up against the boards hard by Mackey. Groulx was given an extra two after the fight but it would be Hunter Drew who had the last laugh as he jumped on a loose puck and showed a miraculous burst of speed to leave Connor Zary in his dust as he headed straight for the Stockton net. His hard wrist shot beating Wolf and tying things up at one short-handed.

Just as it seemed San Diego would build off of the fight and short-handed tally, an incredibly unlucky bounce during a Gulls Power Play resulted in a Heat three on one partial break and a shot that deflected by Eriksson Ek. 2-1 Heat.

As the Gulls looked to be building some pressure in the Stockton zone in the final minute of the period, Badini was called for interference after what appeared to me to be a clean puck battle. The Gulls heading to the first intermission down by one and behind in shots 13-10. Needing to kill a minute and forty seconds to start the second frame.

Second Period: Stockton Heat 2 – San Diego Gulls 1

Killing the remainder of the minor to start the second period, the Gulls went right to the attack – looking the best they have ever looked to start a second period with an under-strength line-up in a long while.

Their hard work resulted in a Power Play as Alex Gallant was called for slashing the stick out of Sean Joslings hands.

In a two minute sequence that appeared to go by way too fast, the Gulls peppered Wolf with chances including two one-timers from Perreault, the second of which would have been a sure goal but he fanned on the shot.

San Diego thought they had tied the game when a goal mouth scramble saw Jack Badini agonizingly close to swatting in the puck as it lay behind Wolf near the goal line but he whiffed with the stick and his follow through with the skate was deemed to be an illegal kicking motion after review.

The physical play started to pick up as the Heat started to lay the body in the San Diego zone, on one sequence Alex Gallant barrelled into both Larsson and the Game Official unfortunately standing behind him and then as he exited the scrum – very visibly and deliberately stomped on Jacob Larssons stick to break it. He was given a two minute unsportsmanlike like penalty for the gesture.

With seconds left in the minor Nik Brouillard was caught up high by a Heat stick and in the dying moments of the period the Gulls tried again to get the tying marker but came up against a determined Dustin Wolf. San Diego once again going into the intermission down by one but this time dominating the period. Shots were 18-6 on the period in favour of the Gulls.

Third Period: Stockton Heat 2 – San Diego Gulls 1

The Gulls still couldn’t find a way to solve Wolf with the man advantage then had to kill a brief penalty of their own as Perreault was called for hooking.

After extinguishing the minor the Gulls went back to work and kept pushing to get the game-tying goal.

Brayden Tracey was pulled down trying to free himself some space behind the Heat net and the Gulls went back to the Power Play with just over ten minutes left in the period.

Unable to convert with the man advantage the Gulls continued to pressure and drew another call when Brogan Rafferty was hooked cycling in the Stockton zone. With a minute left on the Power Play tempers flared with Nik Brouillard and Justin Kirkland exchanging pleasantries

With the net empty in the final two minutes of action the Gulls kept pushing for the equalisier but were dealt a blow when Stockton found a loose puck in the neutral zone and made it 3-1.

Brayden Tracey kept things interesting by finally getting one by Wolf as he found a rebound at the far post and poked it in to make it 3-2 with a minute and a half left to play.

Following a very common theme for this game the Gulls again came so very close to getting the game-tying goal but ran out of race-track as the Heat took the decision 3-2.

Post Game Notes:

Last Days Of Larsson?

Jacob Larsson is in the second and final year of a two year extension he signed back in August of 2020, he will somehow still be an RFA at the conclusion of this deal so it will be very interesting to see what happens. Given his downward trend over the past few years I wouldn’t put money on the Ducks giving him a qualifying offer. He has seven points in sixteen games and despite having NHL experience, cannot get a spot on either of the Gulls Power Play units. It feels like the writing is on the wall that the Ducks will move on from him after this season, who knows, maybe even include him in a deal at the trade deadline. With the impending arrival of Henry Thrun at the end of this year or start of next season, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zelwegger and Tyson Hinds the year after as well as Ian Moore sometime after that. The blue-line is set to get mighty crowded over the next two to three years.

Perrault Playing The Off Wing

I don’t know how I hadn’t noticed it before but despite appearing on paper as slotting in on the right wing, Perreault is actually lining up on the left side – presumably so as to be able to set up for his one-timer from the half wall. Playing the off-wing doesn’t actually affect forwards like it does defensemen because typically they aren’t chasing a puck down in their own end and trying to corral it off the boards with their stick blade facing the wrong way. I don’t really have much else to say on this other than that I found it kind of interesting. Carry on..

Standings Update

The two straight losses drops San Diego back out of the playoff picture into a tie with Bakersfield and Abbotsford for fifth in the division. It also drops them back to a .500 record. The good news is they only have two more games against the second placed Reign and then its six straight games at home against a mixture of teams below and above them.

Special Teams Check

The Power Play is keeping steady at 8th overall in the league, clicking at a 20.8% rate while the Penalty Kill has suffered – currently 18th. Interestingly the Reign have the third worst penalty kill in the league so if the Gulls can draw as many penalties as they did over these last two games, they put themselves in a good position to get back in the win column.