2021-2022 Game 24: San Diego Gulls @ Ontario Reign

On the back to back after their big win over the Pacific Division leaders the Gulls were right back at it – heading to Ontario to face the second best team in the division but would be without Jacob Perreault, BO Groulx and Lukas Dostal as well as Olle Eriksson Ek who was still on the Taxi squad

Early season free agent signing Francis Marotte made his AHL Debut with veteran/goaltending consultant Jeff Glass backing him up. Sean Josling drew in but the Gulls played with one less forward due to a lack of personnel. Brent Gates was elevated to top line center role with Tracey and Gates playing alongside him.

First Period:

San Diego set the tone with a heavy and tight forecheck, leaving the Reign no space to operate and keeping any and all shots to the perimeter as Bouchard cycled through all four lines with Brent Gates doing double duty as the first and fourth line center. Gates himself came close to opening the scoring on a redirect from a Nathan Larose shot just four minutes in.

Greg Printz was called for slashing at the 15:15 mark to put the Gulls down a man against one of the hotter Power Plays in the league.

The man advantage proved deadly as some swift passing allowed Jordan Spence an open lane with space at the point to wind up and fire a shot that beat Marotte through traffic. 1-0 Reign.

But Brent Gates would come back with an immediate response as he intercepted a loose puck in the neutral zone, took two strides into the Ontario zone before wiring a perfect shot that beat Sparks clean and top corner. 1-1 tie game.

Kodie Curran was found guilty of high sticking with just over 11 minutes left in the period but San Diego were able to kill the minor thanks in part to a key shot block from Vincent Marleau in the shot.

Jack Badini and Hunter Drew had the Gulls best chance of the later half of the period on a partial two on one break but Drew’s extra pass was blocked en-route to Badini and the play was broken up before a shot could be attempted.

San Diego looked the more tired of the two teams as they withheld concurrent Ontario incursions in their zone to close out the period but did manage another last rush as the seconds ticked off the clock, once again foiled by a defensive play by the Reign defense as the period came to a close. Both teams heading to the first intermission tied at one a piece and the Reign ahead in shots 11-6. The shot map indicating chances were relatively even in close with the Gulls doing a fairly decent chance of keeping shots to the perimeter.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Ontario Reign 1

The Gulls got an early Power Play opportunity when Quinton Byfeild cross-checked Brent Gates from behind near the player benches as he waited to receive a puck. The unit of Kindopp, Drew, Tracey, Rafferty and Brouillard set to work winning the face-off in the Ontario zone and getting the puck in space. Eventually a loose puck found Brouillard at the point thanks to some nice movement by Rafferty at the near side boards and the Quebec native launched a booming slapshot that not only beat Reign goaltender Sparks high but also appear to affect his lower body in the process as he immediately skated off looking in discomfort. 2-1 Gulls.

San Diego rode momentum from the goal and subsequent goaltending change, keeping the Reign hemmed in their zone for all of the next two shifts until Brent Gates was called for tripping to give Ontario a reprieve.

Just as it seemed the Gulls might survive the minor a Reign wrist shot from the point was deflected by Marotte by Anderson-Dolan to tie things up at two a piece. 2-2 tie game.

The penalty parade continued as Tracey was called for high sticking immediately after the goal when his stick got up high and clipped Quentin Byfield to draw blood and extend the grievance to a double minor. This time the Gulls were able to overcome adversity, keeping the Reign at bay through the full four minutes.

Getting back to full strength the Gulls went right back on the attack and an inspiring shift from Brayden Tracey that started with him taking on two Reign players in a puck battle near the blue line, lay out a seperate Reign player en route to the net and then ended with him cleaning up a rebound at the far side of the net to get the Gulls the lead back. The kid showing himself to be a handful and immensely strong for his size.

The Reign fought back and San Diego found themselves on their heels with seven minutes remaining as the Reign made a push to tie things up. Francis Marotte faced down and slid across to make a huge stop on a three on one partial break before eventually surrendering a greasy goal via goal mouth scramble that the Gulls defence failed to locate the loose puck in.

But San Diego once again fought back, taking the lead again via a nice zone entry and passing play that saw them calmly and patiently pass the puck around the Ontario zone, almost like a Power Play before Brogan Rafferty found Hunter Drew skating into space and directly into the slot. The Ducks 2018 6th round pick getting his second in as many games with ten seconds left in the period.

San Diego taking the one goal lead into the second intermission but behind in shots 21-15, the shot map indicating the Reign had the far better of the chances on the period.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 4 – Ontario Reign 3

Play was back and forth to start the third but shots were few and far between as both teams tightened things up in front of their respective nets. San Diego continued to look the hungrier team despite the huge disparity in individual talent.

But Ontario kept coming, gaining the Gulls zone and getting shots on Marotte on a more consistent basis before eventually getting another tying goal – catching San Diego flat footed on a zone entry then attacking and out numbering the Gulls net to pounce on a rebound. 4-4 tie game.

From their the Gulls shortened bench and second action in as many nights caught up with them and it was all they could do to keep the score even as time slowly eased down on the period.

Some heroic goaltending from Marotte earned the extra point as the final horn sounded with Ontario still pressing in the San Diego zone.

In the overtime session the Gulls started out cautious and tentative – holding possession but ensuring they got back when the Reign did get the puck. They got ahead of themselves on a partial break and despite coming oh so close, the Reign counter attack the other way left Marotte too exposed and Ontario took the game in the extra session 5-4.

Post Game Notes:

Where Is Roman Durny?

Francis Marotte played very very good, so this is not meant to be a slight on him but the Ducks have another guy under contract that would have been next in line to see the Gulls net after Dostal and Eriksson Ek were made unavailable. This 2021-2022 season has been a mystery for anyone trying to follow Durny and his progress. He seemed to get hurt in training camp, spend a few weeks in Anaheim rehabbing the injury then spend a couple of games with Tulsa, get hurt again and hasn’t been seen since. The last I know of him he is either with the Gulls or the Ducks presumably recovering from this second injury. He had shown such progress last season too.

Welcome Back Gatesy

I fucking love feel good stories. This season has kind of been full of them (at least in Anaheim it has) but I would love nothing more than to see the kind of redemption arc that the play of Brent Gates Jr has hinted at these last two games. He never really fit the system Dineen deployed but as I wrote previously, his style fits perfectly with what Bouchard is doing here. It’s no thrills, meat and potatoes, hard working hockey and that is Brent Gates Jr down to a tee. He also appears to have bulked up and gotten stronger since we last saw him. On the note of getting stronger…

Dick Tracey… Power Forward?

Brayden Tracey just keeps getting better. You don’t find that many 6’0″ power forwards but as I said in my tweet above, the shift in which he scored a goal he looked every bit the part of a 90’s era power forward. He has shown a lot of strength to his game lately, something we didn’t see at all last year and he is also making a nuisance of himself all over the ice. I have seen several plays now where he either lays a hit or gets into a short tussle with an opponent before quickly removing himself and letting his taller team-mates deal with the fall out. Much like we saw Perreault do for parts of last season as well as this one, he is getting under opponents skin. Perhaps my other favourite moment from this game was when he landed a huge hit on the 6’4″ 216lb Quintin Byfield.