In an early afternoon affair on the back to back the Gulls dug in for what would likely be a testing encounter with an angry Henderson Silver Knights squad looking to snap a recent run of poor play and get vengeance for a 5-2 drubbing by the Gulls the previous night.
There were no changes to the personnel from the previous night but the bottom two lines were shuffled with Bryce Kindopp swapping places with Brent Gates and Greg Printz swapping places with Hunter Drew.
First Period:
As expected the Silver Knights came out strong and earned a Power Play within the first few minutes as they had the Gulls scrambling with their relentless attack. With Jacob Larsson in the box for tripping Lukas Dostal was asked to make a huge stop on a cross ice pass down low and as time on the penalty eventually expired Bryce Kindopp got to a loose puck and spotted Larsson exiting the box up ice. His stretch pass hit him in stride but was initially fumbled so that the Swedish defender had to chase it down before getting to it just in time to slide it by Dylan Ferguson. 1-0 Gulls.
San Diego then enjoyed back to back Power Plays of their own but could not convert as they settled in to controlling neutral ice and the flow of play.
The Gulls taking a 1-0 lead into the first break trailing in shots 9-6 but much like the night before – looking like the better team overall.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Henderson Silver Knights 0
Following a familiar script, the Silver Knights came with a big push to start the second but Lukas Dostal weathered the storm before the Gulls shifted momentum back the other way.
Moments after BO Groulx took a heavy hit on the nearside boards that I didn’t see the full extent of the Gulls continued in the Henderson zone and some great work down low by Jacob Perreault to regather a puck then swiftly firing it to the slot ended in an Alex Limoges tally. His third in two games. 2-0 Gulls.
Henderson picked up their physical game and goaded Vinni Lettieri into a roughing penalty which – without BO Groulx on the ice meant a slightly less crisp Gulls penalty kill – but none the less they were able to erase the minor without too much difficulty.
Returning to five on five the Gulls continued to run the Henderson zone – at points looking like they were on the man advantage with their constant possession as well as outnumbered puck battle wins.
Henderson began to grow desperate, committing the extra man to the attack and on one such play a turnover at the blue line meant Lucas Elvenes had time and space to fire a dangerous chance on Dylan Ferguson on a partial break. His hard low shot was stopped but the rebound popped right out to Greg Printz on the left side who fired it in and out to make it 3-0 Gulls.
Henderson finally showed some life in the final minutes of the period, getting some time in the San Diego zone and generating some chances on Dostal but the Gulls stuck to them like glue to prevent any second chances as time expired on the period. San Diego taking a 3-0 lead into the second intermission and just one shot behind at 19-18.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Henderson Silver Knights 0
You wouldn’t believe it, but again the Silver Knights came with a push to start the third but once again Dostal was equal to the task before his team-mates steered play back in the other direction.
It felt like one of those nights where nothing could go wrong for the Gulls, when a face-off win back to Jacob Larsson in the Henderson zone saw the Gulls former first round selection send a seemingly harmless shot on net that bounced by Ferguson to make it 4-0 Gulls.
Henderson attempted a limp response but it seemed they largely spent the remainder of the third period just running the time down to get it over and done with.
The Colony emitting the loudest cheers in the arena as the final horn sounded, the Gulls taking four points with them as they embarked deeper into enemy territory to face Colorado on Wednesday.
Post Game Notes:
Limoges Heating Up
Limoges overtook the team lead in goal scoring from Hunter Drew with his eleventh of the season and has three goals in his last two games. He is benefiting a lot from this sudden change of system to the back to basics – meat and potatoes style of hockey that I mentioned in my last game post game notes. He is now tenth overall on the team in scoring which has seen a lot of change in this most recent outburst of scoring among the team.
Team Scoring Update
Brayden Tracey still holds the team lead in scoring but it is a tentative grasp. With him sidelined his team-mates are picking up the slack and are subsequently closing in on the lead. Nik Brouillard and Lucas Elvenes are tied for second with 24 points while Danny O’Regan and Hunter Drew are fourth and fifth with 23 and 22 points respectively. The slumping Jacob Perreault has now dropped to sixth – with 21 points in 35 games but is showing signs of life with two points in his last two games after going pointless during a five game stretch.
Playoff Race Update
San Diego still holds the seventh and final spot in the Pacific Division play-in round but Tucson is just a win or two behind from overtaking them. The Gulls lucked into catching Henderson during this rough stretch and will need to be on top of their game for the remainder of this road trip as they head to Colorado next for a three game series. The Eagles have been finding it difficult to put a consistent win streak together over February but have also blown out some teams during that stretch so the Gulls need to be wary. Up the free-way – the Ducks after starting the season so well that it seemed almost impossible that they might miss the Playoffs for a fourth straight season are currently on the outside looking in for the final two wildcard spots in the Western Conference. Should they miss the postseason once again, they can send their waiver eligible players to the Gulls for a potential play-off run, provided they assign them to the roster in paper transactions on roster deadline day. In a typical season that date is mid to late April but given the regular season is set to end April 24 it could be as early as the start of April or end of March. Will the Ducks be definitively out of the playoffs by then? If they are, it could mean an almost unfair amount of talent coming down to the Gulls for their run – including franchise cornerstone Trevor Zegras.
Mid Game Injuries
Both BO Groulx and Greg Pateryn left the game midway through and did not return. Groulx’s injury will be a huge blow for the Gulls should he be out long term as they will sorely miss his prowess in the face-off circle and his presence on the penalty kill. Should neither player be able to go next game it likely means Nik Brouillard moves back to defense while Vincent Marleau slots in to cover Groulx at center and Morgan Adams-Moisan the last remaining forward spot.
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