After a convincing 6-1 victory on Wednesday night the Gulls welcomed the Silver Knights back into Pechanga to see if they could respond.
Danny O’Regan was returned the day before and drew in on the third line, replacing Gates who moved down to the fourth line. Lukas Dostal got another start in net. Jack Badini was scheduled to play but appears to have been a last minute scratch, Vincent Marleau took his place in the line-up.
First Period:
The top line picked up right where they left off as Groulx, Limoges and Perreault combined for back to back chances on Jiri Patera less than two minutes in. Jiri Patera keeping San Diego from opening the scoring early by snagging a Groulx chance in close with his glove.
In the second of four straight meetings between these two teams you knew there would be no love lost and the games first fight was brief but occurred as Zack Hayes took exception to a hit from Vincent Marleau and the two tussled in the far corner.
Henderson played a lot more conservatively than they had in the previous game and the Gulls found it harder to find clearer passing lanes as they attempted to establish a rhythm.
San Diego finally broke through via the top line as Jacob Perreault was in the right spot at the right time to cash in on a rebound generated by some great body work by BO Groulx to protect and drive the puck in on the Henderson net from below the goal line after some good cycling with Alex Limoges. 1-0 Gulls.
San Diego spent the remaining five minutes of the period frustrating the Silver Knights, starting with Bryce Kindopp having a mammoth shift on the penalty kill that drew a penalty from Pavel Dorofeyev as the talented Russian forward took out his frustrations on the tenacious winger.
Jacob Perreault came oh so close to getting his second of the game on a great one-timer set-up on the resulting Power Play as the Gulls headed to the first intermission ahead by one and leading in shots 9-4.
Second Period:
Starting the period where they left off the Gulls dominated play for much of the period as time flew by with few to no whistles. Jiri Patera did his best to keep his team in the game but his team did not seem to be on the same page and you could tell the Silver Knights goaltender quickly grew frustrated.
As time passed by the halfway point the Henderson goaltender held the puck behind his net looking for a team mate to pass off to but found no one and so sent it up the boards. The Gulls then intercepted and Lucas Elvenes made a beautiful play to weave in and out of defenders to find a clear passing lane across to Greg Printz at the far post. 2-0 Gulls.
The physicality picked up as penalties were dished out for various infractions around the ice. Jacob Perreault had had enough of some constant attention from Reid Duke and left the puck to throw a hip check and was assessed an interference call on the play.
You had to feel for Jiri Patera as his team gave him no help at all, and on the Gulls third goal – were responsible for it getting passed him as Nik Brouillard attempted a saucer pass across to Bruce Kindopp on a three on one rush but the pass deflected off a Silver Knight stick and over Patera. 3-0 Gulls.
In the final minute of the period Kodie Curran dropped the gloves for a spirited bout with Matt Boudens that left the Pechanga Arena shaking with appreciation and deafening noise.
As the Gulls took a 3-0 lead into the second intermission and an easy 20-9 lead in shots.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Henderson Silver Knights 0
Henderson came out with some muster to start the third and although the Gulls appeared to be weathering the storm a bad turnover in the neutral zone lead to a two on one break lead by Pavel Dorofeyev and the Silver Knights best offensive player showed why as he looked off the pass and fired a bullet by Dostal to make it 3-1 with 16 minutes left.
Henderson almost immediately swung momentum in their direction as they started to look like the team that gave the Gulls so much trouble in past encounters, harrying and preventing them any clear passing lanes as well as little to no opportunity for space. The shot total quickly swung the other way too and all of a sudden Lukas Dostal was asked to start making some difficult stops once again.
Henderson pulled Patera with under two minutes remaining and as the top line started to move the puck back toward the Silver Knights zone to get in a clear shooting lane for the empty net Jacob Perreault was called for cross checking to put the Gulls down by a man in the final minutes of the game.
The victory was never really in question though as the Gulls took their fourth straight win and second straight over Henderson.
Post Game Notes:
Playoff Race Update
AHL.com has their 2022 playoff primer page up which features the magic number system to give a quick overview of the race. The Gulls current magic number is 30 – though it might be lower now after today’s win. When a team’s magic number reaches zero, they clinched a playoff spot. San Diego is still in the seventh and final spot, meaning they would face the second placed rival Ontario Reign but they have a chance to move up and over the steadily declining Henderson Silver Knights. This four game stretch against them is just what San Diego needs to both gain points on them while also keeping them idle. The Gulls points percentage sits at 0.480 while Henderson sits at 0.520, if San Diego can win the final two of this four game set, they should overtake them for the sixth spot.
Defense First
In their last four wins the Gulls have allowed just two goals. They limited Henderson to 23 shots tonight and appear to have a system that all of the players are buying into. A lot of folks thought I was being a little too optimistic when I said a month or so back that I believe the Gulls can do some damage in the playoffs but what say you now? They are already playing great now – imagine how they will be with an additional infusion of talent from the Ducks, the Black Aces and any other players acquired in the trade deadline shuffle.
Still To Come
The Gulls have 18 games left on the season, four of those games are against Tucson – including three in the final four of the season. Fans might remember this has happened before – with San Diego in a playoff spot and looking secure to make the postseason when injuries, call-ups and some pretty poor play resulted in the Road Runners preventing the Gulls from securing the spot and allowing another team to leap frog them. At the time Tucson were near the top of the division and did not need the points but this time it is different, they currently sit dead last in the Pacific with a magic number of 46. I am not saying they could overtake the Gulls for that last spot but they could once again play spoiler if San Diego once again take them for granted.
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