2022-2023 Game 18: San Diego Gulls vs Coachella Valley Firebirds

Once again trying to bounce back after an uninspiring loss, the San Diego Gulls welcomed their newest rival and some familiar faces in the form of Andrew Poturalski and Brogan Rafferty. Urho Vaakanainen was assigned to the Gulls on a conditioning loan while it was also announced on the pre-game show that Drew Helleson was out of the line-up with an illness. Olle Eriksson Ek also came back from injury.

Coach Sommer mixed up the lines once again, throwing O’Regan on the top line in place of Gawdin and dropping Gawdin to center the second line with Kirkland and Drew. Brayden Tracey was also announced as being out due to injury while Blake McLaughlin finally drew back in after a lengthy healthy scratch stretch. Josh Healey was also out injured – as I suspected after the hard boarding hit he took last weekend.

Lukas Dostal was given the start.

First Period:

Unsurprisingly the Gulls looked unprepared to start and allowed the visitors to immediately take control and force them into making bad outlet passes as well as bone-headed mistakes in their own zone.

Lukas Dostal – as always – was there to clean things up and keep his team in it through the first seven minutes.

Hunter Drew earned the Gulls a Power Play after he was tripped trying to evade a check in the neutral zone to send San Diego on the man advantage.

The usually anemic Gulls Power Play suddenly able to find passing lanes and easily able to get the puck to Hunter Drew in the bumper position in the low slot with time for him to settle the puck and fire a shot by Firebirds goaltender Joey Daccord. 1-0 Gulls.

The physicality drastically picked up soon after the goal as the Firebirds looked to respond. Eddie Wittchow catching Josh Lopina with a huge open ice hit that Blake McLaughlin may not have intentionally intended to be the first Gull in after to make him answer for but did so all the same and earned a ten minute misconduct for his efforts.

The resulting Power Play for the Firebirds was successfully killed by the Gulls but the visitors rode the momentum following it to tie things up at one after Lukas Dostal struggled to control a rebound and Urho Vaakanainen failed to tie up his man. 1-1 tie game.

Things went from bad to worse as the San Diego Gulls attempted to retake the lead on a Power Play after Jacob Perreault was tripped doing his patented spinorama move. A broken play and Gulls dump in landed near Joey Daccord who spotted an outnumbered opportunity up ice and immediately fired a pass to set up a two on one rush. Lukas Dostal tried his best but was helpless to prevent the shorthanded tally off the rush. 2-1 Firebirds.

The period came to a close with both teams jostling by their respective exits from the ice as the Gulls left the first period down 2-1 and behind in shots 17-6.

Second Period: Coachella Valley Firebirds 2 – San Diego Gulls 1

Starting the second on the penalty kill due to an unsportsmanlike minor given to BO Groulx at the conclusion of the first – Lukas Dostal once again proved the difference in keeping his team in it.

San Diego continued to have issues connecting passes while the Firebirds increased their shot total.

Rocco Grimaldi almost made something out of nothing – coming inches from tying the game on a great individual rush and as the Gulls headed to the Power Play after the sequence, they again struggled to create.

A nice flurry from the Drew line showed some life and was followed up by the sort-of-T-P line with Bryce Kindopp drawing a call with some hard work. The Gulls Power Play was lack-lustre once again but the sudden elevation in shots for the home-team at least brought some life to the building and the squad as the Gulls hit the second intermission still down by one but massively behind in shots 29-14.

Third Period: Coachella Valley Firebirds 2 – San Diego Gulls 1

The minutes ticked by as the third started and flowed with minimal stoppages.

Chasing a game tying goal, the San Diego Gulls dug deep despite being down by two forwards.

BO Groulx was given the token unfair minor of the game when he successfully executed a clean stick lift that was called a hook by the Officials and the Gulls went to the penalty kill. Missing their best face-off man and killer proved too much as the Firebirds converted with the man advantage via the Seattle 2022 first round selection Shane Wright. 3-1 Firebirds.

Eddie Wittchow declared himself public enemy number one by catching Axel Andersson with a hard, late and again – high – hit to leave the Swedish defender prone on the ice for several minutes before being helped off by team-mates. On the Gulls resulting Power Play they pulled Dostal for the extra attacker only to see the puck come back down and into the empty net to make it 4-1. Because ofcourse.

The Gulls taking another loss – this time while losing personnel in the process.

Post Game Notes:

Dropping like flies

The Gulls started the game without Brayden Tracey, Drew Helleson and Luca Profaca. Then lost Brent Gates Jr and Josh Lopina during action. Here is hoping the Helleson and Profaca ailments are only minor and won’t see them out too long – but it is also that time of year that the cold and flu bug can ravage a team if not managed properly. The Gates injury looked shoulder related, he was taking a shot and was hit at the same time and you could see was in discomfort at the end of his shift. Lopina I am guessing is either shoulder or concussion related – he popped right back up after the hit but given he was pulled from action I am guessing that is a head injury.

Update: And then Axel Andersson was taken out in the third in what looks like a combination of both a leg and head injury on a hit that the league should definitely take a look at.

The replacements

So with the Gulls down to no reserves on defense and the one healthy forward able to draw in, you can expect to see one two defenders and two forwards called up from Tulsa. So those two forwards will be Logan Nijhoff (4 points in 5 games) and Max Golod (10 points in 13 games) but the defenders could be anyone’s guess. Possibly a return of Mike McKee and potentially rookie Andrew Jarvis – the highest scoring defender on the Oilers with 6 assists through 11 games.

Pain

The worst part about seeing the Gulls continue to lose and fall further into a hole at the bottom of both the league and the division is that unlike the NHL – there is no reward in the form of a draft pick at the conclusion of the season. All we have to really look forward to is the next wave of prospects coming but even that is tinged with uncertainty as Jackson LaCombe and Henry Thrun could choose to reject the Ducks advances and elect to sign with whomever they chose after their senior seasons come to a close. The Gulls could desperately use help in the form of some talented young players in both the forward and defensive areas. Tyson Hinds, Sasha Pastujov and Sean Tschigerl are all set to join the Gulls both as Black Aces and for next season at the conclusion of their seasons but the College kids are a definite concern.