2022-2023 Game 30: San Diego Gulls vs Henderson Silverknights

Home and back from the holiday break the San Diego Gulls hoped to get another win after finally breaking a twelve game skid with a win over Tucson last week. Buoyed by the return of Josh Lopina and Glen Gawdin from injury as well as the return of Olle Eriksson Ek from Anaheim, the Gulls were quietly confident going into the first match after break.

David Cotton was promoted to the top line – taking the place of Hunter Drew. Glen Gawdin drew in to center the very hot second line combination of Tracey and Grimaldi while the third line of Weinger, Kindopp and Perreault remained in tact. Lopina drew back in on the forth line in place of Logan Nijhoff.

Brent Gates Jr, Chase De Leo, Glen Gawdin, Axel Andersson, Josh Healey and Ollie Juolevi remained out injured. Logan Nijhoff, Blake McLaughlin, Hunter Drew and Luka Profaca were listed as healthy scratches – an interesting choice regarding Drew given how well he has played thus far this year.

Olle Eriksson Ek was given the start with Garret Metcalf backing up.

First Period:

Despite even shot totals play was mostly messy to start, with no real scoring chances generated by either team. San Diego continued their strong defensive game – carried over from the previous win as they stood up at the blue line and prevented Henderson from getting an easy zone entry or properly getting set up.

It took until just over the eight minute mark for the Gulls to get a nice controlled rush into the Henderson zone and once they did, they executed. Rocco Grimaldi and Glen Gawdin playing a nice give and go as the former Heat forward gained the Henderson zone with speed, before dropping the puck for Grimaldi and skating off to the right side into space. The SoCal native then spun and used his speed to draw in Silver Knight defenders before finding Gawdin again. 1-0 Gulls.

The Gulls carried momentum forward, finding it easier to gain the Silver Knights zone as they threatened for a second tally.

Play settled down briefly for a span of a few minutes before an inadvertent Rocco Grimaldi tripping infraction sent the Gulls to the penalty kill. There was one dicey moment off of some nice passing and a final tip play that came close but other than that it was a fairly good overall kill and as the minor expired a breakout from both Evan Weinger and Bryce Kindopp ended in a goal as the former fired the puck on net from the wing and the rebound immediately bounced in off of the crashing Kindopp. The kind of bounce the Gulls have needed but never had all season. 2-0 Gulls.

Right out of the TV timeout another rush into the Henderson zone ended in a goal as a Pavol Regenda backhand bounced loose to the left side to an oncoming Michael Del Zotto. The Veteran defender recognising the time and space available as well as the goaltender not being completely set as he wound up and blasted a shot by him. 3-0 Gulls.

Another minor – this time to Michael Del Zotto for holding – saw the Gulls on the penalty kill for the final remaining time on the period but Eriksson Ek stood tall and turned aside all Henderson chances, as the Gulls headed to the first intermission up 3-0 and ahead in shots 11-8.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Henderson Silver Knights 0

With twenty three seconds left on the minor to Del Zotto the Silver Knights took it to the Gulls from puck drop. San Diego were able to kill the minor but it was clear that the visitors were slowly switching momentum in their direction.

After Eriksson Ek made some good stops from a push by the Silver Knights more effective lines of the game thus far the Gulls failed to cover a man in front and it was an easy put in for Maxim Marushev. 3-1 Gulls.

A weak Drew Helleson slashing call put the Gulls down a man yet again while Travis Howe and Jermaine Loewen exchanged further niceties. San Diego held possession for much of the kill despite being a man down and drew a minor of their own as Weinger was held on a short handed chance.

The Gulls Power Play was brief but impressive, spending the entire time in the Henderson zone and looking both coordinated and threatening at all times. Rocco Grimaldi had perhaps the best chance as he snuck down the right side unnoticed but BO Groulx fed a pass that was both too hard and on the wrong stick side for him to finish.

A glorious and hardworking shift by the reunited Tracey – Perreault pairing ended in an Austin Strand goal as the Gulls patiently held the Henderson zone and passed the puck around to create chances in space, as Drew Helleson elected to exit the zone to maintain possession before handing off to Glen Gawdin he immediately re-entered the zone with speed. Jacob Perreault picked up the loose puck after it was fended off of the speeding former Heat forward and found Austin Strand at the blue line. The former Reign blasting a shot into the Silver Knights net to make it 4-1.

Pavol Regenda was found guilty of cross checking but again the Gulls made the kill look easy while coming oh so close on tallying their first short handed goal of the season and they rode the momentum from the kill into a nice flurry of passing and action in the final seconds of the middle frame.

San Diego looking convincing in their three goal lead as they headed to the second intermission up 4-1 but trailing in shots 22-15.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 4 – Henderson Silver Knights 1

The first six minutes of the third period sped by with the Gulls enjoying much of possession while having sporadic time in the Henderson zone.

Play continued on and the Gulls were given a chance on the Power Play which appeared to have completed without a tally despite Pavol Regenda being positive he had roofed a shot top-shelf off a right wing rush. As we returned from a time-out the play was reviewed and deemed to have gone in just under the cross bar. 5-1 Gulls.

Then things got a little hectic.

As Henderson came back with a determined push and the usual net front fracas broke out in front that ended with Jacob Perreault attempting to break a Silver Knights stick with his skate – the resulting penalties dished out saw the Gulls go down a man and Henderson immediately capitalized as Olle Eriksson Ek had a rare lapse in concentration – completely whiffing with his glove on a shot coming down the left wing. 5-2 Henderson.

Moments later another fracas broke out that ended with Rocco Grimaldi rushing in to join and bravely drop the gloves for a quick tilt with the Silver Knights Colt Conrad.

It got yet more crazy as what appeared on the broadcast as a good hard hit by Michael Del Zotto was deemed to have contained an illegal elbow and the newly acquired veteran was given a ten minute misconduct and five minute major on the play. Although the scoresheet stated this it doesn’t seem accurate as he remained on the ice for the remainder of the game.

Evan Weinger was his usual stellar self on the penalty kill and immediately evened things up by drawing a call on a partial break.

With San Diego killing time while trying to hold possession they got a little too complacent in their own zone and allowed Maxim Marushev to walk in and sweep a puck around a diving Olle Erikkson Ek. 5-3 Gulls.

Seconds later the Silver Knights scored again with 21 seconds left in the game – again with the Gulls becoming too complacent in their own zone and Erikkson Ek diving and flailing in his crease. 5-4 Gulls.

Thankfully San Diego were able to hold off the last minute scare and avoided ultimate embarrassment to secure the win.

Post Game Notes:

Yikes
Those final few minutes were horrific. Thankfully they didn’t end in disaster but that was some collapse and if any team is capable of blowing a four foal lead in under ten minutes it would be this seasons Gulls. Not saying Olle was to blame but I don’t know what happened to him in the third period, it’s like he got in his own head again.

Why split them up?
It’s a bit of give and you get situation and I understand that things are going well so why change it – but I did notice that even though Tracey and Grimaldi are enjoying success. Perreault is looking lost and lonely out there. There was one play in the first where he made some magic, getting a nice zone entry with speed, circling the zone, playing keep away – all the while looking for someone to set up for a chance but not finding anything that worked. He did that twice on the same shift, circled the zone twice before eventually handing off to a team-mate on the cycle. Then in the second period. When he and Tracey were reunited – instant magic. STOP SPLITTING THEM UP. I get that Tracey and Grimaldi work well together too but Grimaldi works well with literally anyone because he is that kind of player. Hopefully this is the last time I have to make this rant.

Much ado about Hunter Drew
Hunter Drew was a noticeable healthy scratch tonight. Has he lost his spot to Travis Howe? Is this a message from Coach Sommer? Has he joined Blake McLaughlin in the dog box? Don’t get me wrong – I am happy the Gulls are winning again and I love the play out on the ice. Howe is keeping opposing pests and enforcers honest – something Drew tried to do but didn’t appear to be succeeding too well at. I love Hunter and I hope this lights a fire under him – competition can only be good; particularly within a team.

The bother with Blake
But what about Blake McLaughlin? Again – I get it – the team is winning, don’t mess with a winning formula etc. But the more I see his name scratched, the more I worry that this will have an effect on the chances of his Golden Gophers teammate Jackson Lacombe signing at the end of this season as well as Harvard senior – Henry Thrun.