After suffering five straight losses the San Diego Gulls hoped to receive some better news as they returned home to take on the second-in-the-division Firebirds.
Tempered by the recent trade of Hunter Drew to Chicago for LW/C Josiah Slavin, the Gulls did indeed receive good news with the return from injury of Olli Juolevi and Pavol Regenda coming back in after his bout with illness. Gage Alexander was once again given the start. Wichers was scratched for Juolevi while David Cotton was announced as out with an injury also.
First Period:
San Diego thought they had the lead just minutes into the action when Rocco Grimaldi wired a shot off the rush with Pavol Regenda driving the net but the goal was called back due to goaltender interference on the play by Regenda.
Grimaldi made good on the goal minutes later when he intercepted a Firebirds clearance after a great individual effort from Travis Howe on the forecheck. Looking a bullet as he jumped on the pass and shifting the Firebirds goaltender at will with his stick work to slip it by him at the finish. 1-0 Gulls.
Sadly the Firebirds tied it up moments later, catching the Gulls chasing in their own zone and easily creating a backdoor play as Austin Strand was left flailing at his man that he had noticed getting behind him. 1-1 tie game.
The lack of love lost between these two teams did not take long to resurface as Ian McKinnon leveled Evan Weinger against the boards on what should have been an icing call. Travis Howe asked him to answer for the hit and won the spirited bout with a flurry over uppercuts and overhand rights as the Pechanga Arena roared its approval.
As the San Diego Gulls top line continued to be a threat whenever they were on the ice but the Firebirds hit back against their other lines. Taking the lead with five minutes left in the period as they were given too much time and space to enter the San Diego zone with speed, once again beating Alexander with a backdoor passing play off the rush. 2-1 Firebirds.
A too many men minor put the Gulls down for the final two minutes of the frame but Josiah Slavin showed off his speed by creating his own shorthanded chance and subsequent havoc for the Firebirds top unit. San Diego escaping the minor and heading to the first intermission down by one but near even on shots – behind by 14-12.
Second Period: Coachella Valley Firebirds 2 – San Diego Gulls 1
Starting with the top line – the Gulls came close to tying things up with some great work in the Firebirds zone, coming oh so close when a Brayden Tracey shot made it through Christopher Gibson and sat in the goal crease for a good few seconds before being swept away by a Coachella stick.
The Firebirds showed their depth of talent by coming right back the other way and adding to their lead as Tye Kartye used a Gulls defender as a screen to rip one by Alexander on a goal he likely wished he had back and visibly displayed some frustration with himself afterward. 3-1 Firebirds.
After exchanging penalties and a brief four on four sequence the Gulls were sent down a man when Luca Profaca was called for Kneeing. Despite killing the minor in the first period with aplomb they got into trouble once the Firebirds got set and a point-shot through some minor traffic in front made it 4-1 and the end of Gage Alexanders night.
With Eriksson-Ek manning the crease after the TV time-out a Gulls Power Play brought some life back into the arena but could not convert as it felt like one of those nights where San Diego played well but the score did not reflect it.
Minutes later the Firebirds further punished the San Diego Gulls defense as Austin Poganski made Profaca look extremely sub-par with an in-and-out head fake to slice through and then beat Eriksson-Ek glove side. 5-1 Firebirds.
Chase De Leo looked like he had potentially cut into the substantial lead but his hard shot hit both goal posts before coming back out – a prime example of the Gulls luck this season.
San Diego heading to the second intermission with some more soul searching to be done as they trailed 5-1 and 24-21 in shots overall.
Third Period: Coachella Valley Firebirds 5 – San Diego Gulls 1
Opting to play defense with offense the Firebirds held possession for much of the first nine minutes of the period as the Gulls helplessly tried to force them back into their own zone and force a turnover.
Time flew by and the first stoppage did not arrive until almost the midway point after an Eriksson Ek save on a Firebirds rush.
Noted shithead Max McCormick was awarded a penalty shot as he was pulled down on a breakaway but Olle Eriksson Ek stood tall and denied him on his one on one opportunity.
The top line finally got their much deserved goal as a great passing rush attack ended in Chase De Leo making it 5-2 with just over a minute left in the game. The trio opting to surpass the fist bump line and go straight to center ice for the face-off.
The Gulls dropping another one to fall to 14-37-1 on the season.
Post Game Notes:
Thoughts on the new guy and the trade
I will do my own separate post-trade article to further elaborate on this but it feels like to me that on the surface this was a “change of scenery” trade of two players that have potential but for whatever reason were not reliasing it. Drew has an amazing release and deadly shot – just a lack of foot speed that meant the combination of said shot and his size was better utilized at forward. I am sad we never got to see how that could have progressed further under a different coach or deeper line-up but at the same time – he had played himself out of his role as a potential valued sniper and into that of a energy enforcer type. Slavin – I don’t know that much about and am reading up on as much as I can – but after having seen him play in this game; is a lot faster with a smoother skating stride. He looked very good on the penalty kill and showed some individual skill with the puck at times – handling it from a stand-still to escape from a check. Like I said – look for my full article on this soon, but for now, I like this deal for both clubs.
Much ado about Coachella
Who would have thought that the most hated team for the Gulls is their newest neighbour? I haven’t felt this strongly or passionately about a rival since the McDermid-featured Reign. It really goes to show, its not the team itself but the individuals on that team. The Gulls and Reign rivalry has been advertised as such ever since both teams were re-introduced to the AHL in 2015 but in the last few years it has been luke-warm levels of dislike and for me that has been due to the departures of the players you love to hate like McDermid as well as a constant shifting of rosters due to both the Kings and Ducks being in full rebuild. I don’t know what it is about the Firebirds, oh wait yes I do. It’s Max McCormick. It’s Eddie Wittchow. After tonight’s game and the hit on Weinger. Its Ian McKinnon. Ron Francis has built a club with blue collar grit and a spinkling of high octane offense and it works. It’s essentially what I hope the Gulls will be next year.
Defensive woes
No question it was the defense that let the Gulls down tonight and I don’t explicitly mean to single any one player out but something is definitely up with Austin Strand. He is less than a shadow of what he was to start this season – a player that saw NHL time and looked good during it – on a pairing with Colton White. It also doesn’t help that injuries and call-ups have meant that PTO’s and ECHL call-ups have been a constant feature on the San Diego blue-line this season. All I can say is that next year, it will be different. There will be at least Jackson LaCombe and Tyson Hinds if not one of Olen Zellweger or Pavel Mintyukov depending on what the Ducks do.
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