2022-2023 Game 57: San Diego Gulls at Tucson Roadrunners

With an overtime victory secured after a battle of attrition the San Diego Gulls looked to leave Tuscon with back to back wins while welcoming a new addition on defense and losing yet another to injury.

Forward lines remained the same with Brouillard staying up front as it was announced Axel Andersson suffered yet another injury in the previous game. Chase Priskei made his Gulls debut – taking Anderssons spot on the pairing with Olli Juolevi. The other pairings remained intact.

Gage Alexander was given the back to back start.

First Period:

The San Diego Gulls second line had the best chance of the early going as Dylan Sikura showed some good speed and puck protection to get a nice chance in on Prosvetov that generated a rebound that Brayden Tracey came so close to converting on.

An Evan Weinger boarding call put the Gulls down a man but they looked the more likely team to score as they generated not one but two breakaways on Prosvetov starring Chase De Leo and later Weinger himself as he exited the box.

The up-tempo style that began the game was quickly diminished as the penalties started to pile up and teams exchanged Power Plays for the remainder of the period.

Gage Alexander had to stand tall to prevent some high danger chances created off of broken play and the Gulls hit the first intermission scoreless but drastically outshout 24-14 owing to a 2-1 penalty kill disadvantage.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 0 – Tucson Roadrunners 0

With the game returning to a back and forth up tempo style to begin the second the Gulls would strike first as Chase Priskie joined the rush on a San Diego zone entry, receiving a pass on the right side and sending a seemingly harmless shot on net looking to get a rebound that inadvertently bounced off an in-motion Roadrunner and in. 1-0 Gulls.

San Diego kept up the pressure after the goal and it took until almost the seven minute mark for Tucson to get its first shot on net for the period.

The minutes ticked by with play remaining mostly a battle for the neutral zone as both teams settled into a more defensive shell. The Gulls did generate the better of the opportunities and showed some good consistent possession in the Tucson zone across all four lines.

Tensions boiled over with four minutes left in the period after Quinn Wichers received not one but two sticks up high on the same shift from Michael Carcone. A fracas broke out and the two seperated themselves from the pack to square off. Wichers got the better of the initial punches thrown but Carcone finished it with a overhand right that dropped them both to the ice.

On the resulting four on four the Roadrunners tied things up as Colin Thesien pounced on and broke up a Michael Del Zotto pass at the point to go in alone on Alexander, beating him five-hole. 1-1 tie game.

San Diego managed to finish the period with a Power Play of their own as the Roadrunners were called for boarding but could not convert in the final twenty seconds of play – the remaining minute and forty carrying across to fresh ice in the third. It seemed this would be another close game as teams headed to the final period tied up at one and shots a narrow 26-24 lead for the Roadrunners. The Gulls holding Tucson to just two shots on net for the period but surrendering the breakaway goal.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Tucson Roadrunners 1

Starting the period on the Power Play the Gulls once again could not convert and as play returned to five on five they continued to deploy a four line rotation that kept the puck for the majority of the time in the Tucson zone.

The Roadrunners slowly built and held onto momentum for much of the rest of the period – opening the shot margin wide open and leading 34-25 with just under six minutes remaining. Their physical and bruising play leaving the Gulls weary as Pavol Regenda gave Gulls fans a scare by going down on one shift but thankfully returning on the next one.

Evan Weinger on the other hand got in a tussle with Colin Theisen in the opening period and did not return to the Gulls bench for the third.

A rare foray into the Tucson zone by the second line ended in the Gulls taking a penalty as Dylan Sikura attempted to get around a Roadrunner but was assessed a high sticking call in the process.

San Diego managed to kill the first minute and forty of the penalty thanks to some hard work by Chase De Leo and Michael Del Zotto as the Gulls survived a third period with the ice severely tilted against them to head to Overtime once again.

Overtime:

Starting the overtime session with twenty seconds left to kill, the Gulls started with Slavin, Del Zotto and Helleson and despite not gaining possession off the opening face-off – were able to kill the minor as Sikura exited the box. From there back to back rushes ended in the Roadrunners thinking they had potentially ended it when a two on one break saw Gage Alexander make a pad stack save that also saw the net come off its moorings in the process and the puck squeak behind him as it came loose.

As we returned to three on three the Gulls gained possession and were extremely reluctant to give it up, patiently exiting the zone if they did not see an opportunity while earning the ire of the Tucson locals.

With just seconds left in the extra session a great passing play between Priskie, Sikura, De Leo and then back to Priskie saw the newest Gull not only tally the regulation goal but also the game winner in overtime, immediately endearing himself to his team-mates in his first game. Gulls win 2-1.

Post Game Notes:

Checking out the new Chase

I’d love to know what the stats are on how many times in history there has been two players by the first name “Chase” on the same team. Probably a lot, I dunno, it’s not a common name to me. Anyway. The new Chase looked good in his first action with the Gulls. He worked well with Juolevi – staying back if his partner went on Safari and jumping in on the rush when he saw low risk opportunity – such as when he scored the games opening goal. He also did a good job of standing up at the deadline to prevent zone entries or getting the first pass to his forwards for zone exits.

His overtime winner was brilliant also, a great passing play and use of space by three players with the experience and skill to recognise how the play was developing and where to go to at the right time.

Priskie was a 6th round selection by the Washington Capitals in 2016 – for context that is the same draft the Ducks selected Max Jones, Sam Steel, Mahura, Dostie and Soy in.

His initial draft profile presents a high octane defender that likes to activate to catch opposing teams defenses unaware and given his two goals in this game we can already see that part of his game showing through. He spent all four years at Quinnipiac and finished his senior year with 39 points in 36 games as the team Captain and earning a top ten finalist vote for the Hobey Baker in 2018-2019. He informed the Capitals he intended to become a free agent on August 15 – days before the signing deadline – so a bit of a Schultz kind of move and then subsequently signed with the Hurricanes. In total he has 25 goals, 59 assists for a total of 84 points in 169 games in the AHL. Here is hoping the Ducks/Gulls keep him in the fold, he is due to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this season.

More movement to come?

Patrick Williams tweeted today that he expects Nik Brouillard to garner interest at the AHL trade deadline (Friday March 10th 3pm EST). I pushed back hard on that given how important Brouillard has been to the Gulls during his tenure here but I admit that it is a constant fear of mine that he will eventually be dealt simply because of how valuable he is as an all-rounder that can eat big minutes and provide a steady veteran presence as well as some bite.

I admit I am unfamiliar with teams being Buyers and Sellers in the AHL – it is a foreign concept to me although I can understand why it makes sense to deal Brouillard to a team heading to the playoffs. What I don’t understand is what the Gulls would get out of it. AHL teams don’t have draft picks to offer in return and it is unlikely that parent NHL clubs would be willing to deal touted prospects from their still developing roster of prospects for a veteran to help their other prospects? I guess what I am saying is I don’t see a trade happening and I really don’t want to see Brouillard go.

More injuries

As noted in the recap Evan Weinger did not return to the game after his fight with Colin Theisen in the first and is likely also now out with an injury. With Nik Brouillard being required to play up front simply because the Gulls are so short on forwards I think it must be high time that Blake McLaughlin is called back up from Tulsa. McLaughlin is now the only Duck/Gull in Tulsa after Golod and Nijhoff were dealt this week. He has 20 points in 25 games and 4 in his last 5.