Looking to continue their season high four game winning streak the Gulls welcomed in the Central Division Iowa Wild.
Once again Coach Sommer went with the exact same line-up as the night before – with no changes whatsoever.
Again Jacob Perreault was still noted as a healthy scratch meaning he was again still close to returning but again not quite ready. David Cotton was also noted as a healthy scratch – meaning he must be close to returning from injury also. Luca Profaca was the other healthy scratch with Quinn Wichers released from his PTO and returned to Rapid City earlier in the week.
Gage Alexander was given the start – his fifth straight.
First Period:
Despite the Gulls enjoying the better of play they could not generate a clear chance on the Iowa net while an unlucky bounce caught Drew Helleson on the wrong side of a breakaway as he could not handle a Michael Del Zotto pass at the blue line. The Wild’s Brandon Baddock skating in all alone on Gage Alexander and beating him short side after a few nifty moves. 1-0 Wild.
Drew Helleson’s night went from bad to worse as minutes later he found himself once again on the wrong side of a critical turnover, this time in the neutral zone and a two on break by the Wild became a 2-0 Wild lead. This time Mike O’Leary beating Alexander blockerside coming down the left wing. 2-0 Wild.
It was all Wild for the next few minutes until Chase Priskie drew a holding call as he battled to get body positioning in the San Diego zone while having two Wild players draped all over him.
With the first unit completely unable to get properly set and the second unit only able to create two shots that both sailed wide, the Wild killed the minor without much trouble and San Diego headed to the first intermission down by two and trailing in shots 13-3.
Second Period: Iowa Wild 2 – San Diego Gulls 0
Knowing what they needed to do the Gulls came out with an inspired start to begin the second, coming in hard on the forecheck and forcing turnovers in the neutral zone en-route to equaling their shot total in the first period over the first three minutes of play.
With the fourth line mucking in down low Brayden Tracey drew a cross-checking call as he was on the receiving end to the mid-section during a puck battle to send the Gulls to the Power Play.
With the veteran unit spending almost the entire two minutes in the Iowa zone and with Gage Alexander slamming his stick on indicate the penalty was expiring, Gulls Captain Chase De Leo collected a loose puck behind the Iowa net but fooled some Wild defenders by going left instead of right, sweeping a pass out in front where a wide open Michael Del Zotto stepped into a hard wrist shot that sailed top corner. 2-1 Iowa.
Minutes later with the Gulls still rolling and the Pechange Arena roaring – Brent Gates Jr chose the right time to get his first goal of the season as he passed off to Brayden Tracey in the Iowa zone then tee’d up a one-timer on a pass right back to him. His low shot beating Iowa goaltender Jesper Wallstedt low. 2-2 tie game.
As the Gulls attempted to continue their momentum Iowa were able to slowly take back control and play settled into a battle for the neutral zone with little to no flow or open ice breaks. Drew Helleson was dinged for a cross-checking infraction as he attempted to win a puck battle in the San Diego zone and the Gulls headed to their first penalty kill of the night.
A far too aggressive penalty kill meant Marco Rossi was left wide open at the top point and as he received a pass from down low, he was allowed too much time to wind up a shot that beat Alexander high glove side. 3-2 Iowa back in front.
As the goal took the wind out of the Gulls sails somewhat, the Wild seized the opportunity to add to their shot total as they slowly regained control of the game.
In the final minute of action and with the Wild cycling the puck in the San Diego zone, a point shot was deflected en-route to the Gulls net and Alexander could not track it. 4-2 Iowa as they visitors exited the second period once again with a two goal lead, despite the Gulls hard-fought comeback.
Shots were 22-19 for San Diego.
Third Period: Iowa Wild 4 – San Diego Gulls 2
San Diego once again came with a push to start the period and were awarded with a Power Play as BO Groulx was held attempting to win a puck battle in the Iowa zone just over a minute into action.
Much like their man advantage opportunity in the second period, the Gulls veteran unit spent the entire two minutes in the Iowa zone but this time – despite again a one-time blast from Michael Del Zotto in the dying seconds – they could not convert.
The Gulls carried forward momentum and earned another Power Play in the process but again could not convert as the Wild put up a tight defensive structure around their talented young goaltender.
With play middling and San Diego still enjoying the majority of possession a bad passing play between Drew Helleson and Josiah Slavin ended in the Wild adding another to their total as Marco Rossi took advantage of the nonchalant sequence. 5-2 Wild.
San Diego pulled Alexander for the extra attacker in the final three minutes of play and painfully – Drew Helleson was once again victimized at the blue line as a pass was intercepted. Nic Petan skating away with speed to deposit the empty net tally. 6-1 Iowa.
The San Diego Gulls showing flashes of their recent winning ways but unable to overcome the Wild who were too clinical in executing on every mistake made.
Post Game Notes:
Hellesons No Good Bad Day
It was very much a night to forget for Drew Helleson as he was either partially (to be fair the pass from Del Zotto on the first one was bad) or directly responsible for turnovers that lead to the first two Iowa goals. Was in the penalty box for the third one, was late to his man on the fourth, was one of two Gulls defenders involved in the fifth and was also the last one to touch the puck on the empty netter. All up he was a negative five on the night (AHL.com says negative three but that is not correct). No need for alarm bells – he is very young and defenders take longer to develop, but also; dude – not a good time of year to have a terrible game.
Playoff Race Update – Miracle Edition
So in the bad news column: The Barracuda, Silver Knights and Roadrunners won
In the good news column: The Eagles and Reign lost.
The bad news column outweighs the good as those three teams are the closest to the Gulls in the chase. Despite the Gulls magic number dropping from 46 to 43 this week – those three results in conjunction with the loss tonight likely drops them further back. It isn’t over yet but the worst case scenario for everything pretty much happened and makes things that much more harder.
Black Aces Update
So you may not be aware but the recently acquired Nikita Nesterenko is not making his way to the Gulls as was originally stated by Ducks GM Pat Verbeek. Instead he was signed to an entry level contract and has been training with the Ducks. This was likely because – if the Ducks wanted to keep him, they had to sign him before the August deadline; which was something they still could have done if he had joined the Gulls on a PTO but reading between the lines here – his agent probably stepped in and demanded the ELC so that he could have the first year of that ELC wiped in the remaining games of this season. This gets him that much closer to UFA status – which is something all players aim toward as they start their careers.
Sean Tschigerl and his Calgary Hitmen are currently clinging to the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference of the WHL – they have just four games remaining in the season, with their last being played March the 26th. Should they miss the playoffs I would expect to see him assigned directly to San Diego.
Similarly Connor Hvidston and his Broncos are out of the playoff picture at the moment as they chase the Hitmen for that last spot. He too could be joining the Gulls by next week – but would go back to Junior next season.
Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov and Sasha Pastujov are all on teams poised to make deep runs in their respective leagues so it will be unlikely we see them this season – especially not Zellweger; who will play in the Memorial Cup tournament.
Similarly, all three Ducks prospects in the Q are on teams high up in the standings with clinched playoff spots or division titles.
Jackson LaCombe and the University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers lost to the University of Michigan in the Big Ten Conference Championship but will still enter the NCAA Regionals as the number one seed. The Regionals also take place next weekend – March 23rd to 26th. Should the Golden Gophers make the frozen four, this will take place April 6th and 8th in Tampa, Florida.
The Gulls last game of the season is April 15th.
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