2023-2024 Game 2: San Diego Gulls at Ontario Reign

Setting the stage to re-ignite their bitter rivalry in earnest the San Diego Gulls once again took on the Reign in Ontario for their second straight game, with another to follow less than a week later in San Diego.

As predicted in my notes at the conclusion of the previous game, Calle Clang was given the start in net while the only other change made was on the fourth line as Ben King drew in for Blake McLaughlin to make his AHL debut.

First Period:

It took a good few minutes to be able to see or hear any of the action – as per the norm for AHL TV at the start of the season….

Once some of the issues were partially fixed (visual but not so much audio) the general impression of what we missed was that the Reign had the initial momentum but San Diego took it back briefly via a good shift from the Gaucher line – featuring two straight shots on net from Sasha Pastujov.

Play continued to go back and forth until the Reign converted on a two on one rush after an unfortunate bounce caught Trevor Carrick going the wrong way. Reign 1-0.

The Gulls were able to respond minutes later as they were awarded a Power Play when noted new-pest-in-town Charles Hudon was called for Interference behind the play.

The San Diego Power Play looked positively deadly as Olen Zellweger created space by walking the blue line – shifting and switching to create an open lane before sending a pass off to Glen Gawdin who spotted Andrew Agozzino all alone at the back door. Beautiful finish to a pretty passing play. 1-1 tie game.

Ontario fought back and held possession as well as momentum to close out the period through a Power Play of their own as Sasha Pastujov was called for holding but Tyson Hinds proved a menace as he got in front of any and all shots on the right side while providing some key clears to keep the score locked at 1-1 to close out the period. Shots were 10-8 for the Reign but the shot map indicating the Gulls doing a fairly good job of keeping Ontario away from the low slot.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Ontario Reign 1

Glen Gawdin set the tone for the period with a hard and high hit on Reign star defender Brandt Clarke, drawing the ire of the entire Ontario roster while also being given two minutes in the box.

It proved a costly hit as the Gulls penalty kill finally surrendered a goal as Alex Turcotte dove into a pile and poked a puck out from under Calle Clang who had it covered but apparently not long enough to have the play blown dead. 2-1 Reign.

Pavol Regenda was called shortly after for hooking but San Diego were able to kill this one – without any net-front shenanigans spoiling things this time.

Olen Zellweger, who had been relatively quiet at five on five – drew a slashing call as he stick handled around the Reign low slot, almost creating a high danger chance by himself.

The Gulls were unable to convert on the resulting Power Play but the continued pressure that carried over with the fourth line paid dividends as a Travis Howe shot from near the point hit Ben King as he skated by the Reign net for his first AHL goal. 2-2 tie game.

San Diego smelled blood in the water… err ketchup on the fries as they kept up momentum and possession in the Reign zone. The Gaucher line finally rewarded as a nifty pass back in front from just behind the net allowed Judd Caulfield to shift to his backhand and score his first AHL goal.

A weird combination of penalties with Charles Hudon once again in the middle of it all – led to a Reign Power Play and despite the Gulls looking like they may be able to escape unscathed, Brandt Clarke wired a shot through the aftermath of bodies after another goal mouth scramble in front of the Gulls net. 3-3 tie game.

Jacob Perreault made things worse by being called for hooking off the following center-ice face-off but thankfully San Diego were able to kill the penalty as the period closed to just over three minutes remaining.

The Nesterenko line held a lengthy shift in the Reign zone, wearing down the opposition and finally getting the puck to the front where Jacob Perreault fought it into the net as both he and Nikita Nesterenko attempted to fight off strangleholds from Reign defenders. 4-3 Gulls.

All hell broke out after the goal – with everyone on the ice pushing and shoving including Reign net-minder David Rittich giving Trevor Carrick a face-wash. Somehow the Gulls ended up short handed after all of the chaos and ended the period on the penalty kill once again but still ahead by one goal.

Shots were 22-21 – a slight edge to the Reign and 13-12 for the Gulls on the period. The shot map showing the Gulls getting more volume on the Reign net on the period.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 4 – Ontario Reign 3

Starting the period on the penalty kill the Gulls set about extinguishing the minor before trying to get back on the attack.

An errant, one-pass-too-many by Olen Zellweger resulted in a two on one rush for the Reign but the lone gull back – Tyson Hinds – made a great play, perfectly timing a sliding block combined with a poke-check to save the day and break up the rush.

The penalties continued however – as Glen Gawdin was called for hooking during a Reign foray in the San Diego zone.

The Gulls were able to kill the penalty again but it was beginning to feel like a one way street with Ontario enjoying all of the possession and momentum through the first ten minutes of the period.

Once play finally returned to five on five – the Perreault line were able to gain the Reign zone and generate some chances in an attempt to shift momentum back the Gulls way.

After being denied on a shorthanded breakaway moments earlier, Pavol Regenda made good on his second opportunity as he stole the puck and broke away at the Reign blue line to go in alone on Rittich. His initial shot was stopped but a desperately back-checking Brandt Clarke inadvertently finished the play by having the rebound bounce off him and into the net. Gulls 5-3.

Ontario came with another push – keeping San Diego hemmed in their zone for a lengthy shift of sustained pressure that eventually ended in them getting one back as Calle Clang was beat by a point shot that was deflected through traffic. 5-4 Gulls.

The Reign pulled Rittich with under two minutes left and generated some edge of your seat chances but San Diego were able to get the clear with Judd Caulfield missing a golden opportunity to get the puck to Andrew Agozzino in the slot and an empty net beckoning. It didn’t matter as Charles Hudon was called for high sticking when he attempted to stop a Calle Clang attempt at the empty net and hit Pavol Regenda up high instead. San Diego able to kill the remaining time with possession and their Power Play as Josh Lopina got the empty net tally in the dying seconds off an unselfish feed from Colton White.

Gulls win 6-4 and take four points in Ontario against their most bitter rivals. Their first 2-0 start to the season since 2015-2016.

Post Game Notes:

Too Many Penalties

Olen Zellweger was almost unnoticeable in this game compared to the previous one because he was hardly ever on the ice. The Gulls were given eleven penalties total, over an entire periods worth of time shorthanded. As a result Zellweger did not see much ice time and just couldn’t seem to get going. The general chaos that threatened to get out of control on multiple occasions also probably didn’t help. I’m not so worried that he had a relatively quiet one, there will be games against less… feisty opponents that will allow him to shine.

That said – the Gulls did take far too many penalties. Ontarios Power Play should be better than it is and I am sure it will be up there as one of the leagues best by seasons end – if the Gulls don’t sort out their penalty taking addiction by then – they are going to be punished by teams whose man advantage units will be well polished flawlessly executing machines.

Iron Mike Tyson Hinds

Tyson Hinds was a player of the game for me. It cannot be more emphasized how important he is on defence. He gets his big frame into shooting lanes on the penalty kill and executed the most perfectly timed diving block with additional poke-check to prevent a sure Reign goal at a critical point of the game. As a rookie and at just twenty years old, he is already playing like a seasoned veteran. He is going to be so fun to watch progress. The Ducks blueline core is already fairly stacked but I have a feeling we are going to see one or two years max of Mr Hinds in San Diego.

Shots Shots Shots

I had a thought during the action and I saw Charlie Meredith somewhat echoed that in my mentions during the game. It is so good to see the Gulls finally doing something with the puck on offense. Even if its just throwing the puck on net. Too often in recent seasons we see them gain the zone and immediately lose it before being able to generate any shot or semblance of a play at all. Sasha Pastujov clearly loves to shoot the puck and I saw Jacob Perreault getting in on the action too. Once these lines start to feel each-other out some more – San Diego could roll with a roster that features four lines that can contribute.

Early Season Stats

Pavol Regenda has jumped up to 17th overall in the league in scoring – with three goals in two games. He also leads the team in shots with ten. While Olen Zellweger is second with nine. Regenda, Perreault, Gawdin and Zellweger are now joint leaders in team scoring with three points each. Alex Stalock is second in the league in Save Percentage with a 0.976. Unsurprisingly both Stalock and Clang feature in the top 20 for shots faced. Stalock with 41 and Clang with 39. Something the Gulls need to work on.