2023-2024 Game 21: San Diego Gulls at Rockford Icehogs

Looking for some consistency after a dominant performance in Milwaukee the San Diego Gulls headed to Rockford hoping to grab another win on the road.

Coach McIlvane went back to the 11/7 once again, this time swapping McLaughlin for Wiebe but all other pairings and lines remained the same. Suchanek was given his second straight start in net after the convincing win in Milwaukee.

First Period:

With the Ice Hogs being the Gulls most frequent trading partner their lineup featured a lot of familiar faces and to make things even more awkward, they chose to ice those players in the opening face-off as Bryce Kindopp and Logan Nijhoff lined up alongside Josh Healey at puck drop.

Teams traded Power Play chances in the early going with the Gulls man advantage looking by far the more deadly as they quickly ran up a 6-0 shot lead. The Ice Hogs eased that back to 6-3 during their own power play span but it would be the Gulls who struck first as Andrew Agozzino found pay dirt with a top corner shot off the rush with the Ice Hogs Zach Jordan in the box for slashing. 1-0 Gulls.

San Diego were relentless on their forecheck and although the Ice Hogs attempted to lock up the neutral zone they could not prevent the Gulls from speeding through in transition.

On one such rush into the Rockford zone the Ice Hogs had no answer for the Gulls speed as all three of Chase De Leo, Jacob Perreault and Andrew Agozzino connected on the later’s second of the game to make it 2-0 on a beautiful passing play. 2-0 Gulls.

Nikita Nesterenko almost made it 3-0 with a tuck and stuff attempt down low – once again after a nice rush through the neutral zone set up by Olen Zellweger from behind his own net as he sent a hard and accurate head-man pass to a streaking Glen Gawdin.

Time expired on the frame with the Gulls showing yet another dominant performance over their opponents, taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission and leading in shots 12-4.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Rockford Ice Hogs 0

San Diego did not take their foot off the gas as they added another two to their tally within the first three minutes of the second frame.

First from an offensive zone face-off that Chase De Leo won but as the puck sat at his feet with the Gulls captain unable to locate it, Jacob Perreault took the opportunity to reach in and immediately fire the puck on net to beat a stunned Ice Hogs netminder. 3-0 Gulls.

Then with the Gulls still rolling, Nikita Nesterenko was able to find Nathan Gaucher in space down low and the Ducks late first round pick in 2022 made a nice move to his backhand to tuck the puck around the diving goaltender. 4-0 Gulls.

Not even the standard ill-advised Nick Wolff penalty could slow down the Gulls momentum as they continued to steam roll possession and the Ice Hogs zone in the process.

A further penalty to Brayden Tracey was met with the same conclusion but the Ice Hogs did succeed in slowly easing themselves further into the game by narrowing the shot disparity.

None the less the Gulls took back control as they made a final push in the Rockford zone on the period and made it 5-0 as Judd Caulfield converted a pass in front from Brayden Tracey as he camped out in the crease with less than two seconds left in the frame. 5-0 Gulls as they headed to the second intermission with a 24-13 lead in shots and were 12-9 on the period. The shot map showing that the second wasn’t quite as thoroughly dominant as the first.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 5 – Rockford Ice Hogs 0

San Diego’s offensive explosion went from great to ridiculous as Nathan Gaucher almost put one in off the side of the net just fifteen seconds into the final frame but then connected with Brayden Tracey seconds later on the follow up to make it 6-0 less than twenty seconds into the third.

After that it was non stop Gulls with back to back Power Plays where they converted the second in an almost embarrassing fashion as the puck trickled by the Ice Hogs netminder in the final forty seconds with little to no fanfare – even the San Diego players themselves were restrained in their celebrations as they made it 7-0 with 13 minutes left in the game, the replay showing the puck going in off of Josh Healys skate.

Rockford tried to respond via back to back Power Plays of their own but it was like watching a professional team effortlessly sweep aside an amateur side as the Gulls killed the minors with ease while keeping any shots to the perimeter and allowing Suchanek plenty of time and space to make any required stop.

It was a foregone conclusion and just a matter of winding down the clock after that as the Gulls closed down and ensured their rookie goaltender was awarded his first AHL shutout on the back of the 7-0 win.

Post Game Notes:

Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

Back to back dominant performances against central division teams begs the question. Are the Gulls as good as they look? Or are the central division teams as bad as they appear compared to the pacific division teams we normally see?

Either way the wins put San Diego into a tie with San Jose, one point behind Bakersfield and just five points behind Henderson for the final playoff spot.

We won’t know the answer to that question above until we (conveniently) see them face those same Henderson Silver Knights at home next weekend.

OK I Was Kidding About The Zellweger Forward Thing

With a 7-0 lead and the game well out of reach for Rockford – Coach McIlvane opted to give Olen Zellweger the extra forward spot on the fourth line in a move that I hope was just a “here you go kid, why not” kind of thing rather than a permanent shift in the vein of Hunter Drew. I had mentioned it in jest in a previous game recap post game note because the Gulls are so thin at forward depth compared to defense but I don’t feel converting Zellweger to forward is a good long term solution. His puck rushing ability and transitional passes would be completely wasted, not to mention his ability to man the point on the Power Play. No please don’t do that.

Han No-Goals’o

Yep I’m still work-shopping that one. Thomas Suchanek has well and truly stolen the Gulls net from Calle Clang. There has not been any word or update as to why veteran Alex Stalock continues to remain a healthy scratch and one has to wonder and hope it is not to do with his reason for being a recent Masterton Trophy finalist. Suchanek has looked stronger and better every game. I could only count one occasion in tonight’s game where he over-committed and was “swimming” for a second or more but was thankfully not punished for it as his team-mates were there to prevent any chance at the time.

Stats Update

Agozzino now has the sole lead in scoring on the team with 19 while Zellweger is now tied with Trevor Carrick for second with 17.

Zellweger is now ninth in rookie scoring overall.

Suchanek is top ten in the league among non-qualified goaltenders for GAA and SV% and tied with 12 others for third in shutouts.