2023-2024 Game 30: San Diego Gulls at Henderson Silverknights

After dropping a close one on the road in Tucson the San Diego Gulls headed to Henderson to try get back on track against another division rival.

Jaxsen Wiebe returned to the line-up and strangely Kyle Crnkovic was scratched to make room for him despite is very good play of late.

Perreault (injured), Regenda (injured), Pastujov (injured), McLaughlin (injured), recently recalled Suchanek and Crnkovic were scratches.

Alex Stalock was given the start with Clang backing up.

First Period:

It took less than three minutes for the Gulls to outwork and out-muscle the Silver Knights to create back to back chances as well as the games opening score via a Power Play goal from Chase De Leo. The San Diego Captain given too much space in the high slot to wire a shot through a perfect screen provided by Ben King. 1-0 Gulls.

Another Power Play was awarded as Mason Primeau was called for high sticking but the Gulls were unable to convert and as play returned to five on five the Silver Knights appeared to have recovered from their initial stupor, applying responsive pressure in the San Diego zone but unable to create chances on net.

As time passed over the midway point of the period it appeared the action would be dictated by a battle for line superiority as the Gulls would generate and come oh so close on chances created by the Judd Caulfield line while the Silver Knights would respond in kind on the back of work from the trio lead by Denisenko.

An unfortunate offensive zone penalty to Ben King for Cross Checking gave Henderson their first Power Play of the game and their top trigger man Sheldon Rempal caught Alex Stalock sneaking off his post, the former veteran tying things up by firing a shot at and off the Gulls goaltender from the right near side post. 1-1 tie game.

It was all Silver Knights for the final few minutes of the period as San Diego seemingly forgot how to play defense and lost puck battle after puck battle while Alex Stalock was forced into making several sprawling and reactionary saves while his team-mates looked helpless to prevent the barrage. The final horn sounded mercifully with the Gulls escaping the period with a 1-1 even split but suddenly trailing in shots 12-10 after initially leading 7-2 before the halfway point. The shot map indicating they needed to regroup and clean up their act in their own zone.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Henderson Silver Knights 1

Coming out with a response to start the second the Gulls held both positive possession and momentum for the first few minutes until a bad high sticking penalty taken by Tyson Hinds gave Henderson their second Power Play of the game. It looked as though the Gulls might escape without surrendering yet another Power Play goal but their old friend Adam Cracknell came back to haunt them as he converted a backdoor pass with just under a second remaining in the man advantage. 2-1 Silver Knights.

San Diego fought back right away and were able to send the Silver Knights back on their heels for patches of play before earning a Power Play of their own at the midway point of the period when Judd Caulfield looked to be storming his way to a break-away but had his stick slashed in half by Dysin Mayo.

Henderson killed the minor and almost sent Mayo alone for a breakaway but some great back-checking by Trevor Carrick disrupted the veteran enough for his shot to sail off the post and the Gulls counter attack ended in a game tying goal from Brayden Tracey. The Ducks 2019 late first round pick patiently out waiting the Silver Knights netminder to tuck it behind him. 2-2 tie game.

Henderson responded right away, taking advantage of a two on one rush and re-establishing their one goal lead as Alex Stalock was unable get a glove on Brendan Brisson’s hard and high wrist shot. 3-2 Silver Knights.

San Diego tried to respond but could not get through the wall put up by Henderson in the neutral zone and were forced to regroup and break-out of their own zone, over and over and over.

The Gulls finally were able to get some chances in the Henderson zone courtesy of the Nesterenko line but an ill advised Brayden Tracey hooking penalty prevented any further forward progress toward a game tying goal.

Time expired on the period with six seconds left on the minor and the Gulls headed to the second intermission down by one and trailing in shots 24-23. The shot map showing San Diego still not cleaning up their act in their own zone and particularly in and around the crease.

Third Period: Henderson Silver Knights 3 – San Diego Gulls 2

Killing the remaining six seconds of the minor to Tracey the Gulls went right to the attack and immediately put the Silver Knights under pressure with relentless attack. Jaxsen Wiebe finishing off a great pass from Andrew Agozzino sent to him from behind the net to tie things up at 3-3 a piece. His first AHL goal coming at just the right time.

San Diego held momentum for much of the next few minutes of play but again a bad penalty – this time by Andrew Agozzino – halted that and allowed the Silver Knights to retake the lead just three seconds into it as Grigori Denisenko received the pass of a face-off win and sent a shot toward the net that beat Stalock who again looked quite ordinary attempting to make the stop. 4-3 Silver Knights.

The Gulls attempted a response – coming close on a chance by Gawdin (after some mammoth work down low by Caulfield) but the Silver Knights made it a two goal lead as they got yet another tally with the man advantage with Jaxsen Wiebe in the box for slashing. 5-3 Silver Knights.

Judd Caulfield drew yet another call with less than five minutes remaining in the game but despite pulling Stalock with under three minutes left the Gulls could not make up for the deficit and went down 6-3 after the Silver Knights iced this one with an empty net goal.

Post Game Notes:

First Thoughts On Stinil

This games was my first look at Michal Stinil. The Czech winger from the ECHL brought in as cover with the team ravaged by illness and injury. First off – it is curious that the Gulls went for a guy not on the Oilers but not the first time they have done that; it makes me wonder if either McIlvane or Dostal (or both) has a connection there – similar to the Suchanek one with Dostal. It also makes me wonder about the Ducks and Gulls relationship with the Oilers and how much longer that may last. That said – I thought Stinil showed some good speed and you can see why he was given another look despite both Jaxsen Wiebe and Kyle Crnkovic being available with Wiebe getting the other slot. He also was not afraid to shoot – perhaps another reason why he was kept in the line-up with the Gulls seemingly petrified to take the shot lately.

Penalty Kill Please

San Diego lost on special teams tonight – the Penalty Kill was just atrocious. They couldn’t prevent zone entries and did not have the same kind of shifting diamond structure that I saw in their game against Ontario. The Silver Knights could do whatever they pleased with the man advantage and all the Gulls could do was vaguely wave their sticks and collapse down low whenever a shot was taken. It didn’t help that Stalock was not providing the kind of support expected from a veteran netminder with NHL experience….

Goaltending Controversy?

The Gulls saw success with Suchanek and then Clang but after going back to Stalock they have definitely taken a step back. Don’t get me wrong – Stalock made some huge stops in the first; keeping the Gulls in the game when they had no business being there; but he was also frustratingly bad at making the kind of stop you would expect him to make at critical moments. Your goaltender is your best penalty killer and Stalock was not that tonight. Suchanek was recalled from Tulsa after being sent down just before New Years so one has to wonder if the Gulls are going to juggle all three goalies for the foreseeable future or if perhaps Stalock is actively being shopped.

Caulfield Continues To Shine

Judd Caulfield was by far and away the Gulls best player tonight. He continues to be the surprise of the season for me and is really rounding into a perfect Power Forward scoring threat with surprising speed and hands. He didn’t get on the scoresheet tonight but would have had at least three points if his line-mates had converted on chances he created. He is quickly becoming the Gulls MVP and my first in line for a call-up.