2023-2024 Game 32: San Diego Gulls vs Iowa Wild

Riding high from their victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds the San Diego Gulls welcomed in the visiting Iowa Wild for a back to back.

Ben King was announced as another to join the list of injuries with a statement that he underwent a minor facial procedure and would be unavailable for the weekend – suggesting he would be back after this weekends two games. Jacob Perreault was also mentioned as being now week to week – which also suggested he could be back by month’s end.

Drew Helleson and Sasha Pastujov remained the other two still injured.

Thomas Suchanek was given the back to back start with Clang backing up this time.

First Period:

Frustratingly it was another case of Jekyll and Hyde as the Gulls were the complete opposite of the display of killer tenacity in their last game. They were slow, unsure and sluggish – allowing the Wild to take the game to them. With Brayden Tracey becoming incensed by something Michael Milne of the Iowa Wild said or did – the two went for roughing and a brief interlude of four on four hockey resulted in the Wild opening the scoring as Caeden Bankier found time and space, using Colton White as a screen to beat Suchanek with a hard wrist shot. 1-0 Wild.

The Gulls fought back – and tied things up a few minutes later as Nikita Nesterenko found a puck after a Glen Gawdin face-off win and quickly sent a shot on net that fooled veteran Zane McIntyre. 1-1 tie game.

It was mostly all San Diego from that point onward but for a few near misses in the Gulls zone where their man to man coverage was found absolutely wanting and the Wild were able to tee up passes to a free man in the slot at will.

With just over a minute left in the period a rush into the Iowa zone led by Tyson Hinds (yes you read that correctly) opened up space and the lanky defender immediately sent a pass across to his Captain on the left side. Chase De Leo wasting no time to send a hard shot on net all in one sweeping motion – beating McIntrye before he could get set. 2-1 Gulls.

Time expired with San Diego taking a not quite deserved 2-1 lead into the first intermission while needing to shore up their man-to-man assignments if they hoped to keep ahead. Shots were 8-7 for the Gulls with the shot map showing just how even things were – the Wilds other best opportunity coming off the post again from the danger man Bankier.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Iowa Wild 1

Whatever Coach McIlvane told the players over the first intermission it didn’t help as they came out just as flat, sluggish and uncommitted in the second. Spending the first seven minutes of the period getting outworked and often under pressure in their own zone. Thomas Suchanek was called upon to make huge stop after huge stop.

Iowa quickly jumped out to a 14-8 shot lead thanks in part to another Power Play opportunity – the Gulls barely surviving that discretion as their penalty killing unit was trapped out on the ice for the entire two minutes.

Olen Zellweger finally got something going for San Diego as he led a rush and sent a perfect pass to a wide open Nikita Nesterenko on the left side but the former Boston College product was stopped.

The chance was like a shot of adrenaline as the Gulls all of a sudden woke up and started generating chances in the Iowa zone.

After several missed calls the Gulls finally were awarded a Power Play as Nikita Nesterenko was tripped speeding into the Iowa zone on an end to end rush. The Wild played it close and when the Gulls were able to get into the Wild zone, they couldn’t get set and Brayden Tracey was called for tripping as he and Josh Lopina lost a puck battle down low.

The Gulls able to kill the rest of the time in the period and most of the minor off to once again take a shaky one goal lead into the intermission. Shots were 12-6 Iowa on the frame to give the Wild a 19-14 lead overall.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Iowa Wild 1

It wasn’t a great start to the third after a dangerous play by Blake McLaughlin resulted in a five minute major as he attempted to chase down Simon Johansson on the fore-check and sent the Iowa defender into the boards.

San Diego managed to kill the first two minutes of major while preventing the Wild from getting set but when Iowa did eventually gain and establish in the Gulls zone – a sharp angle shot that Suchanek looked to initially have but juggled at the last moment ended up seeping behind him. 2-2 tie game with the power play still in effect for another three minutes.

A mammoth effort from Tyson Hinds and Nathan Gaucher as well as some savvy and confident play from Suchanek kept the score at 2-2 for the remainder of the major and McLaughlin left the box but another boarding call – this time a two minute minor – to Andrew Agozzino sent San Diego right back to the penalty kill.

Killing the minor – again thanks in huge part to the work of Tyson Hinds – the Gulls tried to settle back into some balanced attack but were once again forced down a man when Pavol Regenda cleared a puck out on the full.

After successfully killing that minor San Diego suddenly found themselves with just five minutes left in regulation and despite a last minute flurry in the Iowa zone, this game could not be decided in regulation.

Overtime:

As we have come to expect from the three on three overtime session – it was non stop action. Pavol Regenda had the Gulls best opportunity on a clear cut breakaway but his forehand to backhand moved was partially stopped enough by McIntyre to send his attempt wide. With a minute left in the extra session Nikita Nesterenko made a move at the Iowa blue-line that would have also sent him in on a partial break but he was tripped – giving the Gulls a Power Play for the remainder of the extra session. Olen Zellweger had back to back shots from the high slot in the dying seconds of the sequence but could not will the puck by McIntrye and the Wild players diving in front of him. We headed to the shootout for the first time this season.

First up was Sammy Walker vs Suchanek – a goal for the former Golden Gopher on a speed move that beat the Czech netminder to the glove side. Nikita Nesterenko evened it right back up with his attempt – beating McIntyre with an effortless stop start move. Suchanek stopped his next shooter with a kick save before Chase De Leo was also stopped trying to go five-hole on his chance. In the third round Suchanek stopped Michael Milne with his blocker before Brayden Tracey sealed the win with a side step move that he flipped over the outstretched leg of McIntyre and in off the post. 4-3 Gulls win.

Post Game Notes:

Consistency Issues

I haven’t really had any gripe or obvious issue with McIlvane’s coaching this season but this game was hard to ignore in terms of waking the players up. They were not prepared to play nor were they ready to go after each intermission. I don’t know what it was but it was frustrating to see after they had put together such a hard working and perfect team effort against Coachella in their previous game. If not for Suchanek – this would have been a loss and one they would have deserved; against a team that was ripe to get an easy win against what with their injury issues and call-ups. This shit had better be fixed by tomorrows game.

Tracey Tracking

Although not exactly taking over the game and dominating like an NHL-bound player, Tracey has been noticeable of late with just how mature and poised his game has become. As well as in the last game I have made note of plays where he has calmly held onto the puck – slowed plays down or attempted to out-wait a goalie when handling down near the goal-line. It is a very encouraging sign and I would like to state my case that I think he will surprise many at Ducks training camp next season.

Hinds Stepping Up

Honorable mention because it can’t be said enough but Tyson Hinds is a beast. This kid is going to be a major pain in the ass for opposing forwards for years to come and I am picking we have maybe only one year left of him on the Gulls. The Ducks are already pretty stacked on their defensive corps but this kid is NHL bound. At this point – he is standing out to me more than Zellweger does – simply because he is that good at playing defense.

Standings Update

The win puts the Gulls equal with the Barracuda with 27 points, four points behind Bakersfield and six points behind Colorado for the final playoff spot. Like I said in the previous games’ recap, if the Gulls can take four points from this weekend it puts them in a good position to make up ground on that final playoff spot.

Olen Zellweger is currently tied for 12th in rookie scoring with 22 points in 31 games and tied for 6th in assists among rookies with 16 assists.

Looking Ahead….No Not That Ahead

With a very early look at who should be joining the Gulls next season – a quick glance over the table in my “when can a prospect play in the AHL” article shows the Ducks two most successful picks (other than Carlsson) of this most previous 2022 draft are set to turn pro. So the speedy and very talented Belarussian Yegor Sidirov as well as the smooth skating Swiss defender Rodwin Dionicio. Add to that the likes of Noah Warren, Tristan Luneau and Connor Hvidston as well as College players Sam Colangelo and Ian Moore and it is starting to look like competition for spots on both the Ducks and Gulls are going to be very fierce next year. Just looking at the line-up for today’s game and assuming Luneau makes the Ducks means that there are still six spots needed for those players – three defenders and three forwards. It should be interesting to see who the Ducks keep around in terms of veterans next season – right now it feels like only Chase De Leo and Trevor Carrick are safe.