2023-2024 Game 39: San Diego Gulls at Milwaukee Admirals

After winning back to back in Iowa the San Diego Gulls headed further east to Milwaukee hoping to continue their win streak against the leagues hottest team.

Keeping his successful third line from the previous game together, Coach McIlvane instead opted to sit Jaxsen Wiebe to allow Ben King to return back to the line-up. King slotting in on the fourth line. The newly returned Robert Hagg also came back into the line-up in place of Anthony Costantini.

Tomas Suchanek was given the start with Calle Clang backing up.

Jacob Perreault still remained out with an injury, Colton White still remained absent due to personal reasons and Jaxsen Wiebe, Travis Howe, Anthony Costantini and Alex Stalock were the healthy scratches.

First Period:

It was all Admirals for the first three minutes of play with the home team securing a Power Play less than a minute after Glenn Gawdin was found guilty of cross checking.

Killing the minor – the Gulls went to the attack, seeing some good pressure from the top line before Drew Helleson was given a cross checking minor at the midway point of the frame.

Some great work by Judd Caulfield to battle out the puck then chase down and draw an interference call on Mark Jankoswki evened out the minors and gave the Gulls are brief man advantage. But Admirals dangerman Liam Foudy saw an opening and attacked the San Diego defense as they attempted a keep at the blue line. His speed proving too much as he slipped between Trevor Carrick and Drew Helleson to go in alone on Tomas Suchanek. His quick shot beating the Gulls netminder blockerside to open the scoring shorthanded. 1-0 Admirals.

San Diego did not let the goal phase them and on the remaining time of the man advantage the second unit put together some good passing to get the puck into danger areas but it wasn’t enough to create a clear cut chance. The Admirals taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission and leading in shots 8-6. The shot map showing teams were relatively equal on high danger chances but the home team enjoying the larger quantity of shots and thus possession.

Second Period: Milwaukee Admirals 1 – San Diego Gulls 0

San Diego started the period on a mission and all of their hard work paid off after Sasha Pastujov tied things up at one with another absolute laser – this time off a one-timer from near the Gulls blue line. 1-1 tie game.

The Admirals responded right away – Liam Foudy again showing his speed by creating his own one-man breakout and then giving Tyson Hinds trouble in the San Diego zone. The Gulls rookie defender doing well to keep pace with him but then losing him on a stop-start move and as the Admirals star forward skated into open space in the high slot he measured a quick shot that beat Suchanek through partial traffic. 2-1 Admirals.

It was back and forth for the next few minutes with some slowly building San Diego momentum peaking with a two on one play in which a streaking Judd Caulfield chased down a soft area pass from Chase De Leo, skated the puck around the Admirals net in an attempt at a wrap around and as he swung the puck back out front it inadvertently went off the stick of a defending Milwaukee player. 2-2 tie game.

Milwaukee attempted an immediate response after the goal with their top line but San Diego absorbed the pressure and quickly turned it into a counter attack. Pavol Regenda staying hot as he caught the Admirals on a bad change to find time and space to send a hard and low shot through the five hole of Troy Grosenick. 3-2 Gulls.

Coming out with the Gaucher line the Gulls almost got another right away but the Admirals collapsed down low to prevent further rebounds as the determined San Diego line battled away.

Milwaukee then shifting momentum back in their favour for the remainder of the period, putting back to back high danger chances on Suchanek and connecting on the post with one of them.

San Diego storming out to take a one goal lead into the second intermission and a 20-17 lead in shots after peppering the Admirals to the tune of 14-9 in the middle frame. The shot map showing that the Gulls most definitely deserved to take the lead in the match.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Milwaukee Admirals 2

Expecting some push from the home team to start the third the Gulls were not prepared as the Admirals gained then held their zone for the first few minutes before a nifty move by defender Marc Del Gaizo beat Brayden Tracey and allowed him to skate in space to a shooting lane. His shot beating Suchanek glove side to tie things up at three. 3-3 tie game.

Play once again reverted to a back and forth affair of trading chances as well as some post-whistle scrums thrown in for good measure before the Gulls were tasked with killing a minor penalty for delay of game assessed to Pavel Regenda after he sent the puck out over the glass on the full.

Killing the minor with some good work to negate the young Admirals star Liam Foudy any space on the man advantage, the Gulls kept at it – forcing the Admirals into several icing calls.

There was a scary moment after Andrew Agozzino was seen to be laying prone clutching his head during an Admirals attack in the Gulls zone. There was no replay but it appeared a puck or stick hit him up high and he made his way to the bench after play was stopped.

Agozzino would return in the final few minutes of play as the Gulls survived a late rally from the Admirals to force overtime.

Overtime:

Starting the extra session with possession the Gulls started out well playing conservatively but a hand-off to the next unit lead to Andrew Agozzino attempting to do too much on his own and the turnover created resulted in a rush the other way lead by Admirals danger-man Liam Foudy. The young speedster beating Suchanek for his third goal of the game and the winner. The Admirals taking this one 4-3 but the Gulls still earning a point to keep their points streak alive.

Post Game Notes:

Keep That Pasta Cooking

With four goals in his last two games Sasha Pastujov seemingly can not be stopped. He is currently rocking a 100% shooting percentage over those last two games also. Actually he has a 100% shooting percentage over the last five games given he didn’t get a shot on goal in his previous three before. That is of course a very inflated number and will eventually return to the mean – overall he has a 21.1% over 16 games. Until then – put the puck on his stick.

Welcome Back Bob

Anthony Costantini did an admirable (no pun intended) job filling in with the Gulls losing Zellweger to call up and Colton White absent due to personal reasons but I was happy to see Hagg back for this contest. Will we see White back when the Gulls return to San Diego? That is the question. If we don’t – it feels like there is a real possibility we may not see him again for the rest of the year. When Pavol Mintyukov returns for the Ducks I wonder if we see him in San Diego on a conditioning stint first. I can’t see Anaheim keeping both he and Zellweger up unless a deal is made at or near the deadline which clears some room on the left side – so at this point expect to see Zellweger back in San Diego by seasons end.

Standings Update

The point earned in the loss keeps the Gulls still on pace to catch Bakersfield and now Henderson – who have dropped to seventh after the Eagles overtook them. San Diego now sits 9th in the Pacific with 37 points and 0.474 points percentage. Bakersfield is now just five ahead in 8th place with 42 points but a 0.600 points percentage due to having four less games played. While Henderson now currently occupies the final playoff spot with 44 points and a 0.500 points percentage. The gulls now return home to face the second in the division Roadrunners before welcoming in the Colorado Eagles in a very important match-up that could drastically improve their race to make the playoffs.