2023-2024 Game 43: San Diego Gulls at Calgary Wranglers

After a commanding 5-0 victory the night before the San Diego Gulls returned to the Saddledome in Calgary to try make it a sweep in Alberta.

The starting line-up was announced with the caveat that Jacob Perreault was making his return from injury with the disappointing news that Brayden Tracey was out with a lower body injury sustained in the previous game. Perreault – playing in his first action since December 27th – took Tracey’s place on the third line, Jaxsen Wiebe drew back in for Ben King on the fourth line, all other lines and pairings remained the same.

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

Brayden Tracey was announced as being day to day with a lower body injury, while King, Stalock, Hagg and Profaca were the healthy scratches.

First Period:

After being shut out and surrendering five goals the night before you knew the Wranglers would come out fired up and that they did. The home squad looking like the only team with any jump as they ran circles around San Diego in their own zone while running up a 5-1 shot total through the first four minutes.

Tomas Suchanek did everything he could to weather the storm and continue to frustrate but could not stop a last minute shot that caught him by surprise as the puck was poke-checked away but then bounced right to the Wranglers Ilya Nikolaev. 1-0 Wranglers.

The Gulls tried to hit right back but had to wait until Nikita Nesterenko drew a four minute minor as he got clipped up high behind the Wranglers net. With the first unit bowing out part way though the man advantage the second unit came on and Nikita Nesterenko would not be denied. Placing himself in the low slot and banging away at a rebound created by a Drew Helleson point shot, finally slamming it home on the third try. 1-1 tie game.

The momentum created from the goal was short lived as Sasha Pastujov was called for hooking on the very next shift – erasing the second half of the double minor and putting teams at four on four. The Wranglers used the time and space provided to their advantage, keeping the puck in the San Diego zone before setting a screen through layers of bodies to beat Suchanek once again with a low point shot. 2-1 Wranglers.

It was all Calgary for the remainder of the period including a high sticking minor assessed to Jacob Perreault who then gave the officials too much grief in arguing the call and was given a ten minute misconduct for his efforts. San Diego killed the minor when the Wranglers Adam Klapka cross-checked Drew Helleson down in front of the net in the final thirty seconds of the frame.

The Gulls looking nothing like the smooth, unblemished flawlessly executing unit seen in the previous game and desperately needing to use the first intermission to reset. Shots were 25-5 for Calgary and the shot map was not pretty.

Second Period: Calgary Wranglers 2 – San Diego Gulls 1

Erasing the rest of the Perreault minor to start the second the Gulls went to work with the man advantage and took less than the minute required to once again punish the Wranglers for the indiscretion as Andrew Agozzino smartly found an opening down low to put in a point shot-pass from Glenn Gawdin . 2-2 tie game.

Pressing the advantage the Gulls took the lead just seconds later as Trevor Carrick skated down low to retrieve a loose puck and in the same motion swung it on net where Judd Caulfield was able to free his stick up just long enough to deposit it in. 3-2 Gulls lead.

San Diego suddenly were the team of yesterday as they contested and won puck battles all over the ice and those they did not win they drew penalties on – such as the cross checking call Josh Lopina drew to give the Gulls a four on three power play.

Winning the face-off and getting set – all it took was some clinical passing to create a lane and all Olen Zellweger had to do was measure and wire a shot. Too much time and space for the danger man on defense. Gulls up 4-2.

Things settled down somewhat for the remainder of the frame although the Gulls were asked to kill three straight penalties to Gaucher, Caulfield and Howe. Then Colton White made it a five on three as he pushed the Wranglers Ben Jones down to the ice behind the Gulls net.

Killing the first minor the Gulls erased the second on the Wranglers very next zone entry as the incredibly large human Adam Klapka got caught laying a pick at the blue line on zone entry. Not to be outdone – Pavol Regenda was caught on the exact same play moments later so both teams headed to the intermission with penalties still to clear at the start of the third.

San Diego storming out to fire in three unanswered goals and take a 4-2 lead to the second intermission, shots were 9-5 for the home team on the period as Tomas Suchanek still proved the difference in the very one sided 34-10 overall shot differential.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 4 – Calgary Wranglers 2

These teams just could not stay out of the box as San Diego killed the remaining time in Pavol Regendas minor then had to kill another as Drew Helleson was called for cross-checking when he sent Brady Lyle down onto Tomas Suchanek’s outstretched right leg. The in-form netminder looked in discomfort for a few worrying seconds before electing to stay in the game.

Erasing the minor once again the Gulls were given a Power Play of their own as Colton White was brought down behind his own net. It took the suddenly red-hot Gulls Power Play just six seconds to convert this time. Andrew Agozzino winning the face-off, sending it back to Olen Zellweger who walked the blue line before sending a low shot that left a rebound in front for both Pavol Regenda and the aforementioned Agozzino. Agozzino getting his second of the game and second with the man advantage. 5-2 Gulls.

The penalty parade continued as the Gulls found themselves on another four on three Power Play minutes later, Olen Zellweger and Glenn Gawdin playing the swap places passing game but the young defender opting to set up his Captain for the one timer instead of repeating his earlier feat. 6-2 Gulls.

Calgary got one back on a rare rebound gaff from Suchanek as he made the initial save off a point shot from a Wranglers offensive face-off win but could not place the rebound and the Wranglers ECHL call-up Matthew Wedman found and sent it behind him. 6-3 Gulls.

The Wranglers would get another one back to finally break the San Diego penalty killing streak as star player Matt Coronato tallied his 13th of the year with Nathan Gaucher sitting for tripping. 6-4 Gulls.

Sensing an astronomical comeback the Wranglers pulled goaltender Oscar Dansk for the extra attacker but Glenn Gawdin found a loose puck and hit the empty net to make it 7-4 Gulls with three minutes remaining.

Tensions and tempers flared in the final few minutes – once again following a goal mouth scramble in the San Diego crease as Tomas Suchanek dove to make an unbelievable stick save and deny another sure Wranglers goal.

After the dust settled and penalties were assigned – the Gulls wound down the rest of the period on the Power Play and skated away with another two points. Taking this one 7-4.

Post Game Notes:

The Penalty Kill, How Do They Do It?

Given bountiful opportunities to see the Penalty Kill in action today I watched closely for what exactly is making it work so well. On first glance the obvious is the zone entry prevention’s. The Gulls are layering the neutral zone with two on their blue line and two at the red line, essentially putting down a gauntlet for puck carriers. This isn’t a new strategy but it has proved effective for the Gulls thus far. If a puck carrier does manage to make it past the first layer, they lose speed in doing so and the second layer are able to disrupt either their puck-handling ability or whatever pass they make at entry. Meanwhile the first layer is still active on the back-check and come in behind with support to battle the puck loose and get the clear. On a clearance – the Gulls also tend to send a man down low to pressure the carrier behind the net, a low percentage play that usually sees that man follow the play and prevent any drop passes with their presence. If the opposition does manage to get an offensive zone face-off win or somehow does manage to get set after a successful zone entry or dump in, the San Diego unit plays a shifting diamond shape that I have mentioned before – which allows them to bend and move with the play, keeping the attacking team at bay but also remaining flexible enough to prevent too many open lanes.

Suchanek! At The Disco

I can’t believe I didn’t throw Suchanek in my post game notes for the last game. His second shutout performance officially put him in the top tier of the AHL goal-tending elite. Having now qualified with more than 14 games played his numbers can be comfortably compared and they stack up well. He sits fifth in GAA with 2.25 and tied for first in Save Percentage with 0.930. The kid is locked in and can seemingly only be beat by screens and traffic in front. Sound familiar?

Road Warriors

San Diego are second in the league for goals scored when away from home with 87 tallies. By contrast they are dead last in goals scored at home with just 48. Why the lack of home cooking?

Standings Update

The climb continues, the Gulls are now at 43 points and back to .500 with a 18-18-7 record. Bringing them even with Henderson on points percentage .044 behind the Reign for the final playoff spot. This team is on a roll and poised to determine their own destiny as their next four games see them face San Jose, Henderson, Bakersfield and Ontario.