Toronto, Ontario. After coming back from 3-1 down to lose by one in the final few minutes of play the San Diego Gulls looked to build on the positives displayed in their season opening match.
Lines remained the same as the previous encounter but for Jan Mysak drawing in and playing on the wing on the fourth line in place of Coulson Pitre.
Defensive pairings remained the same.
Calle Clang got the start after backing up the night before while Dansk took a spot on the bench.
Tomas Suchanek started the season on long term injured reserve – not due back until at least April while Coulson Pitre, Travis Howe and Roman Kinal were the healthy scratches.
First Period:
Once again it was a frenetic non-stop pace to begin – not so much controlled chaos like yesterday – more “hot mess” in places.
The Gulls did eventually settle down somewhat and take control of the game – creating countless opportunities in the Marlies zone but making that one extra pass too many.
Yegor Sidorov making himself much more noticeable than in yesterdays match by taking matters into his own hands and making zone entries as well as showing off his puck handling abilities in the offensive zone – just unable to connect with team-mates at their current low-point of chemistry.
Teams traded Power Play opportunities and the Gulls looked very promising with their “vet” unit, coming close via a goal mouth scramble setup by a Rodwin Dionicio point shot but Ryan Carpenters swat at the rebound went over the top of the net.
San Diego held momentum and saw pressure coming from all four lines before the Marlies managed to respond with a foray of their own in the final half minute of play as the buzzer sounded to end the first.
The Gulls taking a 10-6 shot advantage to the first intermission, the shot map indicating San Diego enjoying the better of the opportunities in front.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 0 – Toronto Marlies 0
With concerns over how this middle frame might go given how it went yesterday it was good to see the Gulls coming out strong. Holding onto momentum and skating at the same pace as the first period.
The Marlies had their first golden opportunity appear in the form of Alex Nylander deeking his way through three different Gulls and layers of traffic to set up his own chance in the crease but the play was broken up and as the puck moved in the other direction through some quick passing from Colangelo to Harkins who then found Tyson Hinds joining the rush on the left side – the Gulls broke through as the second year defender wired a shot that beat debut netminder Artur Akhtyamov. 1-0 Gulls.
Toronto tried to mount an instant response and the ice started to open up. Calle Clang weathered the initial storm and the Gulls almost made it 2-0 off a nice passing play between Meyer and Carpenter but it was one pass too many. Jan Mysak was cross-checked in front of the Marlies net to send San Diego back to the Power Play.
This was the best the Gulls Power Play has looked in the very early season – holding the zone for almost the entire two minutes and generating five or six good looks via the “vet” unit. Jansen Harkins in particular wired two to three blasts from the right side. Unfortunately the Marlies rookie netminder appeared to be getting better and better with each shot he faced and the man advantage expired without a change to the score.
Toronto hit right back after killing the minor and earned a Power Play of their own as Rodwin Dionicio was called for Cross Checking – shown on the replay that he deposited the Marlies Captain Logan Show into the Gulls net behind the play.
The Marlies Power Play looked as dangerous as it did yesterday and despite denying star foward Alex Nylander twice in the same sequence they could not contain him a third time as he displayed NHL poise to create space for himself, step into the slot and wire a shot that beat Calle Clang clean. 1-1 tie game.
San Diego tried to take back momentum and the lead in the process but could not solve the Marlies net and time expired on the period with teams deadlocked in slightly more conservative back and forth sorties. San Diego still out-shooting Toronto 13-10 on the period owing largely to their strong showing on the Power Play but surrendering the goal on the penalty kill to head to the second intermission tied at one a piece. Shots were 23-16 through two periods. The shot map showing things relatively even but with the Marlies heavily favoring the left side.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Toronto Marlies 1
San Diego again looked much improved to begin the period. Coming close to taking the lead off a pass from Jan Mysak to an open Yegor Sidorov at the back-door but the pass fell just behind him and he could not connect.
A Marlies Power Play also saw the Gulls with a short-handed chance that went begging as Pavol Regenda elected to pass up a great opportunity after a turnover by the Marlies young netminder downlow. His pass to Nathan Gaucher was again – one too many – and the play was broken up.
The penalty parade continued for the Gulls as Sidorov was called for slashing and the Marlies punished them this time – Alex Nylander left open to receive a pass from behind the net and slam it home. 2-1 Marlies.
Things got a bit chaotic after that as the Gulls tried to respond but became too disjointed in doing so – an errant puck in the neutral zone leading to a Marlies partial break that was finished as Clang spat out a rebound that was buried at the left side. 3-1 Marlies.
Once again the Gulls tried to fight back – Sidorov leading the way as he found time and space on the left side to fire a shot-pass that found Jan Mysak. Mysak battling away at the rebound but unable to get it into the Toronto net.
It was all San Diego for the remainder of the period as they fought to get back into the game – coming agonizingly close on chances from McKeown and Colangelo but found they could either strike the iron behind the Marlies Russian tender – or his crest.
With three and a half minutes remaining the Gulls rolled the dice and pulled Clang for the extra attacker but after creating two chances – a Marlies breakout lead to the eventual dagger. 4-1 Marlies.
Time expired to send the Gulls home without a point through their first two games of the season but with still plenty of positives to take from an opening season road trip that saw a brand new team just starting to jell.
Post Game Notes:
Hard Pass On The Passing
It’s still early in the season and chemistry is slowly developing but the Gulls are most definitely being let down by an over-expenditure of passes. Too many high danger chances are left begging because of the forcing of the extra pass where a shot should have been taken. I have also noticed that players seem to be deferring to the “sniper” on their line – which makes a lot of sense but sometimes the passer is in the better shooting position. Just take the shot.
Power Play Improvement
Although not nearly as deadly as the Marlies unit, the Gulls “vet” unit – consisting of Ryan Carpenter, Jansen Harkins, Carson Meyer, Nikita Nesterenko and Rodwin Dionicio is already starting to look like a polished five-some despite only seeing two games of action. Harkins provides an option on the right side while Meyer provides the same on the left – Dionicio does a great job getting shots through traffic and Nesterenko and Carpenter retrieve pucks around the net.
The second unit is going to need more time to develop but could be the more dangerous once Yegor Sidorov gets going, they just need to work on their zone entries and setup.
Early Season Stats
Your Gulls leading scorers through two games are Jansen Harkins and Sam Colangelo with two points each. Four players have a goal each – Jansen Harkins, Tyson Hinds, Carson Meyer and Nikita Nesterenko.
Unsurprisingly – Sam Colangelo leads the team in shots on net with 9, Ryan Carpenter is second with 7 while Harkins, Hinds and Nesterenko all have 6. The problem here is Yegor Sidorov is way down the list with just four shots through two games. He definitely looked better and better as this game went on but long term – he would do much better with a pure play-maker on his line. He and Mysak looked good together today and I get that Lopina is important in the face-off circle but again – like I said yesterday – one Chase De Leo is out there…
Have Heart
The score made this game look worse than it was. San Diego played better than it suggests and were largely beaten by a star player given time and space on the Power Play. You might look at this and say “oh here we go again, another 0-2 (maybe more?) start to the season” but I say – this team looks leaps and bounds better than they did at the start of last season. The only question is whether or not they have the time allowed to get some decent chemistry going before they potentially fall too far down the division standings.
One More Thing On Vets
This article paints a pretty bleak picture for those that pass over the 320 pro games played mark – if they haven’t managed to stick with an NHL squad their chances of finding employment drastically dwindle once their contracts expire. I tend to agree but would like to look more into just how many teams are carrying the maximum veterans allowed and how many are choosing to ice a mostly first to third year player line-up. It is something that definitely feels like it has slowly shifted ever since the veteran rule was tightened prior to the 2014-2015 season.
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