San Diego, California. Struggling to find a consistent rhythm the San Diego Gulls once again were less than impressive in front of their fans at Pechanga Arena as they sputtered to a 3-1 loss against a team they had beat 4-1 in their previous meeting.
Desperately looking for a spark – Coach McIlvane shuffled the lines once again. This time putting Regenda back on the top line with Carpeneter and Meyer. Judd Caulfield was reinserted and came in on the second line with Jansen Harkins and Sam Colangelo. While the standout forward from the previous loss – Nikita Nesterenko – found himself on the third line with Yegor Sidorov on his opposite wing. Jan Mysak drew out and Nico Myatovic moved back down to the fourth line.
Defensive pairings were also mixed up – with Tristan Luneau now paired with Dillon Heatherington, Rodwin Dionicio returned to the line-up and re-paired with Drew Helleson while the third pairing remained the same.
Oscar Dansk was given the start with Calle Clang backing up.
Travis Howe, Jan Mysak, Noah Warren and Roman Kinal were the healthy scratches.
First Period:
Play was tight though the first five minutes but started to open up as time approached the midway mark.
A holding call drawn by Judd Caulfield saw the veteran unit get some good looks on net but Jiri Patera carried over his strong play from the last game. The Gulls best chance with the man advantage coming from Jansen Harkins who was robbed in the slot.
San Diego continued forward on the attack and drew another call through some great work by the fourth line as Nathan Gaucher fought to get to a rebound in the crease but was very unmistakably hooked in the process.
Again the Gulls looked good with the man advantage but were stonewalled by Patera and as play returned to five on five an ill advised slashing call to Coulson Pitre in the offensive zone put San Diego down a man. Pavol Regenda did not help when he was found guilty of hooking less than a minute later. Starting with a veteran unit – the Gulls did manage to kill the majority of the two man advantage but after a stoppage the replacement unit could not replicate quite the same result and the Canucks were able to tee-up a one time drive from the left side that Dansk had no chance on. 1-0 Canucks.
The Gulls tried to respond but some sloppy play in their own zone saw Tyson Hinds under pressure down low and struggling to use his long reach to control the puck while surrounded by two Canucks. In his moment of weakness he was leveled by a big hit from Aatu Raty which then caused a turnover and as the Gulls tried to get revenge for the hit, the Canucks took advantage, Jonathan Lekkerimaki firing a shot top shelf from in close. 2-0 Canucks.
San Diego looking good to start but again shooting themselves in the foot with simple mistakes to go down 2-0 after the first twenty minutes of play. Shots were 10-9 for the Gulls with the shot map showing Abbotsford with the slight edge in quality chances.
Second Period: Abbotsford Canucks 2 – San Diego Gulls 0
It was another terrible start for the Gulls as a broken play saw the Canucks make it 3-0 after a strange bounce caused Dansk to make a reactionary save and as he lay prone attempting to gather the rebound it trickled by him. 3-0 Canucks.
Rodwin Dionicio did not endear himself much further with his coaches by taking a cross checking penalty minutes later but the Gulls were able to kill the minor and potentially generate some slight momentum as things started to open up after play returned to five on five.
The fourth line were again noticeable as they muscled their way into the Abbotsford zone and created a good scoring chance lead by Coulson Pitre but their combined effort went for naught as they were called for tripping.
Again – the Gulls erased the infraction before switching momentum back the other direction and this time they were finally able to convert. Rodwin Dionicio showing great poise to keep the puck in the zone in the face of two attacking forwards and it was then quickly fed to Jansen Harkins on the right side who spotted an open Nikita Nesterenko beside the net. 3-1 Canucks.
Coulson Pitre appeared to be a man on the mission as on an ensuing shift he drew a call by shifting in and out of the Canucks defense before being illegally impeded just shy of getting a shot away.
San Diego held the Canucks zone for the entire two minutes of man advantage play but as much as they tested Jiri Patera they could not get another by him.
With the crowd now in the game the Gulls elevated theirs to another level, sending wave after wave of attack at the Canucks net.
With one last man advantage in the final few minutes of the period the Gulls continued to press – again holding the Abbotsford zone for the entire sequence and looking relatively deadly throughout.
As the final horn sounded on the middle frame they had built a 22 to 17 shot advantage with the shot map showing the amount of prime real estate the Gulls now owned in front of the Canucks net.
Third Period: Abbotsford Canucks 3 – San Diego Gulls 1
Despite how things ended in the second period, the Canucks were the more hungry looking team to start the third and they immediately hit the Gulls where it hurt. Earning an offensive zone face-off, winning it and firing a point shot that beat Dansk through traffic. 4-1 Canucks.
San Diego continued to struggle in their own zone and as another seemingly harmless shot squeaked under Dansk but thankfully did not cross the line the Gulls coaching staff elected to make the call to replace him with Calle Clang at the next stoppage.
Responding to the change in net, it was all Gulls for the next few minutes as time passed over the halfway mark of the period. Not only did they manage to transition the puck to the Abbotsford zone, but they were by far and away the hungrier team. Winning puck battles and getting to loose pucks to create chance after chance across all four lines. It felt like only a matter of time.
That time came at the 9:59 mark as Rodwin Dionicio received a pass in space and a wide open lane to measure and wire a shot that beat Patera clean for his first AHL goal. 4-2 Canucks.
The Canucks responded with an instant push and succeeded in giving the Gulls issues with their breakout once more but after a stoppage in play and a fresh line change, they were able to get moving in transition once more. Eventually earning a Power Play as Yegor Sidorov was interfered with behind the play on a rush. It took less than thirty seconds for the veteran unit to cash in as Captain Ryan Carpenter tipped a Jansen Harkins bullet on its way to the net. 4-3 Canucks.
You almost felt sorry for Abbotsford as the onslaught continued. Just over a minute later some great forechecking in the Canucks zone led to Jet Woo losing the puck at the worst possible moment as he attempted to breakout from around his own net. Roland McKeown was at the right place at the right time to immediately slam it hard into the Canucks net. 4-4 tie game.
But San Diego wasn’t done yet. With Abbotsford still on the their heels (and seemingly not capable of calling a time-out?) they kept up the attack and relentless fore-check. With how well he was playing it was only fair that Coulson Pitre would set-up the go-ahead goal as he took the puck below the goal line then fired a perfect pass across to find Sam Colangelo at the back door. 5-4 Gulls.
With just over three minutes remaining Abbotsford finally realised their situation and did everything they could to stem the tide. Pulling their goaltender with just over a minute left and forcing San Diego to play the tightest man to man defense they have all season. With thirty two seconds left Nikita Nesterenko provided the much needed sigh of relief as he blocked a Canucks pass near the point and immediately fired a shot toward and into the empty net. 6-4 Gulls.
San Diego showing true resilience and determination to come back from a 4-1 deficit and score five unanswered goals in a span of nine minutes of play to take their third win of the season.
Post Game Notes:
Broken Transition
There are more than a few holes in the Gulls game which has lead to their slow start – something we have seen every year but if I had to point my finger as to what is letting them down the most it is their break out and transition. Time and time again the breakout is picked off somewhere between the blue line or the red line with varying and often disastrous results. It should be a simple fix but is somehow also a major area of concern. I am not really sure what else San Diego can do to fix it other than run drills until it becomes a robotic second sense – either that or just leave the puck to a puck rushing defender to break it out themselves. Currently I would trust Tristan Luneau and Rodwin Dionicio with such duties, possibly Tyson Hinds but there is one other that would also be a perfect candidate…
Meanwhile In Tulsa
Sasha Pastujov and Ruslan Gazizov currently co-lead the Oilers in scoring along with ECHL veteran Tyler Poulsen but Andrew Lucas is just one point behind in second place with eight points in seven games.
He is also tied for second in the league scoring by defenders.
Lucas’s game is all about rushing the puck and I hope it is only a matter of time before we see him up with San Diego – he would be a huge help with their transition. I am unsure who that would mean would have to sit so I guess it could only really happen if there is a Ducks injury or call-up.
In net Buteyets has seen the most action but has the lesser stats than his counterpart – Penguins prospect Talyn Boyko. Buteyets currently has a 3.29 GAA and 0.871 SV%.
The Pitre Dish Is Developing
I will admit – ever since their selections I have not had a heck of faith in Nico Myatovic and Coulson Pitre. At the time they read to me as non-flashy supplemental players – that do all the right things but don’t really push the needle. So far Pitre is pleasantly proving me wrong and his rate of development is off the charts given that he is just 19 and coming straight from Junior. I wrote in my draft recap that he is a creative winger that loves to create off the rush – something he showed a lot of in this game and he appears to be on the cusp of breaking out. Like most young players yet to show their potential – confidence seems to be the issue. A game like today should go a long way in helping that. Watch this space.
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