San Diego, California. With an emotional 5-3 come back win over the Condors the night before the San Diego Gulls hoped to keep the good times rolling as they were visited by their oldest cross-town rivals on Teddy Bear Toss night.
Again the lines and defensive pairings remained the same, only the goaltenders switched on the back to back with Oscar Dansk getting the start and Calle Clang backing him up.
All injuries and healthy scratches from the previous game also remained the same – consisting of Dillon Heatherington, Carson Meyer and Travis Howe among the walking wounded and Rodwin Dionicio sat out his fifth straight game as a healthy scratch along with Anthony Costantini.
First Period:
The Gulls looked good early on as Nikita Nesterenko set the tone right off the opening face-off, using his speed and frame to fight his way through clutching and grabbing Reign before getting a move in on tight on their net.
However the overall experience evident in the Ontario squad took control as they diffused the Gulls forecheck by quickly moving pucks and drew the first call of the game as Pavol Regenda was called for hooking.
San Diego killed the minor without too much trouble but could not take full credit for erasing the minor as many of the Reign’s point shots were fired high and wide of the net.
As play returned to five on five any semblance of possession advantage the Gulls might have possessed before the penalty had vanished as the Reign took full control, able to cruise the neutral zone with speed.
With Ontario seemingly in control and looking comfortable a rare mistake in their own zone created – once again – by the hard work of both Nathan Gaucher and Judd Caulfield in conjunction with Roman Kinal lead to the games first goal. A turnover caused by the two aforementioned forwards led to Kinal stopping a clearance and then feeding the puck to a wide open Yegor Sidorov in the high slot. The Ducks 2023 third round selection given ample time to settle the puck and pick a corner as he blazed a hard shot by Reign netminder Erik Portillo to send the Teddies flying. 1-0 Gulls.
Despite getting the initial anxiety and monkey off their back by opening the games scoring, the Gulls seemed to play with less confidence after the goal and allowed the Reign to take the game to them. The game clock sped by with Ontario sending rush after rush into the San Diego zone.
One rare push back in the final minute of play earned the Gulls the last shot of the period but despite the one goal lead it did not look pretty as they entered the first intermission. Shots were 14-4 Ontario and the shot map showing a stark contract in quality vs quantity.
Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Ontario Reign
Play was largely back and forth for the most part to start the second period but the Gulls did show signs of breaking through on offense and definitely looked a lot better than they did for most of the first.
As time passed over the halfway mark the ice started to open up and appeared to grow steadily larger as both teams traded odd-man rush opportunities.
Judd Caulfield looked off Nathan Gaucher on a two on one break to carry the puck behind the net and send it back into the crease where it sat tantalizingly stable for a few seconds but Tristan Luneau among other players crashing the crease could not punch it in.
The Reign responded and caught the Gulls puck-watching as they set up play after play in their zone, only Oscar Dansk kept the score at 1-0 by looking the sharpest he has looked in a San Diego jersey.
Ontario started to use their size around the Gulls net and took full advantage of the Officials seemingly not understanding an obvious interference call when they saw one right in front of them to keep plugging away at Dansk but the veteran goaltender was locked in.
The Gulls did manage two more partial breaks before the middle frame ended but could not convert and took their slim one goal margin to the second intermission, once again out-shot by a very large margin. Shots were 16-4 Ontario to take the total to 30-8. The shot map making it appear not as close as play dictated.
Third Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Ontario Reign 0
It was a chippy start to the third and frustrations poured over as frequent shit-head Charles Hudon proved himself a nuisance in front of the Gulls net before he laid a punishing hit on Yegor Sidorov soon after on the next shift. Nathan Gaucher who had already requested a friendly chat with him earlier immediately tried to tussle with him and the two were given matching minors.
Once again the ice opened up as a result and a poor defensive miscue from a tired Tyson Hinds saw the Reign finally solve Dansk on a two on one. Hinds too late to cover the streaking Andre Lee at the back door. 1-1 tie game.
The Gulls shifted some of the momentum back and earned their first Power Play of the night as Jack Studnicka was called for slashing. The first unit spent the first 30 or seconds in the Ontario zone and setup Pastujov for the one timer twice but both attempts were stopped. As the second unit came on – a Mysak led zone entry drew another call as the Czechia native was held trying to carry the puck into the zone. The brief forty second five on three allowed for one opportunity but was quickly erased.
It was all Gulls for the final five minutes of play as the home team finally found their rhythm. Despite holding possession in the Ontario zone they could not create enough space in front of the Reign net for a high danger chance.
Time expired with the Gulls holding possession as well as the final advantage in chances and we headed to overtime.
Overtime
It was a tentative start to the three on three with both teams cautious to give up possession but with two minutes left things started to open up and as rushes were exchanged the Gulls earned a last minute Powerplay when Pavol Regenda was hauled down behind the play.
Frustratingly the Gulls came within inches of scoring the winning goal with the man advantage but one-timers were fobbed or passes broken up at the last minute by diving Reign players and we headed to a shootout.
Shoot Out
San Diego opted to shoot first and went with Nesterenko, his speed move was stopped by a well timed pokecheck. The Reign responded with Aatu Jamsen but his behind the legs move was stopped by a scorpion leg from Dansk. Nathan Gaucher was stopped then Taylor Ward finished his – putting the pressure on Sasha Pastujov to convert his attempt but his side to side shot was stopped.
The Reign taking the extra point and dropping the Gulls to 6-12-1-2.
Post Game Notes:
Clean Up The 50/50 Passes
It has become more noticeable in games when the Gulls are struggling to find offense and its likely an inherent part of young players learning but San Diego needs to clean up the 50/50 passes in the oppositions zone. Yegor Sidorov and Jan Mysak had two examples in the first. Sidorov sent the puck harmlessly in the direction of the crease where it was easily picked off and sent the other way. While Mysak attempted a no-look between the legs backhand push from behind the net which would have looked pretty neat if it had found a Gulls stick but never looked likely and was easily turned back the other way. This is not to say that those sorts of plays aren’t always a good idea but in a game like this where possession is scarce, holding onto the puck or finding the safe play is the better option. It is something these younger players will need to learn and is an example of the disparity of development between these two clubs…
Development Timelines
For their first few years of existence the Gulls and Reign used to be pretty evenly matched but in recent years the Inland Empire dwellers have pulled ahead – holding a 23-12-4-0 record over the Gulls. This is due in very large part to the Kings rebuild occurring much earlier and thus their development arc is more advanced in its tenure. The Reign are overflowing with both experience and talent, possessing a roster of essentially proven AHL veterans and drafted prospects entering their fifth season. By contrast the Gulls are young and inexperienced – which seems to be a similar story every year and paints the picture that perhaps the Ducks management really should look into trying to retain their developing players that pass their “waiver by” date.
Speaking of which – Bo Groulx is currently near the top of league scoring with 21 points in 22 games.
Point Streak Continues
Despite the loss – the Gulls still earned a point, or rather Oscar Dansk stole them a point. They are still second to last in the Pacific but are now just two points behind Bakersfield and five points behind Tucson for the final playoff spot.
They face the bottom of the division Silver Knights next who should not be taken lightly considering they have beaten both the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Calgary Wranglers this season despite their subpar record.
Injury Updates and Upcoming Movements Continued…
I mentioned in the last post game notes that we will likely see Drew Helleson returned to the Gulls soon as the Ducks acquired Jacob Trouba last week. As indicated by the Ducks line-up in their game against the Canadiens – their first with Trouba in the line up – they appear to be holding onto Helleson for now. Whether or not this indicates another trade is forthcoming or they just want the two (Pavol Mintyukov has been the other healthy scratch) extra bodies on hand for the east coast road-trip remains to be seen.
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