After slowly receiving players back from Anaheim but still dropping back to back games in the process the Gulls headed to Iowa for a weekend back to back with central division’s third to last team. The Gulls meanwhile have stayed idle at third to last in the Pacific also – but had fallen to three games under .500.
Brayden Tracey – who left the last game against Colorado with what looked like a serious wrist or hand injury was not preset in the line-up but thankfully Jacob Perreault returned from a six game injury absence and Brendan Guhle was inserted back on the blueline after being returned from the Ducks. Both Nik Brouillard and Hunter Drew were moved back to forward with the later being placed on a line with BO Groulx and Alex Limoges. Olle Eriksson Ek was given his second straight start after returning from the taxi squad.
First Period:
San Diego had a great start to the game, holding the majority of possession and leading in shots 7-1 through the first six minutes. Iowa captain Cody McLeod then challenged Mike McKee near the Iowa bench and although the former Tulsa Oiler valiantly held his own against the league leader in PIMs – the momentum immediately switched more in the Wild’s favor after the bout.
The hitting intensified as the period passed over the midway point and Jack Badini was seen to be in some discomfort behind the Wild net after receiving a heavy hit before slowly making his way to the bench.
Back to back 50/50 calls went in the home teams favor as the Gulls spent the next two sets of two minutes on the penalty kill, first killing a slashing minor to Jacob Perreault before surrendering a Power Play goal in the first few seconds of a very dubious hooking minor to Nik Brouillard. 1-0 Wild.
Iowa rode the energy from their exuberant home crowd and quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead after fooling Eriksson Ek with a point-shot through traffic right off a face-off win. Former Gull Keaton Thompson coming back to haunt them with his first of the year.
San Diego came back with a great response shift from the Gates, Elvenes and Printz line. The later finding space in the high slot to receive a pass from Brogan Rafferty and fire a hard wrist shot that beat Wild goaltender Zach McIntrye top corner. 2-1 Wild with less than a minute left in the period.
The opening twenty minutes came to a close with emotions running high as Wild leading scorer Marco Rossi appeared to take his own team-mates skate blade to the face as he fell after a Hunter Drew check behind the Iowa net.
The Gulls taking a 14-10 shot lead into the first but down by one thanks to some unfavorable calls from the Officials.
Second Period: Iowa Wild 2 – San Diego Gulls 1
The Gulls came out with another great start – putting the Wild on their heels through pressure and possession while getting their first Power Play in the process.
Showing some good puck movement and able to get passes across the Wild penalty killing box the Gulls came close to tying things up on two chances but for some phenomenal acrobatic saves from McIntyre.
An offensive zone draw for the Wild once again resulted in a goal as they won the face-off back to the point and fired a shot that beat Eriksson Ek high through traffic whilst the Gulls wingers stood helplessly tied up by their counterparts 3-1 Wild.
Another call went in the Gulls favor after a scrum around the Wild net but this time San Diego could not replicate the same dangerous puck movement they displayed with their first attempt and Iowa easily killed the minor.
Just as it felt like Iowa would continue to execute a game-plan that seemed to center on winning face-offs to the point then getting goals via point-shots through traffic the Gulls fought back with some nice passing from BO Groulx and Alex Limoges. The former finishing off a great pass from the Penn State alumni in front to make it 3-2 Wild.
The Gulls continued to push and had the better of the chances for the remainder of the period that also featured a short bout between Jacob Perreault and Bryce Gervais as the Gulls young winger came to the rescue of Axel Andersson who had been tied up with Gervais behind the play.
The period ended with yet more niceties all off camera but described by Andy Zilch with both teams clearly not fond of each-others game. San Diego going into the third period still down by one but ahead in shots 25-17.
Note: Jack Badini came back early in this period, Marco Rossi came back at the midway point.
Third Period: Iowa Wild 3 – San Diego Gulls 2
San Diego spent most of the first six minutes of the period in the Iowa zone and were given another Power Play when Kodie Curran was tripped skating with the puck back toward his own zone.
The Gulls held possession in the Iowa zone for most of the man advantage but could not open a clear shooting lane to generate any real high danger chances as the Wild defense continued to frustrate.
Greg Printz had perhaps the best chance of the first twelve minutes when he forced a bouncing puck through three Iowa defenders to get a chance on McIntyre but his shot was stopped by the Wild goaltender.
After spending much of the third period in the Wild zone the Gulls pulled Eriksson Ek with just under two minutes as they desperately tried to get the equalizer but the stingy Iowa defense stayed committed to shutting down any and all shooting or passing lanes, running the clock down to see San Diego take their fourth straight loss.
Post Game Notes:
New Playoff Format
Andy Zilch mentioned in the pre-game that the AHL playoffs are following a similar format to last seasons end of season “play-in” tournament that the Pacific teams only played among themselves. Obviously this year the teams that emerge from their division inter-tournament will face the respective winners of the other divisions until the last two are eventually whittled down to face-off for the Calder Cup. This is great news for the Gulls who I strongly believe could do some damage toward seasons end when they get some black-aces in the form of Blake McLaughlin, potentially Henry Thrun and not to mention the high performing Junior players taken in the most recent 2021 draft after their respective seasons/playoff runs have concluded. I will do a full article on how the playoffs will work and how it could look for the Gulls very soon so look out for it.
Defensive Zone Draws
The Gulls would have had the better of the score in this one if not for at least two of the Wilds three goals being scored via point shots through traffic that came as a direct result from a face-off win. After the second goal I tried to keep a closer eye on how the Wild managed to get so much time and space for their defender at the point and it did look as though the wingers on the draw were tying their men up to within an inch of their life. Not exactly a legal play but the Gulls wingers could have done a better job of at least looking like they were trying to reach the point man in order to get the officials attention.
FIX THE DAMN LINES
Don’t get me wrong, Printz and Elvenes might work as a pair but if you are down by a goal and not getting the one you so desperately need doesn’t it make sense to try something different? Like putting Elvenes back with Limoges? Why Bouchard insists on keeping them apart when they showed so much obvious chemistry through his first two games with the Gulls I do not know. But his or Talbot’s line combinations for the forwards are really really starting to annoy me.
2024-2025 Game 4: San Diego Gulls at Bakersfield Condors
Bakersfield, California. After starting slow and staring down the barrel of a 6-1 deficit …