Calgary, Alberta. Coming off a perfectly executed road win in Abbotsford the San Diego Gulls looked to make it 3-1-0 on the road trip as they came into Calgary to face the division leading Wranglers.
Riding the wave of momentum created in their impressive win over Abbotsford Coach McIlvane opted to keep all forward lines together. The only changes made on third defensive pairing where Noah Warren was given another look in place of Roman Kinal.
Calle Clang – the current incumbent number one was given the start with Dansk backing up.
Nico Myatovic sat out his third game with injury, Josh Lopina and Roman Kinal were the healthy scratches.
First Period:
It was all Gulls for the first ten or so minutes of play as they looked every bit the hungrier, faster and more polished team. It was display in complete contrast with the teams respective positions in the standings. As the shots racked up to 13-1 San Diego the Gulls would finally be rewarded as Tyson Hinds was the recipient of a great pass from Jansen Harkins after Pavol Regenda chased down a dump in and took the hit to make the play. The Gulls second year defender firing a rocket by Wranglers goaltender Devon Cooley for his second of the season and a 1-0 San Diego lead.
The division leading Wranglers wasted no time in displaying what has put them on top as they immediately hit back through Flames 2021 13th overall pick Matt Coronato. The Wranglers wearing the Gulls down in their own zone before forward Sam Morton made a great pass from behind the net to Coronato. 1-1 tie game.
The Wranglers attempted to continue forward momentum but play settled into a back and forth rhythm until an interference call drawn by Pavol Regenda as he was taken out attempting to join a rush through the neutral zone saw San Diego end the first twenty minutes with the man advantage. They were able to get several times and generate some fairly good looks but Devon Cooley was a wall.
Time closed out on the period with the Gulls leading in shots 19-6 and the shot map showing that they deserved more than the 1-1 tie they took going into the first intermission.
Second Period:
It wasn’t a great start to the middle frame as Nikita Nesterenko was whistled for interference but the Gulls put on a clinic – killing the minor without surrendering a single shot on net and generating some great short handed chances at the same time.
Carrying forward momentum after returning to five on five the top line went straight to the attack and as they were replaced by the second line a nice rush by Sam Colangelo saw San Diego take the lead as the Ducks former 2020 second round pick showed some nice hands and speed, receiving the puck at the blue line and given too much time and space in the Calgary zone before slipping by Cooley. 2-1 Gulls.
Much like the Gulls first goal – the Wranglers immediately hit back and San Diego were again – unable to contain them. Peppering Clang with the next three shots and eventually getting a squeaker by him off of a face-off in the San Diego zone. The point shot appearing to deflect on its way to him but was a stop that none-the-less, the former Penguins prospect would probably like to have back.
Buoyed by their sparse home crowd the Wranglers added to their total and took the lead three minutes later as Matt Coronato got his second of the game, jumping on a bad turnover and miscommunication between Rodwin Dionicio, Carson Meyer and Drew Helleson down low. 3-2 Wranglers.
Teams traded penalties for the final quarter of action with San Diego holding firm to erase a slashing call to Tyson Hinds and then earning a five on three on back to back calls to Walker Duehr and Dryden Hunt. However despite getting initially set and creating one chance – once the Wranglers were able to collect the loose puck and clear the zone, the Gulls were unable to gain the zone and get set again. Time expired on the period with three seconds left on the two man advantage. The Gulls down by one goal heading into the second intermission but out shooting the Wranglers 12-9 on the period and 31-15 overall.
Third Period: Calgary Wranglers 3 – San Diego Gulls 2
It was all Calgary for the first half of the third – including their own five on three advantage that saw them have far less trouble entering and creating chances on the San Diego net than the Gulls did on theirs in the second period.
The Gulls were able to kill the minor and were given their own Power Play minutes later – which again was easily killed by Calgary but as play returned to five on five; a determined drive to the net by Jan Mysak saw the former Montreal prospect collect his own rebound off of an attempted pass and slide it by the right pad of Devon Cooley to tie things up at three a piece. 3-3 tie game.
San Diego continued to push after the goal – generating waves of possession in the Calgary zone and as time approached the final five minutes the quality of their chances increased.
Just as the Gulls were creating chances at the other end – a Calgary rush into the Gulls zone saw both Hinds and Warren changed up by a shifty move into the slot by Clark Bishop who then picked a pocket to make it 4-3 Calgary with just over two minutes remaining.
The Gulls tried to get a last minute equalizer with Clang pulled but the Bishop goal proved the knock out blow as they fell to the division leaders 4-3.
Post Game Notes:
Enjoyable Early Season Trend Part Two
That was possibly one of the best first periods played by a Gulls team in the month of October, they made Calgary look half asleep with speed, execution and relentless fore-check.
It has been a long time coming but we have seen glimpses of it ever since Matt McIlvane took the helm – now it seems it is finally becoming a permanent and consistent part of their play; the Gulls fore-check; once it gets going – is an unstoppable force. It negates the opposing teams attack while creating possession as well as chances by turnover. There were also some great examples of a neutral zone trap in this one – with San Diego turning pucks over at their blue line as Calgary attempted to gain their zone with speed. The two remaining pieces that need to fall into place now is the execution on attack and the goal-tending.
With further time and chemistry the goals will come. The goal-tending – well..
We Miss You Suchanek
Calle Clang is doing a semi admirable job of taking the reigns of the number one in net but he is no 2023-2024 Tomas Suchanek. He currently sits 41st in the league with a 2.94 GAA and 46th in SV% with 0.895. He has allowed 13 goals total, tied for 9th most in the league. Predictably he has seen the 15th most amount of shots in the league – through five games, a total of 124; which is a trend year on year for San Diego goaltenders.
He didn’t have too much chance on that first goal given it was a pass right out front from behind the net but that is the kind of above-average save Suchanek was making last season. By contrast – Cooley was making those kind of saves tonight; keeping his team in a game they had no business being in and eventually getting them the win. The second goal – no doubt about it – he should have had it, while the third goal was definitely not his fault and another example of the youngster Dionicio needing more work on his defensive game…
Dionicio Giveth and Dionicio Taketh
It was a combination of three Gulls players out of position on the third goal for Calgary but it was Dionicio’s bad giveaway that started it and a play he has made several times already this season. The youngster needs to take time to take the hit or recognize when to get the puck as far up the boards as he can in certain situations. I wonder if we see him replaced by Kinal in the next game…
2024-2025 Game 6: San Diego Gulls at Abbotsford Canucks
Abbotsford, British Columbia. After carrying over their strong play that saw them storm ba…