2024-2025 Game 51: San Diego Gulls vs Calgary Wranglers

San Diego, California. Returning home after their triumphant weekend sweep in Bakersfield the San Diego Gulls hoped to continue their sudden surge in the standings even with the odds against them and a reduced line-up.

With Judd Caulfield suffering an upper body injury (likely a concussion) in the previous game the Gulls signed the top two leading scorers from the Tulsa Oilers to PTO contracts. Michael Farren and Easton Brodzinski joined the team with Brodzinski slotting in on the fourth line while Myatovic moved up to the third line to join Gaucher and Sidorov moving down to slot in on the other wing. Nikita Nesterenko switched to the second line to form a potent trio with Sasha Pastujov and Jan Mysak.

With John Gibson going down with a day to day injury the Ducks also called up Oscar Dansk but acquired veteran Ville Husso from the Detroit Red Wings to provide cover for the Gulls in his absence. Husso was given the start in his Gulls debut.

First Period:

San Diego looked like a team playing with confidence and rhythm but at the same time still prone to small mistakes. Thankfully Husso looked solid early, making stops on turnovers in front as well as redirections in traffic.

When San Diego did manage to launch an attack they were let down by an obvious lack of chemistry between players either new to the team or new to their line-mates.

A tripping penalty to Nathan Gaucher gave the Wranglers the first shot at the man advantage and Gulls fans were introduced to Ville Husso as he made huge stops on some cross-box set-up chances to keep San Diego in the contest. The Gulls eventually killing the minor but essentially due to all of the hard work by Husso in the crease. Calgary’s power play looking a heck of a lot more potent than those San Diego had encountered recently.

HUS said "NO"#LetsGoGulls | #CGYvsSD pic.twitter.com/hxZHKPutqR

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) February 27, 2025

Time passed over the midway point and San Diego finally registered just their second shot on net with under seven minutes left in the opening frame.

The Pastujov trio registered the Gulls third shot soon after but did not look as smooth in their execution with the wingers again looking unfamiliar.

Ville Husso again made more fans at Pechanga as he made huge back to back stops on the Wranglers while the Gulls struggled to get to loose pucks in their own zone.

Yegor Sidorov drew a tripping call at the Wranglers blue line as he found space to make a move but was felled by the defenders stick to send the Gulls to the man advantage with under a minute left in the period.

With the first unit able to get set off the opening Face-Off they tee’d up Sasha Pastujov for back to back one-timers from the right side but Wranglers netminder Devon Cooley easily batted them aside. An interception near the blue line saw Calgary go in on Husso on a partial break but the newest San Diego goaltender calmly gloved the backhand chance then skated out to hand it off to his team-mates for the counter attack with Pechanga roaring their approval behind him.

San Diego heading to the first intermission scoreless thanks to their newest team-mate and saviour who turned aside all 17 shots sent his way through the first twenty minutes. San Diego putting up only six and knowing they had a lot of work to do if they wanted to provide some goal support for Husso.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 0 – Calgary Wranglers 0

Starting the period with the man advantage the Gulls executed a set-play to perfection as Justin Bailey snuck up to the right side on the face-off and immediately skated straight to the Wranglers to the blue line to receive a perfect forward face-off win from Sasha Pastujov to go in alone on Cooley and blast it by him. 1-0 Gulls.

"I am speed."

-Justin Bailey (probably) ⚡️#LetsGoGulls | #CGYvsSD pic.twitter.com/AykHb61W4A

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) February 27, 2025

Riding high off the goal the Gulls did not ease off on the attack as just over a minute later a hard shift from the second line saw Sasha Pastujov finish off his first attempt with a nice wrap-around finish on his back-hand. 2-0 Gulls.

Bring it aroooooound town #LetsGoGulls | #CGYvsSD pic.twitter.com/1Q6IUcmXAH

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) February 27, 2025

Trying to keep the shell shocked Wranglers on their heels the Gulls continued to send attacks into the Calgary zone but the visitors slowly shifted momentum back until play settled into a back and forth battle.

The second line turned it up another notch once again and Sasha Pastujov was inches from getting his second of the game as he took the final pass on a tic-tac-toe play then made a move to drag the puck around a sprawling Cooley but rang the puck off the post.

The Pastujov line remained on after the TV time-out and kept the pressure right on – with Pastujov again getting denied in close, the Sidorov line then followed up and the rookie forward drew his second call of the game as he attempted to take the puck through traffic. It took until the second unit for the Gulls to finally get set but Sidorov was on the wrong side for the one-timer setup resulting in just the one opportunity from Nesterneko on the opposite side.

With just over a minute left the Wranglers best opportunity of the night was followed by a clear offensive zone face-off win for Calgary that saw Husso forced into a desperation reactionary glove save and Nathan Gaucher called for tripping as he negated the follow up.

The Gulls able to kill the first half of the minor and head to the second intermission up by two and out-shooting their opponents 13-8 on the frame to trail 25-19 overall. The shot map showing the drastic turn around on the period.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 2 – Calgary Wranglers 0

Expecting a definitive push to start the third and with a minute left to kill in the remaining minor the Gulls set to work erasing the penalty and then weathering the subsequent storm from the Wranglers as they carried forward momentum.

The Second line again created some Grade A chances as Jan Mysak and Nikita Nesterenko were denied on rush opportunities but the added offensive zone time allowed the fourth line to carry over possession and some great work from all five players on the ice saw the newest ECHL recruit swing back from the right boards into the high slot and send a hard and high shot that beat a stunned Devon Cooley through traffic. The PTO signing scoring a goal in his San Diego debut. 3-0 Gulls.

Somebody get him that puck!

Congratulations on your first career @TheAHL goal, Easton!#LetsGoGulls | #CGYvsSD pic.twitter.com/soB6vCTnaC

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) February 27, 2025

With just over five minutes left the Wranglers pulled Cooley for the extra attacker but saw the ploy instantly back-fire as Nathan Gaucher’s tight forecheck on Martin Frk saw the Wranglers star forward cough up the puck right into the empty net. 4-0 Gulls.

San Diego shutting it down for the remainder of the period and taking the victory to make it seven straight wins in a row.

Post Game Notes:

Husso Hooray Ho Hey Ho

What a roller coaster this week has been. It went from “oh we are so fucked” when Dansk was predictably called up to Anaheim to “oh wow OK the Ducks do care” when the acquisition of Husso was announced. I’ll admit I was reserving judgement until I saw how he actually performed because he had likely been buried in Detroit for a reason but there is nothing like a spurned goaltender looking to earn his way back to the NHL and prove the naysayers wrong redemption story. Detroit essentially gave him away for free – as his contract was hindering their ability to make a splash at the upcoming trade deadline but he looked worth every penny of that deal today!

Fourth Line Instant Injection

Whenever the Gulls get a guy from the ECHL I always try to keep as close an eye on him as I can – they either sink or swim. Brodzinski was most definitely swimming in this game and instantly improved the fourth line to the point where they were not a total liability in their own zone. He also provided a spark of offense on the line not seen since the Gulls were at full depth and able to deploy the likes of Gaucher, Pastujov and Pitre across it. He was unafraid to get in the mix, was close to forcing a turnover and instant breakaway for himself at the Wranglers blue line and also had a good look from the high slot during the second. His goal was a perfect shot with surprising speed considering where it was taken from, Oilers play by play man Zack Reynolds summary of him essentially perfectly summed up his game today. I am liking what I see from him so far.

On the note of ECHL guys – Biakabatuka has being growing game by game to the point where I would say he has surpassed Kinal on the depth chart. His gaps are good, physical game even better and as he is growing in confidence his offensive game is starting to emerge. You can see why the Ducks asked for him in the Fowler deal. There is potential here and with his size and skating he could develop into something.

Standings Update

The seventh straight win puts the Gulls just two points behind Bakersfield and five points behind Tucson for the final playoff spot. They are now four games under .500 with a 20-25-5-2 record but next face the Coachella Valley Firebirds have also gone on a tear – winning four games straight since they last saw the Gulls but just dropped one to Henderson tonight.