2024-2025 Game 52: San Diego Gulls vs Coachella Valley Firebirds

San Diego, California. Still riding high on a seven game win streak the San Diego Gulls hoped to close out February with yet another win as they welcomed their newest Pacific Division rivals into Pechanga Arena.

It was announced earlier in the week that Sam Colangelo had been recalled to Anaheim which in turn saw San Diego sign Tulsa Oilers Captain Eddie Matsushima to a PTO and release Michael Farren from his. Matsushima was immediately inserted onto the fourth line alongside the impressive Brodzinski while Josh Lopina was elevated to the third line and Yegor Sidorov moved to the top line to take Colangelos spot.

Noah Warren returned from injury which saw Jeramie Bikabutuka sit out.

Ville Husso was given the start again in net with Buteyets again backing him up – Oscar Dansk had been announced as being returned to the Gulls by Anaheim but likely had not made it to San Diego just yet.

The rest of the injury list remained the same and consisted of Carson Meyer, Coulson Pitre, Jaxen Wiebe, Calle Clang and Judd Caulfield.

First Period:

Right from the offset you got the sense that the Coachella Valley Firebirds wished to dictate the pace and that they did as the Gulls struggled to keep up with their speed game.

Ville Husso finally beaten as a Coachella Valley offensive zone rush saw him spit out a rebound to the side and Ryan Carpenter not able to cover both the man to the side and in the high slot, 1-0 Firebirds.

San Diego attempted a response and despite a man advantage opportunity awarded when Sasha Pastujov was hit behind the play, they could not solve Grubauer despite the man in question getting a wide open chance after a great setup by Justin Bailey.

The physical play picked up and Noah Warren was seen limping off with little to no mobility.

The Gulls did manage to fight back however, Jan Mysak providing the perfect stick as he tipped a lengthy Sasha Pastujov wrist shot to fool the Firebirds netminder. 1-1 tie game.

Rock on, Jan 🎸#LetsGoGulls | #CVvsSD pic.twitter.com/wB8g5ZEeXM

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) March 1, 2025

The Firebirds showed their resilience and provided an instant response, once again beating Husso via a rebound goal scored from right in front. This time Eddie Matsushima too slow to get on the goal side of his check. 2-1 Firebirds.

The hitting continued to pick up and it felt like things might start getting out of control as the Gulls tied it back up via their Captain who one timed a pass from the slot at a surprised Grubauer. 2-2 tie game.

Carpy ain't messing around 😤#LetsGoGulls | #CVvsSD pic.twitter.com/sw2qqYi4DU

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) March 1, 2025

Off the opening face-off Jan Mysak, Roland McKeown, Nikita Nesterenko and Sasha Pastujov executed another set play to perfection as Mysak won the face-off back to McKeown who then sent in a dump in that was chased down by Nikita Nesterenko and then fed directly to a crashing Sasha Pastuov. 3-2 Gulls just eight seconds after the game tying goal.

🖤🖤🖤#LetsGoGulls | #CVvsSD pic.twitter.com/mCu0LXnN98

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) March 1, 2025

Coachella Valley again came with an instant response but this time the Gulls were equal to the task and finished the first period ahead by one and leading in shots 15-10 in a game that had all the signs of exploding with the exponential rate at which the intensity levels were rising.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Coachella Valley Firebirds 2

San Diego managed to dictate possession and thus the pace of play for the first couple of minutes of the middle frame before the Firebirds got the puck and were able to amp things up a couple of notches.

The physical play picked up yet again and Tristan Luneau engaged with David Goyette behind the play – who likely challenged him for an earlier hit in the first period. Luneau held his own in the bout which feature largely a lot of clutching and grabbing.

A tight call on Justin Bailey for high sticking on a play which saw him ally-oop the puck to himself and push the Firebirds player that was impeding his forward progress saw the Gulls go down for four minutes on the double minor. The Gulls doing a good job at first to keep the Firebirds to the perimeter and unable to break their box but Daniel Sprong showed NHL speed and patience to draw in attackers, drop a pass then receive one to the side of the net to one-time it in before Husso could get across. 3-3 tie game.

As the goal was scored just before the first two minutes were up the Gulls had to kill another full two minutes. Again Daniel Sprong provided the goods for the Firebirds as this time he set-up a goal – a cross-crease pass. 4-3 Firebirds lead.

Roman Kinal was called for cross-checking moments later to send the Gulls right back to the Penalty Kill as time passed over the midway point of the second period.

Again it appeared like the Gulls might have had the penalty kill under control but a broken play and odd man rush lead by Logan Morrison was sent behind Husso. The Firebirds exposing the Gulls with their speed game when down a man. 5-3 Firebirds.

The Gulls were able to briefly switch momentum back their way via a great shift from the fourth line and the Gulls carried that forward with back to back Power Plays both earned by Roland McKeown and some clear “make-up call” energy whistles by the Officials.

San Diego were unable to convert on the back to back Power Plays and has time expired on the period Sasha Pastujov was seen hobbling off the ice after being hit late and hard behind the play. Players were repeatedly told by Officials to leave the ice after the buzzer but it was clear the dislike was sure to boil over in the final frame. Shots were 8-5 Coachella on the period and 20-18 San Diego overall with the Gulls suddenly finding themselves behind by two after a penalty filled set of twenty.

Third Period: Coachella Valley Firebirds 5 – San Diego Gulls 3

San Diego came out with fire to start the second, setting up chance after chance in the Coachella zone within the first minute and a half of action. They did so without Sasha Pastujov who was absent from the bench. As the Gulls tried to keep possession Roland McKeown was called for interference, trying to keep Daniel Sprong from reaching a loose puck.

Again the Firebirds took advantage of the extra space allowed to beat the Gulls with their speed, adding to their lead as Jani Nyman got his second of the night. 6-3 Firebirds.

It was all Firebirds for the next few minutes after the goal but Ville Husso stayed firm in preventing another five on five tally. Then the Gulls started to turn things around. Nikita Nesterenko once again raising his game and jumping on an opportunity given as he followed a play and pounced on a bad pass from behind the Firebirds net. 6-4 Firebirds.

That's so Nesty!#LetsGoGulls | #CVvsSD pic.twitter.com/VLiD9KfHTs

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) March 1, 2025

As time approached the final quarter mark the Gulls pulled Husso for the extra attacker and the added body allowed for another chance, Nesterenko again finishing off the play as he banged in a rebound after Yegor Sidorovs original shot bounced to Ryan Carpenter and his chance from the left side slid to him. Making it a one goal game with just under three minutes left. 6-5 Firebirds.

Clutch!#LetsGoGulls | #CVvsSD pic.twitter.com/IsIPVeZLFo

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) March 1, 2025

But it was not enough as Coachella Valley closed down the neutral zone and allowed just the one further rush and back to back chances for Yegor Sidorov, the Firebirds taking the 6-5 win from a bruised and now even more undermanned Gulls squad.

Post Game Notes:

The Set Up

The third goal by Pastujov was the second set-play off the face-off goal for the Gulls in as many games. The other being the Justin Bailey off of the Pastujov forward face-off win in the previous win against Calgary. I don’t know who on the coaching staff is behind these fun bursts of creativity but I hope they are being duly recognised for it and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

Why JST Why

I’m not one for blaming a loss on the Officials (well usually not) but there definitely were a few questionable calls by one Jordan Samuels Thomas tonight – the Bailey call in particular was the standout and essentially was the turning point of the game. He was shockingly called out live on the broadcast by BJ MacPherson as one of the worst officials in the AHL and that he “hoped his bosses were listening”. I’m not a BJ apologist – most of the time I feel the completely opposite of what he says and I still cannot understand how he pronounces “Caulfield” but I looked into it and actually JST has only factored into less than a handful of the Gulls losses all year, I guess he just makes a convenient scapegoat because when he does make a bad call it usually ends up costing them the game.

It took me way too long but I went back through all of the Gulls losses and it goes like this:

October: 6 losses and zero officiated by JST

November: 8 losses and one officiated by JST at Pechanga

December: 6 losses and zero officiated by JST

January: 9 losses and two officiated by JST, at Ontario and at Pechanga

February: 3 losses and just the one officiated by JST tonight

So just four games all year out of 32.

Dirty Tactics Lead To Yet Another Injury

It was noted on the broadcast by Aaron Cooney that Sasha Pastujov was clearly a target and a part of the Firebirds game plan as he was repeatedly hit late and hard, finally succumbing to injury in the Gulls final man advantage of the second period. As he made his way off the ice at the conclusion of the second he appeared to be favoring his upper thigh so here is hoping it is just a strain. Some would argue this is a part of hockey and the Gulls needed to protect him with an enforcer to hold the Firebirds accountable but at the same time – the way the Officials were calling this one – all if not most of those hits were late and essentially illegal/dirty. Yes a Howe or Gaucher could have gone after the Firebirds in retaliation but that plays right into their hands as they get a Power Play out of it for instigation if not more. It was lose – lose for San Diego.

Either way this has been an ongoing thing with the Firebirds who have quietly surpassed the Reign as the Gulls most hated rival, they just don’t play fair honorable hockey. It also sets up a very interesting final two games in April as the Gulls head to Coachella Valley on the 13th and the Firebirds come to Pechanga for the final regular game of the season on the 19th.