2024-2025 Game 65: San Diego Gulls vs Abbotsford Canucks

San Diego, California. Riding a three game win streak and still within five points of the final playoff spot the San Diego Gulls faced a big test against the red hot Abbotsford Canucks.

Coach McIlvane kept the 11-7 format together once again – but swapped out Travis Howe on the abbreviated “Fourth Line” and inserted the try-out Drew Elliott.

Ville Husso got the start in net with Oscar Dansk backing up.

The injury list remained the same with still no further players returning from injury.

First Period:

There was a distinct playoff like atmosphere to start the third as the Gulls appeared to be cautious in every move they made while the Canucks seemed clinical on every shift.

San Diego struggled to get much going in transition and only the Pitre line were able to generate some shots on net which for some reason were not registered.

Just as the Gulls were starting to gain some confidence and looking to gain some inroads via their forecheck a Canucks dump in and forecheck of their own saw Tristan Luneau make a rare bad breakout pass that was picked off and sent to an open man in the slot. 1-0 Canucks.

The Gulls launched an immediate response and came close on chances from Ryan Carpenter on a wrap around and then Judd Caulfield on a rolling shift that saw San Diego hold the Canucks in their zone for back to back shifts.

The Canucks jumped at any opportunity though and turned play right back the other way – testing Husso as well as finding the post on scoring plays that almost saw them double their lead in the final five minutes of the period.

San Diego kept pressing and on one inspired shift the seas suddenly parted and the puck found Stian Solberg in space coming down the left side, the Ducks 2024 late first round selection taking time to measure and send a hard shot that beat the Canucks goaltender clean. 1-1 tie game.

🤯🤯🤯#LetsGoGulls | #ABBvsSD pic.twitter.com/l53hdsRYUM

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) April 3, 2025

Ville Husso instantly shut down the Abbotsford response after the goal and the Gulls skated to the first intermission tied up at one after one and even in shots at seven a piece.

The shot map showing the Gulls getting some good looks in close but the Canucks with overall more quality chances.

Second Period: San Diego Gulls 1 – Abbotsford Canucks 1

It wasn’t a great start to the second as Roland McKeown was forced to take an interference call after his shot from the point was blocked and he made the only play he could to deny the Canucks a clear cut breakaway.

San Diego erased the minor with some great work holding their line to deny clear zone entries as well as some good man to man defense once the Canucks did gain the zone then as play returned to five on five, turned the puck back the other way.

Some great back to back shifts saw them slowly gain momentum and then take the lead off a great play from the third line as the trio of Carsen Twarynski, Owen Lindmark and Judd Caulfield took advantage of the space allowed by a bad Canucks change and completed a perfectly executed three on two rush. 2-1 Gulls.

Prepping for the @TheMasters with this tap-in.#LetsGoGulls | #ABBvsSD pic.twitter.com/tY9mrCcKiL

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) April 3, 2025

Sensing they had their opponents on the back foot the Gulls poured it on and a very long and sustained shift lead by Yegor Sidorov saw him draw a call as he put on an absolute clinic playing keep away from would be Canucks defenders.

The call was deemed to be a double minor and the Gulls set to work on the extended extra man sequence. The second unit going first and unable to get set for the entire two minutes of the advantage and as the first unit came on they finally gained and got set in the Canucks zone thanks to a nice change-up to the zone-entry which saw a double-back-pass with Yegor Sidorov carrying the mail instead of Tristan Luneau. As the four minute Power Play expired some great work from the third line saw them go straight back to the Power Play as Judd Caulfield was high sticked behind the Canucks net and then immediately jumped by all three Abbotsford Canucks behind the net for I am guessing something he must have said.

Despite the offensive zone face-off win the Gulls gave up the puck and it immediately led to a shorthanded two on one break that saw Abbotsford tie things up against the run of play. 2-2 tie game.

San Diego did not give up and kept up the high energy play that had given them success so far, Justin Bailey earning another Power Play as he chipped the puck to himself off the boards but was impeded from getting to the loose puck.

Needing to make up for their mistakes on the previous instances of the man advantage the Gulls did just that as Jan Mysak drove to and around the net for a wrap around chance that saw the puck bounce out in front to a waiting Justin Bailey. 3-2 Gulls.

Cashing in 🤑#LetsGoGulls | #ABBvsSD pic.twitter.com/wULqBraaYT

— San Diego Gulls (@SDGullsAHL) April 3, 2025

San Diego taking a deserved 3-2 lead into the second intermission but needing to ensure that their extended time on the Power Play without results did not come back to haunt them in the third. Shots were 13-4 for the Gulls on the period and 20-11 overall. The shot map showing the absolute dominance from San Diego but the Canucks taking advantage of the one mistake on the Power Play.

Third Period: San Diego Gulls 3 – Abbotsford Canucks 2

Expecting a push from the Canucks to start the third the Gulls still did not appear ready for it as they spent some anxious moments in their zone on a prolonged shift with energy levels clearly dropping to below zero before Ville Husso was finally able to pounce on and glove a puck to force a stoppage.

Earlier on the shift both Stian Solberg and Ian Moore appeared to sustain injuries of differing levels on blocked shots but both eventually returned on later shifts to allow a sigh of relief from Gulls fans.

Ville Husso proved is value as he turned aside a point blank chance after a turnover from Stian Solberg and Tristan Luneau in their own zone.

Abbotsford continued to punish San Diego for any slight mistake as a quick cycle in their zone saw them tie the score once again as Tyson Hinds failed to pick up a man that had snuck in below him to the back door. 3-3 tie game.

Then on the immediate shift after a cycle that saw San Diego players seemingly standing around static saw Abbotsford take the lead as a shot from the point beat Husso through traffic. 4-3 Canucks.

Things went from terrible to worse as a fumble and turnover at the Gulls blue line by Stian Solberg led to another clear cut breakaway and a 5-3 Canucks lead.

Tensions boiled over as time approached the final five minutes of play with Yegor Sidorov and Arshdeep Bains both given two for roughing during a full line tussle near center ice.

With just under four minutes left the Gulls pulled Husso for the extra attacker but just as they had so expertly turned the game on it’s head and come from behind to take the lead, the Canucks defended the neutral zone and iced the puck into the empty net on a chase down. 6-3 Canucks.

The Gulls losing a game they desperately needed to win and one they had held in their grasp but for some poor mental mistakes that cost them.

Post Game Notes:

Pastujov Nearing Return

It was mentioned on the broadcast that Sasha Pastujov took part in team skates this week wearing a normal jersey – indicating he is near returning so we could see him on this coming weekend swing in Iowa. He could not be coming back at a better time – and would slot right back onto the second line which would bump Sidorov to the third and Twarynski to the fourth, meaning a defender would need to sit.

The Good News and The Bad News

Thankfully the loss doesn’t hurt as much as it could have because the Wranglers gave the Gulls a hand by beating Tucson in regulation tonight. They didn’t help matters much by losing to them last night though.

So the Gulls are now still five points back from Tucson for the final playoff spot and drop back to three games below .500.

The Good news is they next face the Iowa Wild who are 24-35-5-1 on the season and sit near the bottom of the league as well as their division. If they can emerge from the Midwest with four points they then face Bakersfield, Coachella, Henderson, Ontario and Coachella again, all teams that they have proved that they can beat and if they can stay relatively on form – they should.

Looking Ahead To Next Year

With Anaheim clicking lately thanks in large part to contributions from Sam Colangelo as well as Nikita Nesterenko you can expect we won’t be seeing either of them in San Diego next year. I would also start laying the foundations for who might be next to make the Ducks as of next season. Granted there isn’t a heck of a lot of spots in Anaheim you can bet that Yegor Sidorov and Sasha Pastujov are next in line for forward call-ups next season while Tristan Luneau is the obvious defensive call-up. It is good to know that Stian Solberg and Ian Moore will be in San Diego next season to help keep the Gulls defensive depth above water. As egregious as some of Solbergs mistakes were in this game, his play overall has been far better than expected for such a young player. While Ian Moore – wow, what can I say. He is getting better game by game and by season’s end he will be their number one defender – yes even better than Luneau who is still prone to the odd mistake. The big question is do we see Roddy Dionicio back next year or does he stay in Switzerland.

Ofcourse this also doesn’t take into consideration who the Ducks might draft at the next NHL entry draft – which could see an NHL ready kid jump right in and cause a domino effect down to the AHL for depth.