PREVIEW: Gulls, Canucks Meet In Final Regular-Season Meeting
Apr 20, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDeigoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls kick off a three-game homestand with their eighth and final regular-season matchup against the Abbotsford Canucks tonight at Pechanga Arena (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The Gulls are 1-6-0-0 against Abbotsford this season, with their lone victory over the Canucks a 4-3 decision at home on Jan. 15. Most recently, the Gulls lost 6-3 (Apr. 8) and 5-2 (Apr. 9) in back-to-back games in Abbotsford.
San Diego is on a mission to end their season series against their Canadian rivals on a high note and the team is already on the right track after snapping their five-game pointless streak last night with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Henderson Silver Knights.
The Gulls remain in seventh place in the American Hockey League’s Pacific Division and are nine points back from sixth-place Henderson with two games in hand.
"I thought we played really well against them this year," Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said following the loss. "Now we’re kind of focusing on our game more than the opponent. They all have different styles. We try to work on some of the stuff so we get ready for the playoffs."
San Diego refused to go home quietly, coming back to tie the game twice with goals from Alex Limoges and Hunter Drew. Limoges sent the game into overtime with his 12th power-play goal, setting a new franchise record for power-play goals in a season (previous – 11, three times: C. Tropp 2016-17 & 2017-18, S. Carrick 2018-19).
"Yeah, that’s pretty cool," Limoges said after the game. "I don’t know. I obviously didn’t think too much of it tonight, just trying to get a win and obviously, it was a big goal to tie the game up. I had to break a little bad power-play streak there so, but it’s fun. It’s cool. I don’t know, to be up, to be tied with those guys who have a such a big name in San Diego history- it’s fun to be up there with them."
The Gulls will look to Limoges to drive their offense tonight as the rookie continues to lead the club in goals, power-play goals (12), power-play points (18) and ranks tied for third in scoring with 22-15=37 points.
With his goal – the 17th of the season – Drew is second on the team in goals and tied with Limoges with 17-20=37 points.
"You know, I thought there were periods of time where we really put our game back together and had a lot of control in the offensive zone and getting some looks so that was fun," Limoges said. "It’s kind of been a hard stretch over the past couple of weeks, but tonight, with finding some looks and some bounces, that was fun and kind of reassuring."
Additionally, Drew and Limoges proved to be even deadlier against Abbotsford when a part of a trio with Lucas Elvenes, who leads the Gulls with 2-5=7 points in seven contests against the Canucks this season.
Elvenes (0-4=4), Limoges (1-2=3) and Drew (2-2=4) a combined total of 11 points in their last two games against Abbotsford. Most of this offensive success came on the power play as Drew scored two goals on the man advantage (2-0=2), while Limoges and Elvenes both collected two-power-play assists (0-2=2) on Apr. 9.
San Diego will look to carry over the success from last night’s power play into tonight. In the previous weekend series between these two teams, the Gulls relied on the man advantage for four of the five total goals scored against Abbotsford.
On the other side of special teams, San Diego’s penalty kill is at its strongest while at home, ranking fourth in the AHL with an 85.6% kill rate. The Gulls will need this to combat the Canucks’ formidable power play, which produced nine power-play goals in its last eight games and is ranked third overall in the AHL.
Abbotsford enters tonight on a six-game winning streak and with points in their last seven contests (6-0-1-0). The Canucks are fourth in the Pacific Division with 78 points but are only three points away from catching the third-place Colorado Eagles in the standings.
"We know they’re a hard team to play against, they grind and they’re very fast," Limoges said. "So, you know, just keep playing our game with a little more execution here and there and a little couple better looks at the net and bearing down to put the pucks in. So, a bunch of things, but try to come out as much as we can."
Sheldon Rempal is an integral part of his team’s recent success, putting up 4-5=9 points over his ongoing six-game point streak. Rempal leads all active Canucks with 29-32=61 points and sits only one point behind the Canucks leading scorer, Sheldon Dries (35-27=62), who was called up to the Vancouver Canucks on Apr. 9.
John Stevens is also a major contributor, posting 6-5=11 points over a seven-game point streak that ended on Apr. 16. Stevens made a habit of haunting the Gulls this season, pacing his club in production against San Diego with 4-5=9 in the season series.