Preview: Gulls Ready To Rebound At Home Against Wranglers
Nov 10, 2023By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls return home to Pechanga Arena San Diego tonight for a matchup with the Calgary Wranglers (7 p.m. PST). Tonight’s game opens this weekend’s set of back-to-back matches at home, as the Gulls will host the Colorado Eagles the following night on Saturday, Nov. 11 (6 p.m. PST).
Tonight’s showdown marks the San Diego Gulls’ first contest of a four-game series with the Calgary Wranglers in the 2023-2024 season. The teams last faced off in April for the Gulls’ final home game of their regular season, where they fell 3-2 to the Wranglers. Last season, the Calgary team was victorious in all eight matchups (0-8-0-0).
Entering tonight’s game, Andrew Agozzino (11-18=29) leads the Gulls in career points, goals, and assists against Calgary’s AHL affiliate. At Wednesday’s game, Agozzino stretched his assist streak to four games (0-4=4), marking his longest assist streak since the 2018-2019 season. Glenn Gawdin spent four seasons with Calgary/Stockton in 2018-2022, recording 46-102=148 points in 201 games with them.
With fresh talent on the ice and a new head coach since their last rendezvous, tonight’s home game is expected to be a stimulating one. It will take continued resilience from the Gulls as they look to grab tonight’s win at home and bounce back from Wednesday’s loss against the Firebirds. While they were on the road, the Gulls were unable to find the road of recovery after a hard-fought three-goal first period, falling 4-2 to the Firebirds at Acrisure Arena.
After a handful of away games, perhaps the place and feeling of being back at home surrounded by San Diego fans is just the pick-me-up that the team needs.
The Gulls own an all-time record of 38-36-4-1 in the month of November and San Diego is 80-70-7-5 all time in the first game of a back-to-back. Aiming to get back on track, the Gulls will continue to practice the balance of playing aggressively while avoiding penalties. Head coach Matt McIlvane said that the theme of improving penalties is one that is always in focus. For this weekend’s back-to-back matchups at home, it’s no different.
Pavol Regenda launches into the weekend ranked in the top 10 in goals among all AHL skaters, garnering six goals in the team’s first nine games of this season. He leads the Gulls in goals and is second in points (6-2=8). Leading Gulls in points (2-7=9) and assists, Trevor Carrick exceeded 300 career AHL points last Friday at Charlotte (78-223=301) and ranks tied for fourth among AHL blueliners in points and is tied for fifth in assists. Calle Clang has made 30-plus saves in all five appearances in the young 2023-2024 season. The Gulls goaltender leads all AHL rookie goaltenders in saves (168), ranks sixth in save percentage (.908; min. 4 starts) and tied for fourth in saves (138).
Following tonight’s game, the Gulls will host the Colorado Eagles at Pechanga Arena San Diego for their annual Military Appreciation Night presented by Indian Motorcycle of San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 11 (6 p.m. PST) to honor service members. Military-themed memorabilia will be available at all merchandise stands at both Friday’s and Saturday’s games.
Let the weekend begin.