First-Period Woes Send Gulls To Fifth Straight Loss
Jan 29, 2022By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
A tough first period doomed the San Diego Gulls as they fell to the Iowa Wild 6-1 in the second and final game of a weekend series at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA.
Mitchell Chaffee’s first-period hat trick powered an offensive onslaught for the Wild, who won their third consecutive game. Marco Rossi (1-2=2), Mason Shaw (0-3=2) and Calen Addison (0-3=2) each collected multi-point performances, and both Bryce Misley and Cody McLeod chipped in goals.
Zane McIntyre stopped 24 shots to pick up a third straight win. The veteran netminder collected victories in four of his last five starts and has allowed two-or-fewer goals over that stretch.
Nikolas Brouillard scored the lone goal for San Diego, who saw its season-high losing streak hit five. Francis Marotte allowed three goals on just seven shots before being pulled in the first period. Olle Eriksson Ek made 16 saves in relief.
"We had a tough start," Gulls assistant coach Dan Jacob said. "We turned the puck over. You don’t do that. We wanted to push ourselves and that’s not what we did. We shoot ourself in the foot right from the puck drop."
The line of Shaw, Rossi and Chaffee immediately overwhelmed the Gulls, opening the scoring just 1:13 into regulation with Chaffee’s power-play tally. The right wing parked in front and slammed home the rebound from Rossi’s shot for his fifth goal of the season.
They’d strike again at 8:16 of the period, converting on a 3-on-2 rush where each player touched the puck. Chaffee finished off the passing sequence, sending a low shot past the diving Marotte for his sixth goal of the season.
The hat-trick tally came at 12:59 of the first, another power-play goal where Chaffee found space in front and converted on a rebound. It marked the third-fastest hat trick scored against the Gulls in franchise history.
Calen Addison collected his second assist of the game on Chaffee’s milestone marker. He collected three points (0-3=3) in the weekend series against the Gulls.
Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard made the goaltending change following the third goal, swapping Marotte for Eriksson Ek. The Karlstad, Sweden native started last night’s game, stopping 14 shots.
The change did nothing to slow down the Wild, who added their fourth goal of the period on Misley’s first of the season with 4:03 left in the period.
The four goals allowed in the first frame are a new season high for the Gulls, surpassing the three scored by Tucson on Oct. 30.
The Gulls found their footing – and their offense – in the second period.
Brouillard cut the deficit to three with his sixth goal of the season at 8:22 of the middle frame.
Brent Gates Jr. sent the puck from his own blue line to a streaking Brouillard, who carried the puck into Iowa's end on a 2-on-1 rush. He pulled the puck in tight, working his way around a Wild defenseman before sending his shot past McIntyre for his second goal in the last three games.
"Yeah, Brou’s (Nikolas Brouillard) been having a good year," Jacob said. "For him it’s just to find that consistency. He helped us on the backend, but it’s finding that fine line between he’s having some great games, but he’s having some tougher ones and how can he manage that workload. And I know it’s not easy for him to move from being a defenseman to being a forward. So, I’m glad he got the goals but there’s way more to it than just scoring goals."
Mike McKee earned his first American Hockey League assist and point on the goal.
"I guess I didn’t really think about it until right now," he said about achieving the milestone following the game. "It’s hard with the loss and everything, but I guess I’ll look back in a little while and see where the rest of the year takes me and at the end of the day, I can look back and say that it happened. It’s pretty cool, but it’s hard to think about right now."
Iowa handed the Gulls chances to further cut into the deficit, handing San Diego five power-play opportunities. The man-advantage failed to produce on those chances, and exits the weekend 0-for-8 against one of the league’s best penalty-killing teams.
Rossi added his third point of the night with a power-play goal with 9:18 left in regulation, his 11th of the season. The former ninth overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft is fourth among all first-year skaters in points (11-21=32), third in assists and tied for fifth in goals.
Addison, who collected his third assist on the goal, matched a career-high for points and assists in a game. Shaw also matched a career-high with his third assist.
The Gulls penalty kill continued its recent struggles, allowing a goal for the fifth straight game. The unit is just 13-for-22 (59%) over that stretch and allowed three man-advantage goals for the second time in the last three games.
"It’s just familiarity," McKee said. "We’ve had a lot of different combinations going and guys trying to fill in for each other. It just comes with consistency and playing wit the same guys and being on the same page. The desperation is there and willingness to kill penalties and block shots and make our plays is there. It’s just we need a little more chemistry going. We’re getting there, but it’s just going to take a little bit."
McLeod scored Iowa’s sixth goal of the game, finishing off a 3-on-1 rush with just 2:30 left in the game.
The six goals against match a season-high for the Gulls.
“We’ve got a four-game homestand coming up," McKee said. "That’s a good start and everybody is a little mad, everybody’s back is up against the wall right now. The work ethic is there. We just all, it’s just chemistry and playing together. We just need more guys on the same page."