PREVIEW: Gulls, Canucks Open Two-Game Series North Of The Border
Apr 7, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are on the hunt for their first franchise road victory against the Abbotsford Canucks as the two teams face off in a back-to-back weekend set starting tonight at the Abbotsford Centre (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The Gulls hold a 1-4-0-0 record against Abbotsford in the club’s inaugural American Hockey League season, with their one victory coming in a hard-fought 4-3 decision in San Diego.
The Gulls are prepared for another series requiring a postseason mindset after earning three of a possible four points against the Iowa Wild last weekend in a series dominated by physicality and special teams.
"It’s going to be a bang and crash and a lot of physical play," Gulls assistant coach Dan Jacob said. "You know, Iowa, that’s what they displayed. They’re a physical team, they heavy forecheck, but you know you’re going to see that same thing with Abbotsford where they come hard at you. They don’t give you time and space so it’s going to come back to us. How do we manage that puck. It cannot become like a 50/50 game. We need to make sure it tilts to our advantage."
One way the Gulls can ensure they control the game is to minimize the power-play opportunities they give to Abbotsford, as the Canucks’ man advantage is ranked second in the AHL at 24%.
More importantly, San Diego needs to maintain its strong penalty kill. The Gulls killed all 12 opponent power plays over their last three games and posted a gaudy 94.4% success rate in its last 11 contests.
"The P.K.(penalty kill) is a really big phase of our game," Gulls center Benoit-Olivier Groulx said. "I think we’re really good. I’m not sure where we are in the league, but I think we’ve got a really good structure on the P.K. and I think it’s showing right now. We’re more and more comfortable on our forecheck, in zones and I think we’re blocking a lot of shots lately. We’ve been doing really well."
The Gulls forecheck is not only central to the team’s penalty kill, but also to its budding power play that produced four power-play goals in the team’s last three games (4-for-12). San Diego capitalized twice in their 5-3 win over Iowa and those tallies proved to be the difference .
"I think right now we’re taking it day-by-day," Groulx said. "I know we’re improving a lot. Our forecheck, our forecheck is improving a lot, our d-zone coverage is improving a lot so because of that, I think we’re winning more and more games. I think we’re on the last stretch of the season before the playoffs and we’re heading towards a good direction right now. I think we’ve just got to keep building our game, game-by-game."
Additionally, the Gulls will need the physicality of their forecheck to combat Abbotsford’s aggressive style of play and to establish a playoff-like intensity, just as they did against Iowa.
"We’re not scared of those games," Groulx said. "We’ve been battling all season long for where we are right now and I think we’re ready for those kind of games. We’ve got the character, we’ve got the bodies for that so those games don’t scare us and they probably make us better."
Lucas Elvenes leads this late-season surge, as the center scored his 10th goal of the season on and third in his last four games (3-2=5) on Apr. 2 against Iowa. He has points in five of his last six games (3-4=7) and 3-7=10 over his last 11 games.
The Gulls will need Elvenes to stay consistent, as he leads the team with 2-2=4 points in five games against Abbotsford.
Alex Limoges also notched two goals (2-0=2) against the Canucks this season and is one of the most consistent Gulls scorers, registering an assist in his last game for points in eight of his last nine (8-5=13) and 9-8=17 over his last 13 contests.
If the left wing scores at least one goal tonight, he can set the record for most goals in a season by a rookie (21).
Abbotsford is having no issue collecting goals of their own as the club outscored the Laval Rocket 9-2 over their back-to-back wins on Apr. 2 (3-1) and Apr. 3. (6-1). The Sunday win clinched the Canucks spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
"They work hard so I think it fits the playoff mindset that we want to go in with," Jacob said. "So, we’re looking forward to it. it’s going to be a good matchup for us."
Sheldon Rempal (2-1=3) and John Stevens (3-0=3) both picked up three points in their last two games. Rempal leads Abbotsford in assists (29) and his 57 points are second only to Sheldon Dries, who leads his team with 35-27=65.
Stevens (3-4=7) and Noah Juulsen (0-7=7) are tied for the lead in points against the Gulls this season.