Gulls, Condors Meet In Regular-Season Finale
May 8, 2021The San Diego Gulls meet the Bakersfield Condors for the final time in the regular Saturday at Mechanics Bank Arena. The Gulls visit the Condors currently sitting third in the Pacific Division by point percentage (.588).
The Gulls lead the season series over Bakersfield, four wins to three, and will try to snap a season-long trend in the series finale. The home team has won all seven meetings thus far. Bakersfield is second in the Pacific Division by point percentage (.643).
The Gulls will look to bounce back from a 7-4 defeat to the Ontario Reign Friday at FivePoint Arena. San Diego scored three third-period goals to pull within two, but could not complete the comeback.
“We got outworked in a lot of areas,” said Gulls head coach Kevin Dineen. “Areas that have crept into our game over the past week were really magnified tonight. It’s something we have to address.”
Despite the setback, the Gulls won the season series over the Southern California rival (7-3-0-0).
Alex Limoges and Bryce Kindopp also extended their scoring streaks in Friday’s loss. Limoges’ five-game point streak is the longest by a Gulls rookie this season. Since signing a PTO on Mar. 25, the former Penn State captain co-leads AHL rookies in scoring (8-9=17) with linemate Benoit-Olivier Groulx. Kindopp scored his first professional power-play goal Friday and has 3-3=6 points in his last four games.
“The adjustment has been pretty good,” Limoges said of his transition to the AHL. “Every chance is a great chance out there and it’s a great honor. There are a lot of great players that would want to be in my position. That’s just the adjustment. It’s learning small things at the pro game, but every time I step on the ice, I want to make a difference.”
“Our expectations are high for these players,” added Dineen. “We talk about them as prospects, but right now its not prospects, it’s the game right in front of you. We’ve got to get on the road and take care of one less than 24 hours away.”
The Gulls will look to build on the strong third period Friday and carry that play over into Bakersfield.
“There are a lot of good things to look at from that third period,” Limoges said. “We kind of leave this one behind us. We’re playing against a great team [tonight] and it’s definitely a big game with the standings. We want to finish as high as possible down the stretch here so learn from the bad and keep going with the good.”
The Condors have been one of the American Hockey League’s best home teams this season and have won eight of their last ten games on home ice (8-1-0-1).
Bakersfield is led by the explosive offensive duo of Cooper Marody (21-13=34) and Tyler Benson (10-24=34), each of whom are tied for second in the AHL in points. Marody also paces league leaders in goals.