Gulls Clinch Playoff Spot with Win Over Condors
Apr 11, 2026
By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls defeated the Bakersfield Condors tonight at Dignity Health Center 7-3, clinching their spot in the 2025-26 Calder Cup Playoffs.
With the Tucson Roadrunners falling to the Colorado Eagles in overtime tonight, the Gulls win ensures their playoff spot. San Diego will make their first playoff run since the 2021-22 season, marking head coach Matt McIlvane’s first postseason appearance with the team.
"We went into this year, and I think what we've kept saying is, we're a group of winners with something to prove," McIlvane said. "Earning the opportunity to play in the playoffs is a big step for everybody, and it's been a lot of ups and downs to be able to get here, but I think it's a cherry on top of all the growth that we've made as a club and over the last bit. These guys, they've earned it."
Damian Clara stopped 36-of-39 shots to earn his first career AHL win. The 21-year-old Italian native was drafted 60th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2023 NHL draft. Clara went 17-15-0 in 33 SHL games with Brynas this season and represented Italy at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026.
The Gulls opened the scoring for the second night in a row as Yegor Sidorov found the back of the net. Sidorov ended a 14-game goal drought, finding his 15th goal and 29th point of the season. Jan Mysak picked up the primary assist while Roland McKeown grabbed the secondary.
The second period saw success for San Diego with four goals found, just one short of the most the team has seen in a single period this season. Matthew Phillips started the scoring in the frame on the power play, extending his point streak to four games with 3-3=6 points found. Phillips is the second Gulls skater to reach the 50-point threshold this season as he has tallied 15 goals and 35 assists.
Nathan Gaucher was next as he put a shot through for his sixth goal in his past four contests. Gaucher has had a successful season, setting a new career-high point record with 15-14=29. Justin Bailey followed for the third goal of the period, marking his 24th of the season and ninth against Bakersfield in this season series. The goal became his ninth game-winning goal of the season which leads all of the AHL. 20 seconds later Nico Myatovic found the back of the net to make it a 5-2 game, marking his second point of the night and seventh goal of the season.
Scoring continued in the third period with Tristan Luneau and Stian Solberg finding goals on the empty net. Both defensemen ended the night with two points as they each tallied an assist earlier in the game.
"We were happy with our first," captain Ryan Carpenter said. "We thought we could've had a couple bounces where we maybe could have had a lead. We're confident group. We were a lot happier the way we responded compared to the night before. We ultimately just wanted to play a more detailed game, a more 60 minute game. It was 2-1 early. It was nice to get one on the power play. It's a big, big play by [Matthew Phillips]. And then I think it just kept rolling from there. But I think it was, you know, a combination of guys getting to the inside, the hard areas. We just felt like we were a little bit harder tonight. Our D were getting shots through and it was nice to get rewarded."
Matt Basgall found his first career AHL point in his AHL debut with the primary assist on Myatovic’s goal. Judd Caulfield ended the night with two assists and Sasha Pastujov added to his team-leading point count with a singular assist.
San Diego will next compete with the Tucson Roadrunners at Pechanga Arena San Diego on Apr. 15 where they look to take some more points and potentially climb up the Pacific Division rankings before entering the postseason.