Gulls Ready to Box Up Firebirds on Black Friday

Nov 28, 2025

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

Hope you’re still hungry for some hockey. 

The Gulls bust down the doors of Pechanga Arena tonight for a Black Friday matchup with the Coachella Valley Firebirds (6 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Roadio: Gulls Audio Network). 

This marks the third time this season that the Gulls have met the Firebirds. All three games have resulted in points for San Diego, as the Gulls have gone 1-0-2-0 to start the eight-game season series. 

"We know about Coachella," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "We know their strengths. We know we've been up against them in a lot of time of the game. We also know what they're capable of, and they're a great opponent. But today, we're thankful for these two points."

The Gulls feasted on the Tucson Roadrunners on Wednesday night, taking them down 5-3 for their seventh win of the season. Vyacheslav Buteyets was the story of the night, earning his first AHL victory with an impressive 39-save outing. 

"That was awesome," Buteyets said. "I really appreciate the guys' help. They really helped me. They really blocked a lot of shots, they avoid a lot of attacks. We did everything right, and even those goals came in, the guys made me feel good. We did our job and we got our win."

Five different Gulls scored in the contest, but the line of Sasha Pastujov, Jan Mysak and Justin Bailey made a big impact, combining for 1-4=5 points on the night. They’ll need to continue to fire on all cylinders to help the Gulls get over the hump against Coachella Valley, who have taken two straight overtime contests. 

"It's three guys that are capable of producing offense, for sure, and they've got nice chemistry together," McIlvane said. 

The Gulls will have a well-deserved week off after tonight before facing the Central Division’s Texas Stars next weekend at Pechanga Arena.