Gulls Hunt for Win Over Firebirds

Jan 30, 2026

By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com 

The San Diego Gulls are set to take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds tonight at Acrisure Arena (7 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network).  

The contest tonight will be the seventh time the teams have met this season and will close out the road portion of the season series. The pair will only meet one more time after tonight for San Diego’s final matchup of the regular season. The Gulls are currently 1-3-2-0 against the Firebirds this season and look to pull out another win tonight.  

San Diego and Coachella Valley don’t look much different going into tonight’s contest. San Diego is coming off a three-game losing streak, posting a record of 18-14-6-3 with 45 points to take the sixth-place spot in the Pacific Division. Coachella Valley is coming off a two-game losing streak and holds a record of 22-13-5-0 with 49 points, putting them in fourth place.  

Tonight marks game one of a back-to-back series that San Diego will split between home and away ice. The Gulls are 8-1-2-0 in first games of back-to-backs and 10-6-4-0 on the road. The team has picked up points in all three away games they have played against Coachella Valley this season. The Gulls started the season with a 5-0 victory at Acrisure Arena and fell just short in overtime in the other two contests.  

The Gulls last competed on Wednesday when they dropped their first game to the Tucson Roadrunners this season. The Gulls came out hot, taking a three-goal lead thanks to Ryan Carpenter, Yegor Sidorov, and Coulson Pitre. Tucson was able to respond and tie the game back up, ultimately sending it into a shootout. With 10 skaters taking a shot at the goal, Tucson was able to bury one more than San Diego to take the win. The Gulls walking away with a point was essential to keep them comfortable in the standings as the Roadrunners only trailed by one point going into the night.  

The loss came after San Diego’s four-game road trip where they took the series over Tucson and dropped the series to Abbotsford. Producing offensively, specifically on the power play, was a struggle the team saw on the road, but they targeted that last night. Carpenter found a powerplay goal early in the first to break the three-game drought the team was experiencing in scoring on the advantage. Despite the loss on Wednesday, it was clear that the team had made improvements from the struggles they faced last weekend.  

"Obviously, it's a bit hard after two days off and running back with a game right away, but I feel like we bounced back pretty good," Noah Warren said. "We have better in the tank, so we'll be ready for Friday."   

The Gulls will travel back home tomorrow night to face off with the rival Ontario Reign at Pechanga Arena San Diego (6 p.m. PST).