PREVIEW: Gulls, Eagles Open Season Series On Military Appreciation Night
Nov 6, 2021By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
It’s home sweet home for the San Diego Gulls.
The Gulls look to continue their winning ways in front of their home fans tonight as they host the Colorado Eagles on Military Appreciation Night presented by Indian Motorcycle of San Diego at 7 p.m. PT (TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network). San Diego is in the midst of a four-game homestand, opening their extended stay with a 3-2 shootout win over the Bakersfield Condors last night.
“It’s huge,” Gulls forward Brayden Tracey said of the fan support. “Obviously, we love to see them every night. They definitely make an impact, they can change momentum, right? So, I think every good play we have, every big hit, they build momentum for us. They’re very loud in here and we love that.”
San Diego and Colorado open a six-game regular-season series tonight. The Gulls won five of the six meetings between the clubs in 2020-21 (5-1-0-0), including all three contests on home ice, claiming the season series for the second straight season. The Gulls own a 12-6-1-0 mark all-time against Colorado, with an 8-2-0-0 record in San Diego.
Tonight’s Military Appreciation Night brought to you by Indian Motorcycle of San Diego features a Gulls USA Hat giveaway for the first 8,000 fans in attendance and the team’s Pregame Tailgate outside the arena from 5-7 p.m. PT. San Diego will also wear its first specialty jersey of the season, a USA-themed sweater the team will also don on Wednesday against the Henderson Silver Knights.
“That’s close to heart because I’ve always been very respectful of the military and one of my good friends is a Navy Seal,” Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said. “He’s retired now, but Herm is a close friend of mine…He’s fought for this country and helped a lot of people along the way.
“It’s something I’m fully aware of and this country is a safe country and Canada is a safe country, where I’m from, also. A lot of it is because of the military. To be able to acknowledge what they do and to respect what they do - I think this country is doing a great job of it and rightly so. It’s a great step with the Gulls organization to acknowledge it every day and every game and especially on Saturday.”
The Eagles enter the night below .500 at 3-5-0-1. However, they carry a modest two-game win streak into Pechanga Arena, with back-to-back wins earlier this week against the Texas Stars.
The Gulls win last night – their second of the season – came in the team’s best 60-minute effort to date.
“Well, we haven’t been playing a lot of games and I think we’ve been spending a lot of time on the ice practicing and trying to get used to the systems, just trying to get used to each other,” Gulls defenseman Trevor Carrick said. “I think it’s starting to come together and we’re really starting to see it and it feel good right now.”
A major key to last night’s win was Gulls goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek, who stopped 30-of-32 shots for his first win of the season. The Swedish-born netminder stood tall during overtime and stoned all three Bakersfield shooters to help the Gulls clinch the extra point.
“Well there’s definitely some effort, for sure. It wasn’t perfect,” Bouchard said. “We have a young crew, especially up front, but I pushed them hard today. I took them out of their comfort zone. I thought they stayed in the game, they cling in the game. We had some major moment where we defended very well. That PK in the third was key. We gave ourself a chance and I’m happy for the young guys. They got some performance they can learn from.”
Trevor Carrick (1-1=2) recorded his first multi-point effort with the Gulls to support Eriksson Ek’s strong showing. Tracey scored his first American Hockey League goal and extended his career-long point streak to three games (1-2=3).
Jacob Perreault – who scored the game-winning shootout goal – collected his fifth point in the last three games. He enters leading the team in scoring with 2-5=7.
Despite the thrilling win last night, the team noted it is paramount they put it behind them to find more wins during their homestand and shut down a budding Eagles offense.
“Just put that one past us,” Carrick said. “It feels good right now, enjoy it here in the locker room and get lots of liquids into us, get some rest and come in tomorrow with a new mindset, new team and try to give that same effort tomorrow.”
Colorado is led by Dylan Sikura, who enters tonight riding a seven-game point streak (4-7=11). His 11 points this season are the fourth-most in the American Hockey League.
Eagles rookie Alex Newhook carries a three-game point streak into tonight, collecting 1-4=5 points over those contests.
After two assists in his last two games, Jordan Gross leads Eagles defensemen with seven points (1-6=7) and is tied for the third most points among AHL defensemen.
Against a surging offense, Bouchard knows another good start is key for the Gulls.
“Hockey is the same thing, you need to get yourself into the game,” Bouchard said. “I think the starts are so important, those back-to-backs in the American league. I think last week we battled hard in the second game. Let’s see if we can grow from that. I’m not so much about results right now as process and digging and seeing how deep we can do in games and how much we can get from some guys.”