Gulls Bounce Back in Tight Game vs. Eagles
Mar 14, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls got their redemption from last night and pulled off a win over the Colorado Eagles tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego, 2-1.
Tonight’s victory marks the second time the Gulls have defeated the Eagles this season. San Diego has now defeated the team once on home ice and once on the road. The victory is huge for the Gulls as it proves they are capable of defeating highly-ranked teams and climbing up the Pacific Division rankings.
"Our goalie was great," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "I think that there was a lot of mature effort. I think that the [Nathan] Gaucher line was extremely reliable for us. Our D-men were great as far as grabbing sticks and blocking some shots. So, it was a team effort to get that win."
Tomas Suchanek played a huge role in tonight’s win as he guarded the crease. The goaltender scored his third win of the season as he stopped 28-of-29 shots.
"Starting from the D-zone, everybody was doing their job," Suchanek said. "They were blocking the shots. The forwards were doing what they were supposed to do. Then I was just hoping we're going to put at least one in that third period, and they did, and I was so happy. It was my job to not let any other goals and we luckily did it."
San Diego was on the board first again as Nikita Nesterenko tipped the puck in for his fourth goal of the season. The forward has found two of those goals in his past four contests. Nesterenko later tallied an assist, marking his second multi-point night of the season. He has now collected 4-5=9 points in 23 games played.
Tristan Luneau kept his momentum going, scoring what would ultimately be the game-winning goal for the Gulls to break the tie in the third. The defenseman also tallied an assist on Nesterenko’s goal, extending his point streak to seven games with 3-8=11 points found. Luneau leads all Gulls defensemen in points with 29 logged.
"Honestly, our goalie [was] incredible tonight," Luneau said. "[Suchanek] bailed us out a bunch of times. It was really a playoff effort. We talked about it a lot in the room, just showing up every game like it's the playoffs and getting ready for that. Those are opportunities and I feel like we did that tonight."
Coulson Pitre and Sam Colangelo tallied an assist each tonight. Pitre has found 0-2=2 points in his past three contests while Colangelo has logged 1-3=4 points in his past five.
The Gulls and Eagles will next compete on Colorado’s home ice in another back-to-back series starting Tuesday, Mar. 17 at Blue Arena (6:05 p.m. PDT).