Gulls Take Down Eagles in Shootout Thriller
Mar 17, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls took their second consecutive win with a comeback victory over the Colorado Eagles in a shootout tonight at Blue Arena, 6-5.
Tonight’s matchup was full of action and tight throughout. The second period saw the most action as six goals total were scored in the frame, five of those put in within five minutes and seven seconds of each other. The Gulls were down two late in the third but were able to come back and send the game into overtime. The win was secured through a four-man shootout as Nikita Nesterenko secured the game-winner.
The Gulls pulled off another late game-tying goal when Sasha Pastujov found the back of the net with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. The winger totals 15-29=44 points this season and continues to lead all Gulls skaters in points. Sam Colangelo and Tristan Luneau were the helpers on the goal, marking Colangelo’s third point of the night and Luneau’s second after netting a goal less than a minute earlier.
"I think we've just kind of showed a lot this year that we're never out of a game," Colangelo said. "Obviously, you're not trying to go into five and something to third down a couple goals, but I think our six on five units, we've had a lot of success this year, a lot of chemistry. It's been mostly the same guys, so we've been able to kind of build off of it game by game. And like I said, hopefully we're not in that situation too many more times. But you got to kill the Gulls."
Tomas Suchanek made a huge impact in the crease, stopping essential shots to keep the Gulls in the game. The goaltender ended the night stopping 24-of-29 shots, including two in the shootout.
The second period scoring got started when Nathan Gaucher put the puck in with help from Judd Caulfield to get the second period scoring started. The goal marks Gaucher’s ninth total and second shorthanded this season. Both shorthanded goals by Gaucher have been scored against Colorado at Blue Arena. The Gulls now lead the Pacific Division and are tied for second in all of the AHL in shorthanded goals this season with 10.
Just 72 seconds later, Sam Colangelo put a slap shot through to give the Gulls the lead. The goal came from Cal Burke sending a blind backhanded pass to Matthew Phillips who then got it over to Colangelo who put the puck in. The goal marked Colangelo’s 10th goal of the season, Burke’s eighth assist, and Phillips’ 30th assist.
Matthew Phillips picked up his second point just two minutes and 10 seconds later as he found the back of the net for the 11th time this season. The goal ended Phillips’ 13-game goal drought and four-game point drought. The assists were credited to Sasha Pastujov and Ryan Carpenter, the other top three point leaders for the Gulls this season.
San Diego and Colorado will finish out their season series tomorrow night right back at Blue Arena (6:05 PDT).
"We're getting ready for a man's game tomorrow," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "We know that that's a prideful group over there, but we'll be a little bit more focused in on us. We know there's some opportunity for growth, and we'll go seek that out."