Gulls Set for 2026-27 Home Opener Against Silver Knights
Oct 10, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
Hockey is finally back in San Diego.
The San Diego Gulls will take on the Henderson Silver Knights tonight in their home opener at Pechanga Arena San Diego (6 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego has played three games on the road to start the 2026-27 hockey season, logging a record of 1-1-1-0. The team finally returns to home ice tonight to play in front of America’s finest fans for the first time since April 18.
"It's going to be fun," Roman Kinal said. "It's always exciting here, everyone's excited to get hockey back in San Diego, and it'll be a lot of fun for us and the fans. It's going to be a good battle versus Henderson too. So, we're excited for that."
The day will start with an Orange Carpet Event beginning at 2:30 p.m. in the East Lot. The event will give fans the opportunity to meet and receive autographs from the players alongside games, food, music from DJ JoJo and more. There will be a special pregame ceremony, laser show, puck drop and the first 7,000 fans inside Pechanga Arena will receive a special Gulls aloha shirt.
Henderson and San Diego begin an eight-game season series tonight. The Gulls are 17-16-2-3 all-time against the Silver Knights, including an 11-6-1-1 record at home. The teams competed against each other in San Diego’s home opener last season, where Henderson ultimately took the win. The Gulls look to find a different outcome tonight as they debut their new roster and coaching staff in their home city.
The Gulls played last night against the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Acrisure Arena. The game ended with the Firebirds taking the victory, 6-3. Ryan Carpenter started the scoring for the night, finding his first goal of the season in his 800th professional hockey game.
"He’s our veteran," head coach Dave Manson said. "He’s one of our shepherds of the group and we need Carpy to be very good every night. He’s seen everything the league has to offer, so his experience is valuable to our younger guys."
Another veteran player, Matthew Phillips, was also on the board last night. Phillips has logged 2-1=3 points this season and 142-213=355 in his 413 total career AHL games played. On the opposite end, Cruz Lucius made his AHL debut last night, scoring his first career goal for San Diego’s third of the night.
"He’s got a lot of skill and a lot of high hockey IQ," Carpenter said. "He starts off a turnover and there was a nice little give and go with him and [Anton] Wahlberg, who made a heck of a pass too on that play. It was on and off his stick real quick and yeah congrats to him for getting his first goal in his first game."
Following tonight, the Gulls will next play their first regular season matchup against their rival Ontario Reign on Wednesday, Oct. 14 right back home at Pechanga Arena (7 p.m. PDT).