Preview: Gulls Ready For Matchup In Milwaukee Against Admirals
Dec 6, 2023By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls have landed in Wisconsin for their third contest of a five-game road trip, their first matchup of the season with the Milwaukee Admirals tonight at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena (5 p.m. PST).
After holding the lead all game in a victorious win on Saturday in Chicago, the Gulls dropped the second game of their back-to-back weekend in a hard-fought 5-3 loss to the revengeful Wolves.
In Sunday’s game, team captain Chase De Leo recorded his second goal of the season. Nathan Gaucher evened up the score, giving him his first professional goal streak (2-0=2). Glenn Gawdin netted his fourth of the season, which would be San Diego’s final goal in their series finale with Chicago.
San Diego has earned standing points in three of their last four games (2-1-1-0) and the Gulls own a 6-4-0-0 record against the Wolves all-time, including a 3-2-0-0 record on the road.
"We just took points in three out of four games, which is you know, a good stretch compared to what we’ve been going through and I think our focus now is consistency," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "We’ve found a formula and we’re looking for consistency."
For the Admirals in their most recent matchups with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Milwaukee dropped their game on Friday and bounced back with a 4-2 win on Saturday, scoring three goals in the first 7:47 of the third period on home ice.
As the Gulls now gear up to face-off with the Admirals at Panther Arena, the team will look to produce a consistent and complete 60 minutes of competitive play while avoiding the penalty box.
"There’s been a lot of lessons learned," McIlvane added. "A lot of hard lessons. Just about how to manage the game of hockey, you know, of course we do have an influx of youth, but our older guys kind of learning how to lead the group and what kind of push they have to make to drive the direction. You know, for our younger guys, learning about the league, and now that you’re twenty games in, you have it now, and now it’s a matter of being able to sustain a concentrated effort. And I think really for our group, we have a blueprint for success that we feel is real for us and I think that being able to learn the discipline to be able to sustain the concentrated effort for 60 minutes is our mission."
"The sooner we can figure that out, the sooner we’re going to be in the win column a lot more than the other way."
Tonight’s battle unwraps a four-game series between the Gulls and Admirals in the 2023-2024 season. Following tonight, the teams will meet again at the end of January.
On their current road trip, the Gulls are grabbing hold of the opportunity to reset after each day on the ice, in preparation for their next upcoming games, as well as relishing the time they have together to strengthen the bond amongst themselves.
"From what we’ve seen so far, they seem to be a younger group, kind of like ourselves," said defenseman Trevor Carrick. "So, it’s going to be, I think, a nice matchup for us and I think just seeing a new team in a different division is going to be nice, kind of get away for a little bit. It’s nice being on the road and being with your teammates and spending some quality time with them. I think that’s going to help us out. But, you know, we’re looking forward to tomorrow and getting to Rockford, but for Milwaukee I think it’s going to be a nice matchup for us."
Carrick tallied his team-leading 13th assist of the season in San Diego’s most recent game and ranks tied for fourth among AHL defensemen in points and tied for third in assists. He leads Gulls skaters in points (3-13=15).
"I think we’ve gone through a lot of adversity together and what I like about our group is, you know, during that rough stretch, we stuck together and we’ve pushed each other and we haven’t given up on each other, and we’ve been working through this together," Carrick said.
While keeping in mind their own journey of resilience and their distinct brand of hockey, San Diego readies to face a team that has also showcased discipline, skill, and the ability to rebound after a stumble.
After tonight’s showdown, the Gulls will travel to Illinois for back-to-back games with the Rockford IceHogs at BMO Harris Bank Center on Friday, Dec. 8 (5 p.m. PST) and Saturday, Dec. 9. (5 p.m. PST).