PREVIEW: Gulls Host Reign In San Diego For First Time In 680 Days
Dec 11, 2021By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls are home for the holidays.
Today marks the first game of a team-record seven straight at Pechanga Arena for the Gulls as they welcome the rival Ontario Reign (7 p.m. PT; TV: Fox 5 San Diego, RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The homestand breaks San Diego’s previous record of six straight on home ice (Feb. 5 – 17, 2021). The Gulls went 6-0-0-0 during that stretch and hope history repeats itself.
“Everyone is excited to be able to get back and go back at it again.” Gulls defenseman Greg Pateryn said.
The two SoCal rivals will meet for the fourth time this season. After a 4-2 loss to the Reign last night, the Gulls are now 40-25-2-2 all-time against their rivals and 19-13-2-1 at home.
The game’s result is not indicative of the Gulls play, and the team hopes to replicate the excellent execution of their forecheck that facilitated a great start and fended off the Reign’s formidable offense.
"I’m glad of the engagement of the guys," Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said following last night’s loss. "I just feel like our young team gets a little bit, sometimes, intimidated. It wasn’t terrible. We had our chances to tie the game a few times. I still think we had a lot of guys that could do a little better.
"I know I’m demanding. I know they have a hell of a lineup. I know they have a hell of a hockey club. And I know we shut them down for a big part of the game and I could come in here with pom poms and tell you how great we did with a young team, but I want more. I need more. And this is the message I give the guys. I’m not mad at them. I just feel we got a little more in some details, but I know it’s not a lack of caring. It’s just that I’ve gotta raise the bar. I’m not using any excuses here."
The Gulls blazed out of the gate and immediately established possession of the puck. Jacob Perreault scored the first goal of the game to put an end to his six-game scoring drought. The right wing enters tonight with 8-8=16 points, leading San Diego in goals and tied for the team lead in points.
Brayden Tracey assisted on the play, recording points in back-to-back games (1-1=2). The left wing has 4-5=9 points in his last six games and enters tonight leading the Gulls in assists (10) and tied for the team lead in points (6-10=16).
"I’m pushing them," Bouchard said. "I’m not using age or experience as excuses. I think we’re better than that a little bit. Although there’s a lot of good things, I’m going to push the guys tomorrow and see what we can do."
The Gulls also stymied the second-best power play in the AHL as they killed all three of the Reign’s chances on the man-advantage. San Diego’s penalty kill is key to the team’s success as they’ve killed 18-of-20 of their opponent’s power play opportunities over the last five games.
San Diego’s power play, however, is struggling to find success. The team is hoping a goal from Pateryn – scored seconds after the conclusion of a power play last night – will help the unit get back on track.
“Yeah, you know anytime you get a goal whether the power play is ending or right at the end, it definitely gives that group a little bit of confidence and a little bit of sustainability in those things working and sticking to it,” Pateryn said. “So, it was good just for the mindset of the group to show that something like that can be effective.”
Kodie Curran, in his first game back in the lineup since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 29, and Bryce Kindopp nabbed assists on the play to earn helpers in back-to-back games.
In addition to capitalizing on special teams, the Gulls will direct focus toward shutting down the powerhouse that is Martin Frk. The right wing produced a multi-point effort (1-1=2) last night and is tied for third in the AHL with 11-13=24 points.
Brayden Burke contributed 1-1=2 points to the Reign’s win last night while T.J. Tynan notched his third helper in two games.
"We haven’t played that much lately and I feel we had some decent performance versus good teams, but not great performances," Bouchard said. "But we’re in there. I thought last weekend we coulda won one of the two. We lost tonight and I feel we could have been a little better to get, maybe, our chance to go a little deeper in the game. Although we were just one shot away with a minute left. Looking forward to seeing how we’re going to react and see if we can improve just a little bit from tonight."