Gulls Finish Short of IceHogs
Mar 6, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls fell to the Rockford IceHogs tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego, 3-2.
Tonight’s loss brings the Gulls to a 0-2-1-0 streak with a 24-18-8-4 record. The team remains at 60 points, which is still only one behind the fifth-place Coachella Valley Firebirds as they did not compete tonight.
The Gulls were on the board first as Sasha Pastujov tipped the puck in off passes from linemates Matthew Phillips and Cal Burke. The goal marks Pastujov’s 13th of the season and his point count totals to 40 after picking up an assist later in the game. Phillips trails just behind with 10-29=39 points found with 0-3=3 of those tallied in his past three contests.
Rockford found a shorthanded goal in the second, but Sam Colangelo capitalized on the remainder of the powerplay and put a one-timer through to close the score gap to one. Colangelo co-leads Gulls skaters in powerplay goals this season with five logged. The forward has found 9-11=20 points in his 34 games played in San Diego this season. Pastujov’s assist was found on this goal alongside Tristan Luneau who continues to lead all Gulls defensemen in points with 5-17=22.
Tomas Suchanek made his third straight appearance in net tonight, marking the most consecutive starts he has seen this season. The goaltender stopped 14-of-17 shots, posting a 3.09 GAA and .824 SV%.
It was a highly penalized game with a total of 10 called. The Gulls were able to capitalize on one of their six powerplays while Rockford could not get the puck through for any of their four.
San Diego and Rockford will get right back at it tomorrow night as they close out their season series at Pechanga Arena San Diego (6 p.m. PST).