Gulls Start Season Strong with 5-1 Win Over Barracuda
Oct 3, 2026By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls kicked off the 2026-27 season with a big win over the San Jose Barracuda today at Tech CU Arena, 5-1.
Laurent Brossoit made his debut between the pipes for the Gulls, saving 29-of-30 shots to earn the first win of the season.
After a successful first penalty kill and 15:39 gone in the second, the first goal of the night and first San Diego goal of the season was found by James Hamblin. Today marked Hamblin’s first game as a Gull following 283 career AHL games played, all with the Bakersfield Condors. The goal was assisted by returning San Diego players Stian Solberg and Nico Myatovic.
"I think it's just a mindset of being on your toes and not giving them space," Hamblin said. "I think that’s a game that we want to play and we want to play with speed. So, if we can do that every night, that'd be great."
San Diego’s lead doubled in the third when Matthew Phillips netted his first goal of the season on the power play. Phillips ranked second amongst all Gulls skaters in points last season with 52 and fifth in goals with 16. Anton Wahlberg logged his first point with San Diego with the primary assist while Solberg picked up his second assist of the night and season with the secondary.
The Gulls kept up the momentum on the power play, as Roger McQueen made it a 3-0 game by finding the back of the net on the man advantage just a little over two minutes after Phillips did, his first AHL power-play goal. McQueen made his AHL debut late last season after being drafted 10th overall by Anaheim in the 2025 NHL Draft. The goal marks his second career AHL goal and fourth total point. Ryan Carpenter and Sean Farrell logged their first points of the season with the assists.
"We have a ton of talented players here, so you could probably write up 10 different power play units and they'd look good," Phillips said. "We have a lot of smart players, so I think when you just combine hockey IQ, then find a way to figure it out."
Scoring didn’t stop there as the Gulls went up four when Nico Myatovic found his second point of the night and first goal of the season. Phillips and Hamblin helped out on the goal, making it a two-point night for both players wearing the “A” on their sweaters.
San Diego topped in off at five goals when Solberg found an empty-netter to record his first career AHL three-point game. The defenseman’s 1-2=3 points were found alongside five shots on goal and a +3 rating.
The Gulls look to keep this momentum going as they finish this back-to-back series tomorrow right back at Tech CU Arena (3 p.m. PST).
"That’s the challenge," Phillips said. "It's going to be a lot harder. Obviously, I would imagine they're going to come out even harder tomorrow. And for us, it's figuring out what we can do better and keep pushing."