San Diego Opens Texas Series with Victory
Feb 27, 2026
By Ashley Rubin/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls extended their road success as they came out on top over the Texas Stars tonight at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, 2-1.
"Texas is an offensive team with a lot of firepower, and trying to limit their opportunities is a huge challenge," head coach Matt McIlvane said. "So, I thought that the guys all in all, did a pretty good job of that. I thought our goalie was fantastic. They score, and Nathan’s [Gaucher] ability to answer back, I thought that line carried our play, especially in the second period. Then a big-time effort by Cal Burke in the third period to put it on [Justin] Bailey’s stick for the open net there is a gutsy effort.
Calle Clang protected the crease tonight, extending the success he has found this season with 13 wins. The netminder stopped 28-of-29 shots, bringing his season GAA to 2.51 and SV% to .903%. Clang has only allowed two goals from Texas this season, stopping 46-of-48 total shots from the Stars.
"Calle’s just showing a lot of confidence right now, and I think we're all rallying behind him," forward Cal Burke said. "We have so much faith in Calle. He's such a great goaltender. It makes a huge difference when you have a guy like that playing so well."
Texas opened the scoring early in the second period, but San Diego’s Nathan Gaucher responded less than two minutes later. Gaucher’s eight goals this season match his total from last season. The centerman only holds two less points than his season total last year with 8-9=17 points logged so far. Defenseman Nikolas Brouillard picked up the assist, marking 0-3=3 points found in his past five games.
Justin Bailey gave the Gulls their first lead of the game and scored what ended up being the game winner halfway through the final frame. Bailey has netted 18 goals this season, six of those being game-winning goals. The forward leads all Gulls skaters in goals and is tied for second in all of the AHL for most game winners scored. Cal Burke took the primary assist, marking two found in his past three contests. Noah Warren was also credited an assist on the goal, marking his ninth point this season while ending a six-game point drought.
The Gulls and Stars stayed close throughout the night, with the Gulls ending the game with 24 shots on goal while the Stars put up 29. San Diego ranks first in the AHL for shots on goal per game. It was a disciplined game with only a single penalty called through 60 minutes of play.
The teams will compete once again tomorrow night to close out this back-to-back series at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park (5 p.m. PST).
"I think that's our identity to play a real sound defensive game," Brouillard said. "So, if we keep doing what we did, placing puck behind our D's, always having their forwards in front of us, not making any turnovers at the blue lines or at the red lines, we're going to be just fine, and we're going to do the same as we did tonight."