PREVIEW: Gulls, Condors Close Regular-Season Series Tonight
Feb 21, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls close their eight-game regular-season series with the Bakersfield Condors tonight, facing their Pacific Division rival at Mechanics Bank Arena (6:30 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego looks to close the series on a high note after dropping six of the seven previous matchups. The run includes an 8-4 win by the Condors on Sunday at Pechanga Arena San Diego. Raphael Lavoie collected four goals – and Ty Tullio added a career-high 3-1=4 points – as Bakersfield ended San Diego’s modest three-game home point streak. Penalties played a large role, as the Gulls racked up 12 minor infractions and the Condors tallied five power-play goals.
"As we tied it up 3-3, made a game out of it and then then it's still within reach and then we just got into penalty trouble," Gulls head coach Roy Sommer said following the loss. "Something we just couldn't get out of all night. I mean, no matter what we did, it seems like we were in the box and the guys that are killing the penalties are the guys that play the majority of the game. They’re the guys that you want to have to get goals for you. They had no legs underneath them. The (Rocco) Grimaldis, the (Chase) De Leos and those guys, the (Glenn) Gawdins - they put in a lot of minutes last night. They're killing penalties and the way we kill you have to pressure and they just they just didn’t have anything left in them. don't get anything left in him. So, a lot of undisciplined stuff on our part tonight, that's for sure."
To prepare for the rematch, the Gulls keyed on a simple adjustment – cut the penalties.
"Yeah, I think obviously, when there's a lot of penalties, you can't roll lines or do any of that stuff," Gulls forward Bryce Kindopp said. "And the guys playing a lot of minutes, it hurts them too, because they're doing a lot of their work on the PK (penalty kill). And then when they have to be on the power play or play those top-six minutes, they're gonna be tired. And same for Olle (Eriksson Ek); he can only do so much and he was good for us back there just; gave up a lot."
Kindopp did score a shorthanded goal last night – it briefly tied the game at three in the second period – collecting a milestone marker in the process. He enters tonight with four career shorthanded goals, tied with former Gull Kiefer Sherwood for the third most shorthanded tallies among the team’s all-time American Hockey League leaders.
When at even strength, the Gulls look to Grimaldi to lead the offensive charge. He’s collected six goals in his last three games – the most over a three-game span in his AHL career – and is tied for second among all skaters with 25 goals. He leads San Diego in both goals and points (25-25=50). The right wing found recent success with defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who has five assists in his last three games.
"Getting a lot of shifts with Rocco (Grimaldi); we see the ice similarly," Del Zotto explained. "He’s such a great player. He gets an open spot and it's just a matter of putting the puck on his stick and he usually does the rest, so, you know, we've had some success the last couple of games, so hopefully we continue that chemistry moving forward."
The Gulls also received a boost over the weekend with the return of captain Chase De Leo, who missed 48 games this season with an injury. He made an impact right away, collecting 1-1=2 points over the weekend and driving play on a line with Grimaldi. De Leo has points in all three games he’s played this season.
Bakersfield continues to hold the seventh spot in the division standings, the last playoff spot up for grabs in the Pacific Division. The Condors are four points ahead of the San Jose Barracuda and trail the Tucson Roadrunners by two points.
To spoil their rival’s postseason push, Sommer wants to see a more disciplined team tonight.
"The bottom line is we’ve played our best games when we've taken three or fewer penalties and 5-on-5, we've played pretty good," he said. "That's got to be the motto going in the next game. We’ve got to stay out of the box and kind of see where it goes from there, but we got to give ourselves a chance."