PREVIEW: Gulls, Condors Meet For Divisional Battle In Bakersfield
Nov 1, 2022By Brett Pickler/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls look to continue their winning ways when they face the Bakersfield Condors in a mid-week showdown tonight at Mechanics Bank Arena (6:30 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV, RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
"They're heavy," Gulls head coach Roy Sommer said of the Condors. "They have an experienced bunch. Just pre-scouting them, they move pucks right up, they've got guys who can put the pucks in the net, they roll four lines and they're all pretty effective. We're going to have our work cut out for us. A good hockey club."
This will be the first matchup of the season between the divisional opponents. Last season, the Gulls won two of the five meetings, highlighted by a Lukas Dostal shutout on Mar. 11, 2022.
Dostal is carrying the load for the Gulls this season. He’s appeared in six of the team’s seven games, holding a 3-2-0-0 record. Although his stats are below his career averages right now, he found his stride following a standout performance in the 3-2 shootout win over the Abbotsford Canucks on Saturday, Oct. 29. This game saw the Czechia-native stop 41 out of 43 shots through regulation and overtime, go perfect in the shootout and make multiple desperation saves to keep the Gulls in the game.
"He’s a gamer - he won’t give up, he won’t quit,” Gulls forward Danny O’Regan said following the win. “At one point, the shots we could see were like 25-5 or something. I mean, he was standing on his head keeping us in the game and you know, just keeping us in it. He was awesome the whole game and in the shootout, and he was just a brick wall today."
Dostal will need to be sharp with the team travelling to Bakersfield. Despite the Condors three game losing streak, they have multiple offensive threats. Rookie Xavier Bourgault is currently riding a four -game point streak (3-2=5). During his streak, he tallied points on the power play, penalty kill and even strength making him an offensive threat no matter the scenario. San Diego must also be aware of forward Michael Kesselring, who leads the Condors with four goals.
The Gulls can counter with their diversified offensive attack. Now seven games into their schedule, improved chemistry is helping bring out the best in several veterans. Forward Rocco Grimaldi has points in three straight games, while O’Regan has three assists in his last two contests. In addition, Gulls defenseman Nikolas Brouillard co-leads all American Hockey League defensemen with 3-7=10 points.
"I’m adding a little more ice time, a little more responsibilities, and I want to take pride in that," Brouillard said when asked about his early-season success. "It helps just being on defense.
"I need to keep going offensively; that’s one of my strengths. I have to make some adjustments defensively. I got to have more urgency on my play defensively, boxing guys early, stuff like that. That’s going to help me, as an undersized defenseman, to have more success on the defensive side. Right now, offensively, it’s going great, but I need to improve on my defensive side."
Another indication of San Diego’s growing confidence is their penalty kill. Currently sitting at an 82.9% kill rate, it is among the top of the league in its efficiency. In the victory over Abbotsford, the Gulls went 7-for-7 while down a man and have killed 16 of their opponent’s last 17 penalties (94.1%).
Despite its success, the Gulls want to take fewer penalties and not tax its penalty kill.
"A little grab behind the play, on the hand," Brouillard said. "We have to be more aware of our stick play and cross-check a little bit. That’s hurting us a lot since the start of the season. We’ve done a good job on the PK, but obviously you don’t want to be going short for one-third of the last game like we were."