PREVIEW: Gulls Fly North To Calgary To Continue Series With Wranglers
Dec 9, 2022By Brett Pickler/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls travel to the Scotiabank Saddledome to continue their series against the Calgary Wranglers (6 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV, RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The Gulls look to gain some ground in this series after dropping the first two games in San Diego and extending their losing streak to six games. On the other hand, Calgary continued their win streak, extending it to four games following their visit to Pechanga Arena San Diego. The Gulls will need to shut down the offensive threats in the Wranglers’ lineup if they want to find their way back to the win column.
Center Radim Zohorna registered 2-2=4 points against San Diego with 1-2=3 points in their first matchup. The Wranglers have depth scoring throughout their lineup, having the most goals scored in the American Hockey League (AHL) with 83.
“I mean, they're very fast team and they do a really good job of breaking the puck out,” assistant coach Kris Sparre said. “So for us, we want to put them under a little bit more pressure and I think that's going to give us an opportunity to get the puck back in the zone where we want to play, which is the offensive one.”
San Diego must be strong in their defensive zone to shut down the Calgary offense. One man leading the way for the Gulls is goaltender Lukas Dostal. This season, the 22-year-old is a workhorse, leading the AHL in games played for goaltenders with 19. He also is the first goalie to surpass 1,000 minutes played this season. Dostal also leads the league with 526 saves. His play gives San Diego an advantage between the pipes, but Wranglers goalie Dustin Wolf is just as consistent as Dostal. Wolf is second in the AHL in games played with 16 and is third in saves. He also recorded two shutouts this year with one coming against the Gulls.
The Gulls' offense will need to find ways to beat Calgary’s impressive goalie. Rocco Grimaldi is leading this charge with four goals in his last four games. Over this span, he tallied his seventh power-play goal of the season, moving him into a tie for most in the AHL as of Dec. 7, 2022. His success on the man advantage is partially due to center Danny O’Regan’s playmaking ability. O’Regan leads the team with 14 assists this season, with eight coming on the power play. The Gulls welcome center David Cotton who was acquired from Coachella Valley on Dec. 8 to the roster. San Diego also received wing Pavol Regenda after he was reassigned from the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 5. In his last game with the Gulls (Nov. 8, 2022, @ HSK), he extended his AHL point streak to four games, registering 2-2=4 points in that span.
“Yeah, I think anytime we get a guy back from the National Hockey League level that they bring an element of pace to your team,” Sparre said. “So, we hope that that will be infectious through the group and kind of elevate the play everybody around him.”