PREVIEW: Gulls Open Weekend Back-To-Back In Coachella Valley
Feb 3, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls hit the road, opening a weekend back-to-back series with the Coachella Valley Firebirds tonight at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The two games mark the final contests for both teams before the league’s All-Star Classic, beginning Sunday in Laval, Quebec. Both teams enter this final weekend at opposite ends of the standings. The Firebirds, in their first season, are among the top teams in the league, battling division rival Calgary to sit atop the American Hockey League. San Diego is near the bottom, focusing on a strong push to climb back within playoff contention.
The Gulls enter tonight looking to snap a three-game losing skid. The most recent setback came on Wednesday night, as they fell 6-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks. The two teams played an even first period – the Canucks grabbed the lead on a late goal – but the ice shifted toward the visitors over the final 40 minutes. Abbotsford scored three in the middle frame to open a four-goal lead and padded their advantage in the third.
"I thought we had a really good first," Gulls center Benoit-Olivier Groulx said following the loss. "We were only down one goal and I thought were really good defensively. Offensively, we had a lot of chances. In the second period, we were just soft defensively. We were missing assignments defensively, and that cost us. We knew they had a lot of really good players offensively and that’s what happened. Good players make plays, and they can finish and that’s what they did."
San Diego’s lone goal came off the stick of Rocco Grimaldi, a power-play tally in the second period to net the veteran wing his team-leading 18th goal. It marked the second consecutive game the Rossmoor, CA native scored, maintaining his position as the Gulls leading scorer with 18-24=42 points. Grimaldi’s 8-9=17 points on the man-advantage also rank first among San Diego skaters in power-play goals and points.
Groulx collected an assist on the tally, extending his season-high point streak to four games. The center has 2-3=5 points over that span.
"Special teams have been a lot better lately," Gulls defenseman Austin Strand said after the game. "Power play scored tonight, which is great. I think, you know, Sparresy’s (Gulls assistant coach Kris Sparre) been working a lot with them, I know, and he's getting a lot of feedback from the guys, what they want to do and yeah, just I think trying new things and finding what clicks. And I think right now they're finding something that's clicking, so it’s good."
Gulls defenseman Michael Del Zotto also earned an assist on the play, continuing his strong run in a San Diego sweater. He has 4-10=14 points to lead all Gulls blueliners since joining the club on Dec. 19. He’s tied for fourth among all league defensemen in scoring during that span. The Gulls’ defense currently accounts for 31.2% of its offense (26-of-81 points) over the last 13 games, with 3-9=12 points coming from Del Zotto.
Coachella Valley enters tonight with its own high-powered offensive attack. A top-10 team in goals, the Firebirds are led by Jesper Froden’s 22-20=42 points. He’s currently riding a league-leading five game home point streak. Former Gull Andrew Poturalski leads the team with 31 assists and is one of four Firebirds to record 40-or-more points this season.
Additionally, Coachella Valley is a strong home team, entering Feb. 2 as a top-10 team in home wins. In addition, the team is 8-0-0-1 at Acrisure Arena.
To find success, Gulls head coach Roy Sommer wants to see his team lay it all on the line.
"Well, I think there's some stuff we could take out of the first period, but then we had a couple of good looks," he said following Wednesday’s loss. "I thought the power play moved it around alright, but, you know, we're playing the best team in the league coming up next three games in a row, and we're gonna have to play a hell of a lot better than we did tonight."