PREVIEW: Gulls, Firebirds Clash In Final Game Before AHL All-Star Classic
Feb 4, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls and Coachella Valley Firebirds meet in the final game before the American Hockey League’s All-Star Classic tonight at Acrisure Arena (5 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego is still searching for its first win against the league’s newest franchise. The two teams – fast becoming rivals in the Pacific Division – played a thrilling game last night, with Carsen Twarynski scoring the game-winning goal with 1:23 remaining in regulation, sending the Firebirds to a 2-1 win, their fifth straight on home ice.
"That one hurts, to be honest," Gulls forward Hunter Drew said following the loss. "You saw it on the bench when they scored, you see it in the room now, it sucks. Like you said, they're a good team, and to have the year we're having, to be that close and let it slip away stings a little bit."
The Gulls are 0-4-0-0 against the Firebirds following a 2-1 loss last night, a 4-2 loss on Jan. 22, an 8-1 loss on Dec. 16 and a 4-1 loss on Nov. 26 (0-4-0-0 all-time record). Drew leads the Gulls with two goals against the Firebirds and is tied for the most points against the club with Nikolas Brouillard (0-2=2) and Glenn Gawdin (1-1=2). Pavol Regenda (1-0=1) also has a goal in the season series, while defensemen Drew Helleson (0-1=1) and Michael Del Zotto (0-1=1) each own an assist. Jesper Froden leads Coachella Valley with five goals against San Diego through four games this season, including his first AHL career hat trick on Dec. 16. Tye Kartye’s 2-3=5 points tie Froden for the point lead against the Gulls.
San Diego found success last night with a physical brand of hockey, one which kept the Firebirds in check and is a key to San Diego's success.
"I think we gotta be physical," Drew said. "I think teams think just because of where we are in the standings, they're just gonna push us around, and that's not going to happen, and it can't happen. I mean, it did early in the year a lot, and that's kind of what set us back a little bit, I think. When you get a taste of a game like that, how good it feels to be that close, I think we'll come out and be real physical tomorrow and shove it down their throats."
San Diego’s offense is led by Del Zotto, who continued his hot streak in last night’s loss. The defenseman posted his 19th assist of the season on Drew's power play goal, earning a helper in two consecutive games and 1-5=6 points in his last five contests. Del Zotto’s 4-11=15 points in 17 games since joining San Diego on Dec. 19 rank him fourth in points among AHL blueliners and mark the most earned by a Gulls defenseman over the span.
In addition, the Gulls’ defense accounts for 32.1% of the team's offense (27-of-84 points) over the last 14 games, with 3-10=13 of those points (48.1%) coming from Del Zotto.
The Gulls want to see more goals in the net, as the team has just three in its last two games.
"I think the power play has to be a really big part of it," Gulls head coach Roy Sommer said. "We're not scoring a lot 5-on-5, so we gotta get something there and have some other guys step up on, you know, the bottom two lines hasn't been producing a lot either. It would be nice to get something from them. You know, you look at the goal they scored tonight, the game winner, it was a guy on their fourth line."
San Diego’s defense is also cleaning up on the penalty kill, stopping all five of Coachella Valley’s man-advantage opportunities last night, including 1:11 of 5-on-3 play. The Gulls have stopped 7-of-8 opponent’s power-play opportunities over their last two games, improving their penalty kill to fourth in the Pacific Division, eighth in the Western Conference and 12th in the AHL with an 81.5% kill rate.
Their road penalty kill has an 83.3 % success rate, second in the AHL’s Pacific Division, fifth in the Western Conference and tied for seventh in the league.
The Gulls look to slow down the league’s best team, a Firebirds squad leading the league in points percentage. They hold a 27-6-3-1 record against Pacific Division foes and ride a 10-game home point streak into tonight’s contest. Former Gull Andrew Poturalski leads the team in assists (31) and his 11-31=42 points are tied with Froden (22-20=42) and Max McCormick (18=24=42) for the team lead in scoring.