PREVIEW: Gulls Travel To Desert For Face-off With Silver Knights
Dec 30, 2022By Brett Pickler/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls take on the Henderson Silver Knights at the Dollar Loan Center (7 p.m PT; TV: AHL TV, RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego enters tonight’s game after posting consecutive wins for the first time this season. Meanwhile, Henderson looks to get back in the win column after dropping their last three games, including a 5-4 loss to the Gulls on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto noted the confidence boost for the team after the win.
"Yeah, it’s good going into the break, felt relieved to get out of the losing streak and now coming out of the break with a win," Del Zotto said. "As I said, hopefully we can string a few together. We play these guys twice more. It allows us to get our confidence up."
The Gulls' offense is showcasing its potential recently, tallying at least five goals in their last two contests. Wingers Rocco Grimaldi and Brayden Tracey are two players leading this offense charge. Recently, these two were paired on a line together and showed immediate chemistry. Both players are on three-game point streaks, each registering 1-4=5 points during this stretch. Right wing Jacob Perreault is stepping up with his playmaking ability. He recorded back-to-back multi-assists games giving him four points over the last two games.
In the last game between these two teams, Henderson displayed their never quit attitude. The Gulls were ahead 5-1 halfway through the third period, but the Silver Knights banded together and attempted a comeback. They scored three goals in the last 7:18 of the game. Defenseman Jake Bischoff recorded two assists during this outburst. These assists gave him 0-4=4 points over his last four games.
"Offensively, we did a lot of good things," Gulls head coach Roy Sommer stated after the win. "We had a really solid first; we did a lot of good things. Coming out of that 3-0 and then the second period got away from us a little bit and we tied that one 1-1. Then, we got into penalty trouble again. It seems like we find a way to keep other teams in the game, and we sure did it again tonight, but one solid thing was Olle Eriksson Ek was excellent tonight. That was his win."
Luckily for San Diego, some returning faces helped mitigate Henderson’s late push and set the Gulls up for success. Last game, center Glenn Gawdin returned from injury where he registered 1-1=2 points. His return gives the Gulls a consistent two-way center with a knack for finding the back of the net. He skated between Grimaldi and Tracey, showing instant chemistry with the duo as they combined for a goal 8:03 into the first period. San Diego also welcomed back Eriksson Ek after being reassigned by the Anaheim Ducks. It appeared that his brief stint with the Ducks gave him some confidence as he recorded his first win of the season. During the game against the Silver Knights, he made multiple highlight reel saves, diving to rob players of an open net.
Despite the late push by the Silver Knights, the Gulls seem to be positive heading into road trip. Gawdin noted they have multiple games with Henderson coming up but was optimistic about how his team is addressing their play:
"We’ve got to focus on what we did well. Obviously, there’s a few things that we didn’t do well, but I mean, we know we’ve got these guys two more times, so we’re going to be watching the video and making sure that we clean up those areas that we need to."