Preview: Gulls Look To Right The Ship Against Henderson

Oct 29, 2023

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

After dropping three straight following back-to-back wins to open the 2023-24 American Hockey League season, the San Diego Gulls are looking to get back to their winning ways this afternoon against the Henderson Silver Knights at The Dollar Loan Center (1 p.m. PT; TV: AHLTV.com; Radio: Gulls Audio Network). 

The latest game in the short skid for the Gulls was a 5-2 loss to the Abbotsford Canucks on home ice, a contest where head coach Matt McIlvane saw some positive trends. 

"We looked at that game [on Friday] as a bit of progress," McIlvane said. "We felt like our game in Tucson was far from what we’d like to look like. There was a lot of good that we were really focusing on through our work week that showed up in our game."

Pavol Regenda remained red hot to open the season, as he scored his fifth goal of the season on Friday. He is now tied for third in the AHL in scoring. He also notched an assist on the night for his second multi-point effort of the season (1-1=2). 

Despite Regenda’s heroics, San Diego has been held to two goals or less in each of their three losses. They’ve scored on the power play just once in 13 opportunities in that span. In addition, San Diego’s gone 11-for-15 (73.3%) on the penalty kill to add to their special teams inconsistencies. 

"Both special teams, I think you look at [Friday] and it was certainly the difference in the game with their two power-play goals and we weren’t able to get on the board," McIlvane said. "The biggest thing is where do you go from here? You got to learn. You got to get better. There’s things that we feel were real preventable and easy fixes on our power play."

San Diego will get their first look at Henderson this afternoon, the first of a four-game season series. The Silver Knights sit in second in the Pacific Division on the young season with a 5-2-0-0 record and will be a good test for the Gulls as they get up to speed. 

"They’re a veteran team that has some high-end prospects, high-end skill," McIlvane said. "They’re obviously playing really well as a team right now and we know that that’s a championship pedigree organization. The biggest thing for us is to learn and grow and move forward into the next opportunity."

So far this season, goaltenders Alex Stalock and Calle Clang have alternated starts. With Stalock getting the nod on Friday night, it puts Clang in line for this afternoon’s contest if McIlvane and his staff continue the trend. 

Clang, who is in his first full season in North America following a successful stint in the Swedish Hockey League, has been relying on Stalock and goaltending coach Jeff Glass to get him up to speed as he establishes himself in the AHL. 

"Both guys are pretty experienced at this level and [Stalock] has been up in the NHL for a long time too," Clang said. "I know I enjoy every moment and learn a lot from both guys every day, so it’s been really good so far."