Gulls Gearing Up for Final Matchup with Wild
Apr 6, 2025
By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com
After a tough blow Friday night, the San Diego Gulls are ready to reverse course when they take on the Iowa Wild this afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena (1 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network).
San Diego took a hit to their playoff push on Friday when they fell 4-2 to Iowa. The Gulls were on their heels almost immediately, going down 3-0 in the opening frame.
"It’s never easy, especially when you’re on the road," assistant coach Kris Sparre said following Friday’s loss. "We played better in the second and then in the third, it felt like we had a good push going until we give up a 2-on-1 and the puck is in the back of our net. Again, we fought, and I’m proud of the guys on that."
Prior to the game on Friday, the Anaheim Ducks threw a wrench into the Gulls’ weekend plan as they recalled goaltender Ville Husso hours before. This paved the road for Damian Clara to be added to the roster prior to puck drop. He entered the game in the second period and was impressive in his North American debut, stopping 22-of-23 shots in relief of Oscar Dansk.
"He was great," Sparre said. "He gets in net, you haven’t seen him with a Gulls jersey on. There was a sense of calmness when he started making a few of those saves and making them look very easy. I thought he gave our team a chance to get back into the game, and he was a big reason why we had a push there in the third period."
Surely disappointed from Friday, the Gulls are ready to come out firing today in Des Moines. Another slow start today may just be the Gulls’ season, and the leadership in the locker has made sure to make that known.
"Everybody knows that, we all know that, and we take responsibility," defenseman Tyson Hinds said. "We just need to be ready off the start next game. Every game is the most important, and in the six games left we just need to give our all and make the playoffs. We’re still in the playoff push, that’s it."
After today, the Gulls will get some time to regroup before another huge road matchup against the Bakersfield Condors on Friday night (7 p.m. PDT).
