Preview: Gulls Ready to Wrap Up Season Series with Wild

Jan 27, 2024

By Morgan Korovec/SanDiegoGulls.com  

The San Diego Gulls and Iowa Wild square off today at Wells Fargo Arena for the final game of their regular-season series (4 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).  

Heading into the weekend, the Gulls are in good spirits after Friday evening’s contest that saw the team return to the locker room with a 6-3 win over the Wild. 

San Diego took the lead early with a pair of goals shot less than 30 seconds apart from Pavol Regenda, who has earned three goals in his last two games. 

Iowa managed to pull the score even by the end of the first, though after a scoreless second, San Diego’s four goals in the final frame kept the opponent at a distance. 

Jaxsen Wiebe, Andrew Agozzino, Nikita Nesterenko, and Nathan Gaucher scored at Friday’s faceoff. 

Before Friday night, the matchups between San Diego and Iowa this season have been defined by over-60-minute endings with one-goal differences, underscoring the competitive play and energy these teams bring to the ice in their contests in both buildings.  

The script was a bit different in their latest matchup, as the Gulls sealed the deal with a three-goal lead by the end of regulation time. 

"We got the first two goals right away, then they bounced back, but we played well the whole first," Nesterenko said. "Coach came in and kind of reiterated that not to get down on ourselves. We had a good period, just because they scored two at the end there, not change anything. They forecheck well, we knew that coming in, so as long as we supported each other well and had good breakout support, we knew we had a good chance to win."

Approaching their fourth game and final stand on the Wild’s territory tomorrow, the Gulls will look to continue their stretch of strong play and grab a third win over Iowa to extend their win streak to three.  

"We’re just sticking to the game plan," Nesterenko said. "We know that the coaches put a good game plan out there. If we play aggressive, take time away from the other team, the wins are going to come. We’re not going to keep losing if we play the way we’ve been playing. Just got to keep rolling here."

San Diego will journey to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena for a showdown on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 4:30 p.m. PST with the Milwaukee Admirals.