San Diego Look To Earn Weekend Split With Milwaukee
Nov 4, 2022By Brett Pickler/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls take the ice on Mexican Heritage Night looking to even the weekend series with the Milwaukee Admirals (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV, RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The themed festivities will kick off with a pregame tailgate in the North VIP lot from 5-7 p.m., including performances from Ballet Folklorico El Tapatio de San Dieguito, a traditional Mexican dance ensemble, and the Mariachi Continental de San Diego, while the Spanish radio stations Invasora and Que Buena will also be on-site. The tailgate will also feature the Gulls’ newly launched beer, the Gulls Blue Line Blonde Ale, and food from Tacos El Unico. House of Mexico, one of the houses at the International Cottages at Balboa Park, will also have representatives at the tailgate sharing information on Mexico’s rich culture and history. Fans can get more information on the night here.
Following a 3-1 defeat last night, San Diego will look to generate offense early. They did not find the back of the net until the 17:34 mark of the third period. Driving the recent offense is Pavol Regenda, who scored twice in the two games since being reassigned by the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 1. Playing on the top line with Rocco Grimaldi, it appears that the Gulls are close to posting an offensive explosion. However, Milwaukee is a tough opponent, and it will take a group effort to get even with them.
"We've been playing good," Regenda said following last night’s game. "The last game, today, we had five minutes where we made mistakes and they scored two, three goals and it's hard to get back. We have to manage to not do that and keep on rolling, getting better every game. Overall, we've been playing pretty good, but we just have to score a few goals and be aware of those five minutes in the game."
The Admirals enter the game first place in the Central Division and on a five-game win streak. Milwaukee’s offense is dangerous with a mixture of young and veteran talent. Rookie forward Luke Evangelista enters the game tied for second in points on the team with 2-6=8. In addition, forward Kiefer Sherwood looks to continue his strong play against his former team after registering an assist last game. Despite their strengths, Gulls head coach Roy Sommer knows his team is capable of keeping up with their well-balanced attack.
"I thought we started out quick in the first, but then we kind of sat back and they kind of came at us," he said following yesterday’s loss. "They play a pretty simple game, it's nothing (where) they were real flashy or out-skated us. I think our first touches have to be a little better coming out of our own end. We turned a couple of pucks over that came back to being good scoring chances against. We have to manage pucks better in our own end and get our forecheck going. We need to get pucks to the net and bodies to the net on this guy. He saw too many pucks."
One area of strength for San Diego is its penalty kill. They went 4-for-4 last night and are 22-for-23 over their last five games.The recent stretch has moved the Gulls to seventh in the American Hockey League with a penalty-kill percentage (PK%) of 85.4%.
The team could turn to Olle Eriksson Ek tonight after Lukas Dostal stopped 35-of-38 shots last night. Eriksson Ek last played on Oct. 28 against Abbotsford, stopping 17-of-20 shots in relief of Dostal. San Diego may see Devin Cooley, a Los Gatos, CA native. He enters tonight at 2-0-0 with a 3.37 goals-against average (GAA) and .899 save percentage (SV%).
No matter who’s in net for the Admirals, Gulls center Sam Carrick discussed how the team needs to stick to its gameplan to find success.
"You have to have that mindset," he said. "That's all it is. As soon as you let go of that mindset, teams are good in this league and they're going to score as soon as you take your foot off the pedal. It sounds cliché, but we just have to play a full 60 (minutes) the same way that we know will work against these guys."