PREVIEW: Gulls Prepare For Special Teams Battle With Reign
Jan 13, 2023By Brett Pickler/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls host the Ontario Reign tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego in the first game of a home and home set (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV, RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The rivals enter tonight’s contest after playing well over their last few games. The Gulls are winners of three of their last five while the Reign have won their last two games. Ontario holds the lead on the season series, winning two of the three matchups so far. A large part of Ontario’s success this season can be attributed to their power play. This is an area that Gulls right wing Rocco Grimaldi addressed when talking about the team’s gameplan after the 5-2 win over the San Jose Barracuda.
“Obviously, they're an extremely good team, great power play. So, I don't know how many penalties we took today - six or seven or something,” Grimaldi said. “We are going to need to limit that to three or four max. Their power play is too good, too deadly.”
Ontario’s power play is led by center T.J. Tynan. Over the course of the season, he has 2-17=19 points on the power play. His ability to control the puck and find the open man allows him to single handedly pick apart opposing teams’ penalty kill units. He is flanked on the man advantage by the goal scoring abilities of center Lias Andersson and left wing Samuel Fagemo. Anderson leads the Reign in power play goals with six, while Fagemo is close behind with five. This trio is a large reason that the Reign power play is operating at 33.3% (5/15) over the last three games.
However, the Gulls penalty kill is playing at a high level as well. Over San Diego’s last 5 games, they killed 22 out of 24 penalties. This includes going a perfect 6-for-6 in their last game against the Barracuda. The Gulls’ strong defensive play while down a man is leading to offense. Last game, Grimaldi registered two shorthanded goals that helped secure the win for his team. Another reason for the impressive penalty kill numbers is the play of goaltender Lukas Dostal. He has won in three out of his last four games, posting a .949 save percentage (SV%) during this stretch. His calmness between the pipes allows him to control rebounds and keep the killers poised in front of him.
Despite being evenly matched on special teams, the Gulls do not want to rely on their penalty kill throughout the game. Gulls head coach Roy Sommer noted the importance of a strong start at home, as the team is 4-13-0-0 at Pechanga Arena San Diego this season.
“Our starts at home and they've been poor, to make things for a kind of answer. Our starts we got to start on time,” Sommer said. “I mean, you look at the game in Milwaukee - we kind of weathered it but then we got the first goal and just kind of started playing, but I think our starts are going to be really important, especially against Ontario. They've got so much offensive, they get rolling, you can't stop them.”
With a strong start at home and continued penalty kill success, the Gulls can pick up the win over their rivals.