Preview: Gulls Look To Wrap Up Road Trip With Third Straight Win

Dec 9, 2023

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

Fresh off a massive 7-0 win at BMO Center on Friday, the San Diego Gulls are looking to end their five-game road trip with another win over the Rockford IceHogs Saturday. 

"It’s how fast can you reset mentally because the scoreboard says 0-0 once we start tomorrow," head coach Matt McIlvane said after last night’s win. "We have a lot of respect for our opponent. We know that they're going to be extremely hungry from the start of the game. You sit here and you say match it, it's not match it. We will play our game from the start and let the business take care of itself."

San Diego clinched a winning road trip with their third victory in four games. Over their past six games, they are 4-1-1-0. 

The blowout victory on Friday saw Tomas Suchanek become the youngest goaltender in Gulls American Hockey League history to post a shutout. It also saw Chase De Leo earn three assists to bring him to 91 total helpers as a Gull, the third-most in franchise history.  

"So happy for Suchy," De Leo said. "Like we spoke about before, love to see a guy like that earn it. He deserved it and I'm just happy with the way we played tonight.  

"Just goes to show, that we just need to believe in this group. We're obviously more than capable. Just got to keep stringing along these dubs."

Seven different Gulls posted multi-point games, including linemates Judd Caulfield (1-1=2), Nathan Gaucher (1-2=3) and Brayden Tracey (1-2=3). Andrew Agozzino scored twice for his first multi-goal game of the campaign. 

"We started by putting a lot of pressure on them and finding some success through our pressure, be able to get pucks back," McIlvane said. "And then it's fun to watch the offense start from there and see us take advantage of some rushes, take advantage of some offensive zone time. It's fun to watch."

Now on day 10 of their road trip, the Gulls will look to keep their foot on the gas as they run it back with Rockford.  

"Another game [tonight] and we need to make sure we are going to win and have another two points," Suchanek said. "It's what we need right now, to keep winning and that is our goal for [tonight]."

A key factor in San Diego’s hot streak has been playing with a lead early. The Gulls have jumped out to multi-goal leads in the first period in back-to-back games, a trend they’ll look to continue tonight. 

"We don't just want to stick our toes in the water, see how it feels, right off the bat," De Leo said. "It just kind of gives our group a little chance to breath when we get up early."

The Gulls will return to San Diego following tonight’s contest and get a week’s worth of practices before their Saturday night matchup with the Henderson Silver Knights on Dec. 16 for the team’s annual Winter Wonderland game (6 p.m. PST; TV: KUSI-SD).