PREVIEW: Gulls Look For Weekend Sweep On First Hockey Is For Everyone Night
Feb 5, 2022By Paige Burnell/SanDiegoGulls.com
Fresh off shattering their losing streak, the San Diego Gulls look to grab back-to-back wins when they face the Tucson Roadrunners tonight at Pechanga Arena San Diego (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The Gulls will be hosting its inaugural Hockey Is For Everyone Night ™ to raise awareness about diverse groups in hockey, as well as drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities within the sport.
Throughout the night, several groups will be celebrated including National Hockey League (NHL) diversity ambassador Willie O’Ree; the San Diego Ducks Sled Hockey Team that consists of disabled and able-bodied athletes ages five and older, including active-duty military and veterans; San Diego Gulls Special Hockey, an athlete-centered hockey program for children and adults with developmental disabilities; the San Diego Angels, one of the top ranked girls ice hockey programs on the West Coast; and the United States National Blind Hockey Team, national athletes with a visual impairment that compete for the United States of America in international hockey competition who will be represented by national team member Blake Steinecke in an on-ice demonstration during the first intermission.
In addition, the San Diego Gulls Foundation will host its fifth surprise puck sale of the season, with pucks commemorating Hockey Is For Everyone Night ™. Fans can select pucks at random, with five surprise pucks including an additional gift of either Gulls player-signed memorabilia or Gulls merchandise. A limited number of pucks are available, and all proceeds benefit San Diego Sled Hockey.
The Gulls look to sweep the back-to-back set of games after taking down Tucson 5-3 last night, wiping away its losing streak.
"Like I’ve told the guys, it’s six losses, but it was with so many moving parts," Gulls head coach Joel Bouchard said following the win. "Not too many guys lost all the six games. We had five guys coming from the NHL - they just lost one so it’s a different time in our life and I didn’t want to let the losing streak affect the effort that was done before. It’s nice to some of the guys that lost six in a row, but they weren’t losses where we got dominated. I feel guys clung in there and we’ve talked about a few losses to say, ‘Remember when we win next time, the feeling that it’s going to be’ and it was tonight. So, it’s a good feeling. The guys really responded well in the second and third and we got some bounces that, you know, we liked tonight because we pushed hard and created those bounces, forced them in the third period by making good action."
The Gulls are 2-1-0-0 against the Roadrunners this season. San Diego also improved its overall record against Tucson to 27-21-2-1, including a 14-9-1-1 mark at home (13-12-1-0 on the road).
Veteran center Danny O’Regan led the Gulls, earning a career-best 1-3=4 points and tying his career-high in assists. O’Regan made an impact on special teams, notching a shorthanded goal as well as collecting an assist on the power play to rank tied for first on the Gulls with 4-4=8 man-advantage points.
"I got a few bounces that I think I maybe had coming," O’Regan said. "You never complain when things are going your way and I was just fortunate enough to be on the ice for a few good plays with my teammates and we were able to capitalize, which has been something we haven’t been doing great lately. So, it was great."
Greg Printz contributed a career-high three points (1-2=3) in what was his first multi-point and multi-assist game in the American Hockey League.
“I think I was just working hard,” Printz said. “Been working hard for the last couple games. And just, pucks started to bounce our way a little bit. But it’s a good team effort, a lot of props to the guys I was playing with. Playing with a bunch of different guys tonight. We had a good night.”
Two defensemen – Nikolas Brouillard and Brogan Rafferty – made an impact on the scoresheet. Rafferty collected two assists and joins O’Regan as the team-leader in power-play points (1-7=8). Brouillard scored a goal in the third period, his seventh of the season, moving him into a tie for the most goals among AHL blueliners.
The Gulls will need this well-rounded scoring to fend off a Tucson team that may be down, but certainly isn’t out.
"They’re a fast team so we need to be better in some areas," Bouchard said. "It’s been a battle, guys. I admit, it’s been hard. Guys have been good, the attitude has been good. I’m going to ask for a little bit more tomorrow on some few areas, but I want that same spirit, that same sticking together and fight."
Michael Carcone scored two of the Roadrunners’ three goals to keep his team in yesterday’s game while Hudson Fasching notched the remaining tally for 4-2=6 points in three games played against the Gulls this season.
Matias Maccelli also put up a multi-point performance with two assists (0-2=2). The rookie paces all AHL first-year skaters in points (10-28=38) and assists (28) while leading the charge for the Roadrunners in both categories.
"I don’t think we played a perfect game," O’Regan said. "We can clean up a few details, but luckily, a few of them are pretty simple. Just kind of keeping the other team in front of us. They’re a really good team on the rush and just a few more details like that we could be sharper on and now that the offense is clicking, which has been a problem for us maybe lately, if we could just focus on the defensive and transition side of things, we could play a complete 60 minutes and end this first half on a really good note."