Gulls Ready for Pivotal Matchup vs. Tucson

Mar 28, 2025

By Nick Aguilera/SanDiegoGulls.com 

After a crucial 4-3 overtime victory over San Jose on Wednesday, the San Diego Gulls are ready to continue their playoff push tonight in what might be the biggest game of their season thus far, a matchup with the Tucson Roadrunners on home ice (7 p.m. PDT; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audion Network). 

Tonight will be the closest to a playoff feel at Pechanga Arena since the 2019 AHL Western Conference Finals, the last time the Gulls hosted a playoff game in San Diego.  Seven points separate the Gulls and Roadrunners in the Pacific Division standings at the moment with Tucson sitting in the seventh and final playoff spot. Critical standings points on the line tonight, as a regulation win for San Diego tonight would shrink the deficit to five points with nine games left to play, while a regulation loss would move it to nine points.  

"We’re excited," defenseman Ian Moore said. "Should be a lot of fun. We just got to play to our strengths. Use our speed, use our skill, use each other… That's when we're at our best, so [we need to] just keep doing that."

San Diego hasn’t had much success against Tucson this season, as the season series currently sits a 2-5-0-0 for the Gulls. The last matchup came on January 11, when the Gulls were 11-19-3-2. They’ve more than doubled their win total since, going 14-10-2-1 since they last met. With momentum on their side, the Gulls seem ready to exercise their demons against the Roadrunners. 

"There's just no passengers in there," forward Carsen Twarynski said. "And no matter what's going on, everyone's got energy, everyone's still talking, everyone's supporting each other, and talking about what we can do on that next shift. Because everything in the past, it doesn't matter. You might give up a couple and you're down on the score sheet, but there's a lot of hockey left to play in these games. So, as long as you stick together with it and keep going, and that's what you'll do, and this room has all of that."

Goaltending will be a key factor for San Diego tonight, as Ville Husso and Oscar Dansk have been lights out for San Diego lately. The team will be in good hands no matter what direction the coaching staff decides to go, as the two have combined for a 2.70 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage across their last 19 games. 

A bit of scoreboard watching will also be involved in the Gulls’ hunt for playoffs. Eighth-place Bakersfield sits four points ahead in the standings and faces the Calgary Wranglers tonight. The Wranglers will make their way down to Pechanga Arena tomorrow night to begin the back half of the Gulls’ four-game homestand (6 p.m. PDT).