PREVIEW: Gulls, Roadrunners Conclude Season Series At Pechanga Arena
Mar 29, 2023By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls return to Pechanga Arena San Diego for a midweek matchup against the Tucson Roadrunners tonight (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The matchup marks the conclusion of an eight-game regular-season series between the Pacific Division foes. The Gulls lead the season series, holding a 4-3-0-0 record against the Roadrunners this season. San Diego owns a three-game win streak over their divisional foe, grabbing a 5-1 win on Feb. 14 and posting back-to-back overtime victories on Mar. 3 and 4.
"Yeah, I mean, our guys box out really well," Gulls goaltender Gage Alexander said when asked about facing Tucson. "I mean, they're a team that likes to crash the net a lot and play physical and I mean, I think it's just something we need to focus on our group playing structurally sound in our defensive zone. And being hard to play against, also. I think we kind of strayed away from that on the past weekend. And I think if we get back to that, and we've had some success against them."
San Diego’s goaltender played a key role in the Gulls recent success against Tucson, going 3-0-0 with a 1.30 goals-against average (GAA) and .960 save percentage (SV%). He’s received offensive support from both Brayden Tracey and Nikolas Brouillard, who lead the team with six points against the Roadrunners.
Michael Carcone is the key cog for Tucson. He has 4-5=9 points against the Gulls this season, including a four-point effort on Dec. 17. He enters tonight as the American Hockey League’s leading scorer, collectin 29-45=74 points through 57 games.
"You know, the engine of their car is number eight (Michael Carcone)," Gulls assistant coach Jason Clarke said. "I mean, that's who drives the bus there for those guys. So, if you can take eight away, you know five-on-five and on the power play, you're gonna have a chance to win the game. But he's a dominant player; he's a real good guy, like real good player. You know, he's got lots of fire(power), lots of jam, which we've seen the last time we played them, and we just got to be able to make sure you take care of that line (and) that player specifically. If you can do that, that I think you give yourself a chance to win every game."
The Gulls look to snap a five-game losing streak, one that began on home ice just over two weeks ago. They return to Pechanga Arena following a tough two-game set in Calgary, dropping both meetings with the Wranglers. Following a 6-0 setback on Mar. 24, the Gulls rebounded with a stronger effort on Sunday, falling 3-2 to their division foe.
"We were like Jekyll and Hyde from, you know, from Friday to Sunday," Clarke said. "I just thought we had a lot more attention to detail, like our stick detail was a little better. We were coming back and, inside the dots, our reads off the rush were a little bit better. You know, we gotta give credit as well to our goaltender, (who) played well. I thought (Olle Eriksson) Ek played a really good game, and it was just a much better solid five-on-five and performance from our goaltender than it was on Friday."
"So, we had a couple of, I would say, bad bounces against us on Sunday. But that happens sometimes. I really liked how the boys continue to battle right from the drop of the puck until the end of the game. After losing 6-0 and then coming back and under performance like that is a good sign for us."
Tucson continues its push toward a potential playoff spot, entering tonight holding the seventh and final postseason position in the Pacific Division. They’ve played .500 hockey since dropping the early March series to the Gulls and sit five points ahead of the San Jose Barracuda.
They’re also just two points back of the sixth-place Bakersfield Condors, though they have a game in hand on the Roadrunners.
The team recently received reinforcements from the Arizona Coyotes. Both forward Boko Imama and defenseman Michael Kesselring return, bolstering the lineup for a potential Calder Cup Playoffs run.