The San Diego Gulls are riding a wave of momentum into tonight’s matchup with the Henderson Silver Knights, eyeing a third straight win as they return home to Pechanga Arena (7 p.m. PST; TV: AHLTV on FloHockey; Radio: Gulls Audio Network). With the season series between these two teams wrapping up tonight, there’s more than just two points on the line-there’s pride, playoff positioning, and a chance to keep building on a mid-season surge.
These teams are no strangers. This will be their eighth and final meeting of the regular season, and it’s been a tightly contested series. The Gulls are 2-3-1-1 against Henderson so far, and the last time they went head-to-head in December, the Silver Knights took two of three-including a shootout win and a regulation victory after San Diego claimed the first game.
Henderson comes in looking to snap out of a slump. They’ve dropped back-to-back games to the Texas Stars, both on the road, and tonight marks their third straight away from home. Overall, the Silver Knights are 7-9-3-1 when playing on the road and sit at 18-15-5-2 on the season.
San Diego, meanwhile, is trending in the right direction. The Gulls have banked five points in their last three games, including back-to-back wins over the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Ontario Reign this past weekend. That run has lifted them to 20-14-6-3 on the year, good for 49 points and a growing sense of confidence inside the locker room.
"I feel like our season has had a lot of ups and downs, but we were grinding, and we're right there," defenseman Tyson Hinds said. "I think we can prove it to everybody.
[Ontario is] first in the Pacific right now, and we proved it to everybody that we can win games against the top teams, because we believe that we are a top team and we have great talent on our roster and everything. We're confident, and we just need to keep going."
Helping that push tonight is the return of forward Sam Colangelo. He’s set to play in his first game since January 14, bringing with him a solid stat line of 7 goals and 9 assists through 23 games this season. His return adds another offensive weapon to a team that’s already seeing key players step up in big moments.
Friday’s win over Coachella Valley was a feel-good night across the board. Goaltender Tomas Suchanek earned his first AHL win of the season-his first since April 21, 2024-after missing all of last year with a torn ACL.
It was a long road back, but his performance showed he’s ready to contribute. Forward Yegor Sidorov also had a breakout night, netting his first multi-goal game of the season and finishing with three points.
His second goal sealed the win, giving him the game-winner on a memorable night.
Saturday’s game against Ontario had its own share of highlights. Judd Caulfield recorded three points and hit a new personal best with his 12th goal of the season.
Nathan Gaucher played hero late, scoring the game-winner with just 17 seconds left in regulation-the first game-winning goal of his AHL career. In net, Calle Clang continued his strong run with his 10th win of the season, improving to 10-3-2 over his last 16 starts.
Head coach Matt McIlvane knows the importance of riding this momentum but also keeping things in perspective.
“We’ll take all the momentum from all these games that we can,” McIlvane said. “I think the key is you just kind of stay even keel, and we get an opportunity to rest and practice, which we haven’t had in a bit, so we’re already looking forward to the next game.”
Tonight’s game gives the Gulls a chance to cap off a strong stretch with a third consecutive win-and to send a message to the rest of the Pacific Division. This team is healthy, confident, and playing with purpose. And with Colangelo back in the mix, they’re only getting stronger.