The San Diego Gulls are back at Pechanga Arena San Diego tonight with a familiar opponent waiting across the ice: the San Jose Barracuda.
This is the fourth meeting in an eight-game season series, and San Diego has already banked points in every matchup so far. The Gulls are 2-0-1-0 against San Jose, including a 4-1 win on home ice the last time these teams saw each other on Saturday, Oct.
- The standings are tight, too, with San Diego sitting on 13 points, tied for seventh in the Pacific Division, and San Jose right behind at 12.
San Diego comes in after a tough back-to-back on the road against the Henderson Silver Knights, a weekend that ended with two losses, one of them in overtime. The Gulls were blanked on Nov. 6, then found a late equalizer on Nov. 7 to force overtime and salvage a point. Lucas Pettersson scored with 2.7 seconds left, with assists from Matt Basgall and James Hamblin, to keep San Diego from leaving the weekend empty-handed.
"Overall, we didn’t get the points that we wanted," assistant coach Steve McCarthy said. "Obviously you want four points, but we did a lot of good things.
We’re creating chances. As a staff, that’s when you worry a little bit if we’re not creating offensive chances.
The defensive game is there, that seems to be working. Offensively, we’re getting snake bitten a little bit.
We talked about getting more traffic, we talked about getting to the net, being a little selfish, just getting a lot of pucks on net which we’re doing. Give them [Henderson] credit, they have a couple good goaltenders.
Overall, just stick with what we’re doing but limit the frustration. Offensive guys like to score so that becomes a little bit frustrating for them but overall, the attitude is good, we have good leadership and the young guys are coming along.
But we expect ourselves to start putting some goals in the net for sure."
San Jose is also coming off a shutout, beating the Bakersfield Condors 1-0 on Saturday, Nov. 7. The night before, the Barracuda dropped a 3-2 decision to Bakersfield, leaving them with a two-point weekend of their own.
The Gulls head back on the road this weekend and will see Bakersfield for the first time this season on Nov. 13 at Dignity Health Arena. One night later, they’ll be right back against San Jose, this time at Tech CU Arena.
In Other News...
Cutter Gauthier Is Giving Ducks Fans Hope After A Frustrating Setback
The Ducks momentum hit a bump at Honda Center on Monday night, where Nashville left with a 4-2 win and snapped Anaheims five-game run. The loss stung, but Cutter Gauthier kept giving the building something to watch, extending his goal streak to seven straight games and continuing a surge that has become one of the most encouraging developments for a team still trying to find its footing.
Gauthiers latest finish tied a team mark and underscored how quickly he has become a bright spot in Anaheims lineup, even on a night when the result went the other way. Justus Annunen turned aside 25 shots for Nashville, while Laurent Brossoit stopped 18 of 22 in the Ducks net, leaving Anaheim to regroup after a frustrating setback with one of its young forwards still carrying the kind of form that can change the mood around a season. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Prospect Pipeline Just Delivered Another Encouraging Sign
The Ducks prospect pool got another useful checkpoint Saturday night in San Diego, where the Gulls handled the Barracuda 4-1 at Pechanga Arena and kept building on their edge in the season series. It was the kind of win that matters beyond the standings for Anaheim, because it featured a young roster finding a little more rhythm in the same areas the organization has been trying to sharpen all season.
Anton Wahlberg provided the biggest lift with a pair of goals after an 11-game drought, and Damian Clara gave the Gulls a steady night in net with 19 saves in his sixth start. San Diego also got a boost from a special teams group that has been searching for traction, with the power play finally cashing in and the penalty kill continuing to do its job, a combination that gives the Ducks another encouraging data point as they track their pipeline. [Read more 🡒]