2018-19 AHL Affiliate San Diego Gulls

[bsu]

Kings new maple leaf looks damn good....

 

[duxfan1101]

Kings new maple leaf looks damn good....

I agree, the thing I'm most shocked about is that even though he was a high end Leafs prospect, I'd barely heard of the guy before the trade.

 

[bsu]

Kloos is a crafty little mother f***er.

 

[bsu]

Gundstrom scores again...

then gulls score, Terry with some baby sauce over to Kossila, Terry has made some ridiculous passes this season def thought he was more of a shooter.

 

[duxfan1101]

Gulls lose 6-3, Cal Petersen went huge at the end of the game to preserve the game for the Reign before they added an empty netter. He made a ridiculous save on a bullet of a one-timer from Steel on a PP. Gulls outshot Ontario 40-25, but they did not have the better goalie tonight, not to say Boyle didn't play well.

 

[HansH]

It was a frustrating game to watch, for sure -- especially as the Gulls had a shot at being up 3-1 seconds after their 2nd goal, with a very nice rush right off the faceoff... but less than a minute later, it was in the back of their own net for the 2-2 score. Pucks were jumping over sticks, shots were being heeled, there was just a marked lack of crispness for the Gulls last night. The Reign definitely knew what weaknesses to exploit, and how to disrupt any offensive chances for the Gulls that did develop. It looked NOTHING like the last-place team in the league against a playoff contender. Quite aggravating indeed - I'm kinda glad I haven't made plans to head up to Ontario for the rematch.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Buddy of mine had to work tonight and gave me his ticket, so I’ll be at this one live in Ontario tonight. Looking forward to it.

With Boyle called up, I’m assuming Glass gets the start between the pipes tonight?

 

[duxfan1101]

Street and Kopacka switch lines and Glass is starting. Still no sign of Dotchin.

 

[duxfan1101]

Gulls have scored twice in the first 4 minutes tonight. Tropp got one on a partial breakaway, then De Leo tipped in a Sustr point shot.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Moulson scored with a minute left in the period, which the Reign deserved. Ontario largely dominated that period IMO and there was a certain lack of crispness to the Gulls game as @HansH brought up Wednesday. That’s not to say the Gulls didn’t have chances in the first 10 minutes to extend the lead to 3 or 4-0, Petersen was very good.

Even so, the difference between the two teams is staggering. It was so refreshing watching the Gulls slow it down and double back in their own zone and look for passing options in situations where Carlyle’s group would have obviously chipped it out of the zone. There were quick breakouts too, times when the D—>D lateral pass opened up a forward and the Gulls were out in 2 passes and stretched the play.

Steel and Terry when given time and space are so good and Max Jones had the great area pass that sprung Tropp for the opening goal, but I was most impressed with the Tropp-Kossila-Kopacka line, who play a nice physical cycle game down low but who all have the skill at this level to create scoring chances. Kopacka was acquired with the pick from the Pat Maroon trade, so it would be great if he could develop into an NHLer.

Glass was excellent in the opening period. He was also very aggressive handling the puck, playing almost every dump-in and looking to start the attack up ice at will.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Awful start to the 2nd period for the Gulls, who cannot stop the Moulson-Grundstrom-Maillet line at even strength and gave up a PP goal to fall behind 3-2. Eakins took a timeout, which is what coaches who coach with urgency and understand that the game might be getting away from them do.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

See it in the Twitter GIF but Max Jones shelved one with an absolute snipe bar down to tie the game. Dude can wire it. He has been brilliant in this game so far

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Sloppy second half of that period from the Gulls, whom are very fortunate that they got out of there tied. Glass with a few big stops on multiple outnumbered chances. Jones and Terry took turns drawing penalties for the Gulls but the PP looks out of sync.

Rough night for Mahura on the back end among others, although it looks like he’s playing on his off side. Sustr is terrible, barely passing as a pro hockey player; what an unbelievably bad signing. I do like that they seem to be given the liberty to make their own reads at the blue line and center if they think they can pick pucks off and transition the other way.

Kloos is interesting, very patient and crafty with the puck. Even if he never makes the big club, he’s still an asset.

Sherwood is not using his teammates whatsoever. And the length of a professional season plus his style looks to be taking a toll on him, he’s not at the same top speed he was earlier in the year. Would love to see what he could do with a full offseason under his belt, still think he’s a less physical, slightly more skilled version of Chris Wagner

 

[duxfan1101]

Kopacka, Tropp, and De Leo have scored in the 3rd to make it 6-3. I've been very impressed with De Leo in the last couple games. He's a puck hound with a good amount of skill.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Kopacka, Tropp, and De Leo have scored in the 3rd to make it 6-3. I've been very impressed with De Leo in the last couple games. He's a puck hound with a good amount of skill.

This Kopacka-Kossila-Tropp line is so much fun. I really like Kopacka and I wish Kossila would stick at the NHL level

 

[duxfan1101]

I will add that the defense hasn't looked quite as good since Welinski got called up. In the few games I've watched, Welinski is their best defenseman, and Megna is also a stable guy back there. Murphy is talented, as is Mahura. Benoit is ok, has some offensive abilities and can throw some hits, but he's a little inconsistent from what I've seen. Thompson is meh and Sustr is trash, really wish we shipped him to Vancouver instead of Schenn.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

Reign have melted down late so the Gulls basically milked the 2 minutes of the 5v3. Should be a 2 point revenge game after Wednesday’s loss

 

[duxfan1101]

This Kopacka-Kossila-Tropp line is so much fun. I really like Kopacka and I wish Kossila would stick at the NHL level

I haven't been particularly impressed with Kossila since he came back from injury. Maybe it's because I have higher expectations for him, but he doesn't seem to be as dominant as I had hoped.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

I haven't been particularly impressed with Kossila since he came back from injury. Maybe it's because I have higher expectations for him, but he doesn't seem to be as dominant as I had hoped.

I mean, I haven’t watched every game (though I might end up getting AHL Live at some point), but he’s impressed tonight as has Kopacka.

 

[duxfan1101]

I mean, I haven’t watched every game (though I might end up getting AHL Live at some point), but he’s impressed tonight as has Kopacka.

Tonight was definitely his best since he came back, still expect more from him. Kopacka has been very good, too.

 

[duxfan1101]

Gulls allow a late one, but still win 6-4. They outshot Ontario 15-4 in the 3rd, almost completely shutting them down.
Next game is tomorrow at 7 in Bakersfield against the Condors who have now won 11 (!!!) in a row. Should be a tough one, especially since Boyle isn't with the team.

 

[duxfan1101]

Here is Jones' snipe

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Where is Dotchin ? He is 10000000x better than Sustr.

 

[Getzmonster]

Love the updates, thanks all.

Jones and Terry seem like locks for the big club next year, so glad to see Jones putting it back together after a really rough patch. Any thoughts on what's holding Kopacka back?

 

[mightyquack]

Love the updates, thanks all.

Jones and Terry seem like locks for the big club next year, so glad to see Jones putting it back together after a really rough patch. Any thoughts on what's holding Kopacka back?

To be fair Kopacka is only a few games back from a really bad wrist laceration injury - the way it was worded at the time made it sound pretty similar to when Blake got stepped on in San Jose in....2010 or 2011 I want to say. Probably going to take him a little while to really get going again.