San Diego Gulls Biweekly Report 7

By Thomas Harrington

The San Diego Gulls played six games over the past two weeks and had a record of 2-3-0-1. This wasn’t a good two-week stretch for the Gulls, as two of those losses were blowout losses. Making it even worse, two of those losses came against teams that San Diego is chasing in the standings. If they’d won those two games, the Gulls could be fourth or fifth in the Pacific Division, instead of tied for sixth.

The Gulls started out at home, hosting the San Jose Barracuda. San Jose opened the scoring in the first, but Yegor Sidorov tied the game in the second period, his first goal since late November. The Barracuda retook the lead in the third, but Matthew Phillips tied the game with less than a minute to go in regulation, forcing overtime. Neither team scored in the extra session and the contest went to a shootout, where each team used seven shooters. Overall, San Jose scored three times and won the game 3-2.

San Diego then traveled to Colorado to face the Eagles, one of the top teams in the Pacific Division. Nathan Gaucher scored a shorthanded goal and Nico Myatovic scored a powerplay goal in the first to make it 2-0. Colorado scored two goals in the second to tie the game, and then scored two more goals in the third to make it 4-2. Gaucher scored his second goal of the game, and Justin Bailey tied the game with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime. Neither team scored, putting the Gulls in a shootout for the second straight game. This one went five rounds, and Judd Caulfield was the only player to score, giving San Diego a 5-4 win.

San Diego stayed in Colorado for the next game, and the Eagles got their revenge. Neither team scored in the first, but Colorado exploded for five goals in the second period, and then scored again in the third, winning the game 6-0.

The Gulls then returned home to host Abbotsford for a pair of games. In the first game, Sam Colangelo opened the scoring late in the first period, but the Canucks tied it up early in the second. Sidorov put the Gulls back on top two minutes later. In the third, Abbotsford scored two early goals to take the lead, but Roland McKeown tied the game back up. A few minutes later, the Canucks took the lead, and then scored again in the final minute of regulation, winning 5-3.

The Gulls were looking for revenge of their own in the next game and found it. Neither the Gulls nor the Canucks scored in the first period, but Sasha Pastujov opened the scoring early in the second. Neither team scored after that, and the Gulls won 1-0. Calle Clang stopped all 19 shots he faced. In their final game, San Diego hosted the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Coachella Valley opened the scoring late in the first, scored two more times in the second period, and once more early in the third. They skated off with a 4-0 win.

San Diego will play seven games over the next two weeks. They’ll start out with four straight games on the road, two in Tucson and then two in Abbotsford. The Gulls will then return home for a game to host the Roadrunners, and then hit the road for a game in Coachella Valley. San Diego will finish things up back at home, hosting the Ontario Reign.

The San Diego players most likely to get called up to Anaheim are already there, as both Tim Washe and Colangelo are with the Ducks. However, Nikita Nesterenko was recently assigned to San Diego. If Anaheim needs another forward, he’ll probably head back up. On the blueline, Tristan Luneau continues to pace the defense and could get called up if the Ducks need help on the backend. The Gulls also recalled up Konnor Smith and Vyacheslav Buteyets from Tulsa today.

The Gulls hit a bit of a rut over the past two weeks, but still hold a playoff position in the Pacific Division. Every team will go through rough patches in a season. The important thing is to make sure it doesn’t go on for too long. Over the next two weeks, the three games against Tucson are arguably the three most important games of the season. Both the Gulls and Roadrunners have 40 points. If San Diego can win all three games in regulation, it will go a long way to securing a playoff spot for the Gulls.

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January 20th, 2026