Gulls Biweekly Report 3: Harkins & Colangelo Called Up

By Thomas Harrington

The San Diego Gulls played five games over the past two weeks and had a record of 0-3-2. Going winless over this two-week stretch has dropped the Gulls down to ninth in the Pacific Division. If they want to make the playoffs, San Diego will need to climb back to seventh in the division.

The Gulls started out with a trip to San Jose to face the Barracuda. Neither team scored in the first period but Sam Colangelo opened the scoring in the second. San Jose tied the game before the period was over, and then scored the only goal of the third period and won 2-1. 

San Diego then returned home to host Bakersfield in a high-scoring affair. Ryan Carpenter opened the scoring early in the first, but the Condors responded with five straight goals. Carpenter scored his second of the period and the Gulls trailed 5-2 after one period. In the second, Bakersfield scored, then Pavol Regenda scored, then Bakersfield scored again to take a 7-3 lead into the third. In the final frame of regulation, San Diego took over. Colangelo and Roland McKeown scored less than a minute apart, then Josh Lopina made it a one-goal game with five minutes left in the period. With less than a final minute to go, Rodwin Dionicio tied the game. Neither team scored in overtime and the game went to a shootout. Yegor Sidoro scored San Diego’s lone goal, while Bakersfield scored twice and won 8-7.

The Gulls stayed at home to host the Calgary Wranglers next. Jan Mysak scored a shorthanded goal early in the game, but the Wranglers tied the game a couple minutes later. Mckeown put the Gulls back on top before Calgary tied the game less than a minute later. Regenda gave the Gulls the lead with 15 seconds left in the first. In the second period, Calgary scored twice, neither team scored in the third, and San Diego lost 4-3.

San Diego then traveled to Coachella Valley to face the Firebirds. The Gulls had recently recalled Sasha Pastujov from the ECHL. In his second game back in the lineup, Pastujov scored two goals in the first period to give the Gulls a 2-0 lead. Coachella Valley scored in the second and again in the third to tie the game. The contest went to overtime, where the Firebirds found the gamewinner and they won 3-2. San Diego finished things off by hosting their rival, the Ontario Reign. The Reign scored twice in the first period, before Roman Kinal scored his first career AHL goal in the second to make it a 2-1 game. Ontario then scored twice in the final frame, including an empty net goal, and won 4-1.

The Gulls will play four games over the next two weeks. They’ll start out by hosting the Tucson Roadrunners before traveling to San Jose to face the Barracuda. The Gulls will then return home to host Bakersfield and Ontario. This will be the start of a four-game homestand, the longest for the Gulls so far this season.

Colangelo continues to be San Diego’s most dangerous offensive weapon and has been rewarded with a callup to Anaheim as a result. He and Jansen Harkins definitely earned their callups to the NHL. Regenda has heated up in recent games and could be the next most likely Gulls forward recalled if needed. Drew Helleson was a bit of a surprise recall to me but he’s been very good in Anaheim. If the Ducks need any other defensemen from San Diego, McKeown, Tristan Luneau, or Tyson Hinds could get the call.

The season is about six weeks old, and it’s been a difficult one for the Gulls so far. However, there has been one thing that has really impressed me with the team in the early going, they don’t give up. Though they lost in a shootout to Bakersfield, the Gulls came back from a four-goal deficit to force overtime. In a game against Abbotsford, the Gulls trailed 4-1 early in the third and then scored five straight goals to take the win. If they can bring that kind of effort every night, they should be able to put up a lot more wins than they have so far this year.

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November 28th, 2024