Gulls win 4-2. Bailey with a couple goals, Carpenter three assists, colangelo and luneau an assist, gaucher EN goal.
Great win for the Gulls. Warren and Meyer are both missing with DTD injuries, Sidorov has also been upgraded to DTD from WTW according to the commentary team during the game too.
Biakabutuka and Howe drew into the line up.
A slow 1st period resulted in them going 1-0 down early and not looking great, McKeown got a lucky goal after flipping one on net from the point which I'm sure was deflected in by a San Jose defenceman as it seemed to knuckle halfway to the net. Gulls then gave the goal right back (sensing a theme here?) after a dominant shift by San Jose, Luneau was too loose on his man to the side of the net, who centred the puck to another forward who tapped in after overpowering Lopina in the slot.
2nd period was much better by the Gulls, controlled play for the majority and were unlucky to only get the one goal. Colangelo got moved away from Carpenter and was put with Mysak and Pasta, and I thought they were probably the Gulls best line in the 2nd period. Bailey got the only goal on the PP, Carpenter won a puck battle down low behind the goal and passed it up to Bailey who looked off Pasta and ripped it shot side after the goaltender overcommitted to the pass, smart bit of play by Bailey. I'm not sure which official it was, but he was terrible in this period, called all three penalties on the Gulls, including one on McKeown for slashing when both he and a San Jose player slashed each other, and McKeown's stick broke. Gulls commentator with my f favourite line : "If anyone should be getting a penalty, it should be the stick manufacturer for the stick breaking so easily".
3rd period was more even, some good chances by San Jose but Dansk made some big stops and then the Gulls shut it down beautifully in the final five minutes. I think San Jose had maybe one minute of time in the Gulls zone in the final five minutes of the game, weren't even able to pull their goaltender till 40 seconds left. Gulls went up 4-2 through Bailey again on the PP (as you can see above), it was a great bit of play by Pasta to keep that puck alive. Gaucher got the EN goal after Dansk launched a counter attack after a save with no San Jose players pressuring the net, giving Colangelo an easy assist too. Colangelo was back with Bailey and Carpenter in the third period. Gulls played a very short bench too, Biakabutuka and Howe didn't get a shift in the third period that I could recall and I counted one shift for Myatovic. Pitre and Lopina got some shifts with Mysak and Pasta, but weren't used overly much either. Kinal also only played a handful of shifts.
Bailey, Carpenter (finally looking like the great AHL forward Gulls were expecting) and Dansk were the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stars of the game.
I'd probably have the Nesterenko-Gaucher-Caufield line as the Gulls best line at ES. I believe Caufield drew three penalties in the game himself. That line just pops out to me every time I watch the Gulls, not the most skilled line, but the most consistent when it comes to generating scoring chances it feels like.
Bailey was the Gulls best forward overall, and this game showed what an upgrade is on Regenda (who apart from a great chance in the first 20 seconds, might as well have not been on the ice). If he isn't re-signed, Anaheim are not serious about the Gulls.
I also liked Luneau's aggressiveness on the defensive side of the game, he was much more engaged and using the body extremely well to muscle out some San Jose forwards and put thew some nice hits too. It's pretty frustrating at times, as he's not a small guy at 6'2 and 215 pounds but sometimes it's like he doesn't want to play that physical game, when really that's part of what should hopefully make him a pretty great NHL defenceman.
Hoping to see a little more of Pasta at ES, not that he's been bad at ES by any means (8g+13a), he's just so dynamic on the PP that I feel like there is more production there if he can unlock that extra gear. That being said, I'm not sure how he only has 2 goals in his last 7 games, had some really decent chances just hasn't quite bounced his way.
