Feb 3, 2023
By AJ Manderichio/SanDiegoGulls.com
The San Diego Gulls hit the road, opening a weekend back-to-back series with the Coachella Valley Firebirds tonight at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert (7 p.m. PT; TV: AHL TV; RADIO: Gulls Audio Network).
The two games mark the final contests for both teams before the league’s All-Star Classic, beginning Sunday in Laval, Quebec. Both teams enter this final weekend at opposite ends of the standings. The Firebirds, in their first season, are among the top teams in the league, battling division rival Calgary to sit atop the American Hockey League. San Diego is near the bottom, focusing on a strong push to climb back within playoff contention.
The Gulls enter tonight looking to snap a three-game losing skid. The most recent setback came on Wednesday night, as they fell 6-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks. The two teams played an even first period – the Canucks grabbed the lead on a late goal – but the ice shifted toward the visitors over the final 40 minutes. Abbotsford scored three in the middle frame to open a four-goal lead and padded their advantage in the third.
“I thought we had a really good first,” Gulls center Benoit-Olivier Groulx said following the loss. “We were only down one goal and I thought were really good defensively. Offensively, we had a lot of chances. In the second period, we were just soft defensively. We were missing assignments defensively, and that cost us. We knew they had a lot of really good players offensively and that’s what happened. Good players make plays, and they can finish and that’s what they did.”
San Diego’s lone goal came off the stick of Rocco Grimaldi, a power-play tally in the second period to net the veteran wing his team-leading 18th goal. It marked the second consecutive game the Rossmoor, CA native scored, maintaining his position as the Gulls leading scorer with 18-24=42 points. Grimaldi’s 8-9=17 points on the man-advantage also rank first among San Diego skaters in power-play goals and points.
Groulx collected an assist on the tally, extending his season-high point streak to four games. The center has 2-3=5 points over that span.
“Special teams have been a lot better lately,” Gulls defenseman Austin Strand said after the game. “Power play scored tonight, which is great. I think, you know, Sparresy’s (Gulls assistant coach Kris Sparre) been working a lot with them, I know, and he’s getting a lot of feedback from the…
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