The San Diego Gulls lost six of their first eight games, three of them by one goal and two of those in overtime. But, in the process they were one of the top teams in the league in generating scoring chances, so they had a feeling that eventually the puck was going to bounce their way. “If we weren’t creating all the way through there, we’d be feeling like, hey, where’s our offense? What’s happening?” says Gulls head coach Matt McIlvane. “When you’re creating scoring chances, you know that you can just stay with it.” Sure enough, on Friday night they trailed Bakersfield 3-2 with four seconds left and the perseverance paid off. Sam Colangelo fired home the equalizer with four tenths of a second left, the latest a Gulls player has ever scored in a game. The American Hockey League doesn’t keep stats on the timing of goals … but the National Hockey League sure does. For a bit of context: over the last 100 years, spanning more than 55,000 hockey games, a game-tying goal been scored in the final second only 61 times. So, yeah, this was rare. And it may have been the key that unlocked the Gulls offense. “You know, you can feel it. We felt it in the third (period). We had a lot of chances,” says Gulls forward Justin Bailey. “We were hemming them in for a long time and, I mean, it was only a matter of time for us. Like I said, if it takes to the last 10 th of a second, we’ll take that.” Buoyed by the late drama, and a packed Pechanga Arena in full-throated stupor, Bailey took the momentum into overtime and immediately scored on a breakaway to give the Gulls an improbable 4-3 win. “Such a fun place to play,” says Bailey. “The atmosphere on Friday nights, Saturday nights here, you want to put on a show. Obviously, you know, with the Padres being done there’s some fans up for grabs, and the city as a whole does such a good job supporting us.” As incredible as that finish was, what they did on Saturday might be even more impressive. San Diego went out and beat Abbotsford, the defending AHL champs, 7-0, the most lopsided shutout win in franchise history. “That’s the response we were looking for,” says McIlvane. “We’re extremely pleased about the magic that we were able to pull off, and getting the result on Friday night was a big deal. We just know that we’ve got more to offer as a team. And I thought we showed that.” Sometimes one incredible moment can define an entire season. The Gulls, who now have the third-best winning percentage in the Pacific Division, try to keep their offense humming on Wednesday night at Pechanga Arena against the San Jose Sharks. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. to open the story in your web browser.
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