Look sharp, play sharp.
The Gulls debuted their third uniform Friday night, a crisp aqua, orange and white look that is a throwback to San Diego’s days in the Western Hockey League during the 1960s.
Even better, they made the great Willie O’Ree proud with a 4-2 win over San Jose at Pechanga Arena.
Brogan Rafferty and Brayden Tracey each had a goal and an assist, Bryce Kindopp scored a key third period goal and Olle Eriksson Ek finished with 26 saves as the Gulls (7-6-1-0) won their fourth straight — all over San Jose — to move above .500 for the first time this season. The Gulls are percentage points out of the fourth playoff slot in the Pacific Division.
“I just told the guys that was our grittiest game of the season,” coach Joel Bouchard said.
“We played really well in the second period and then later, when it was desperation mode, we had guys blocking shots, digging down and doing what we had to do.
“Our habits are starting to kick in. We still have some holes, some things we want to improve on, but we’re seeing some rewards for those good habits.”
The Gulls entered the night with the second most efficient power play in the AHL (12 of 49) and sure enough, it was special teams that gave them a 1-0 lead at 16:55 of a tightly played first period that saw the teams combine for 14 shots on goal.
Danny O’Regan won a power play face-off, slid the puck back to Nikolas Brouillard and he tapped it back to Rafferty, whose slap shot from above the circle gave him his third goal of the season.
The Gulls have scored the first goal in six of the last seven games and are 5-1 in such games.
O’Regan nearly netted another early in the second period but was snuffed at point blank range by San Jose goalie Alexai Melnichuck.
Joachim Blichfeld tied the game at 4:05 when he blasted a shot past Eriksson Ek for a power play goal.
Tracey made it 2-1 San Diego at 12:02 of the second when he gathered a from behind the San Jose net, moved to shooting position, patiently lined up a shot and snapped it home for his fifth goal of the season.
“I was looking to ,” Tracey said.
“Saw Morgie (Morgan Adams-Moison) there in the post but the goalie never came out at me, so I picked my spot and let it go. It went in for me.”
After the Gulls killed off a pair of San Jose power plays in the third period, Kindopp made it 3-1 at 13:29 when he took a feed from Tracey and netted his second goal of the season.
After San Jose’s Blichfeld scored with 36.8 seconds remaining, Eriksson Ek made another save and the Gulls finished it off with Buddy Robinson’s empty netter.
The Gulls begin a stretch of four consecutive away games with a visit to Bakersfield tonight. The Condors currently hold fourth place.
Carter is a freelance writer.
