HGD 67: Heat visit Gulls for potential playoff preview (8:00 p.m. MT)

Photo credit:Graphic by Mike Gould

2 years ago

The Pacific Division champion Stockton Heat will face a potential Calder Cup playoff opponent on Tuesday when they visit the No. 7-seeded San Diego Gulls at 8:00 p.m. MT.

The Heat (44–15–7) have the best record in the American Hockey League. As the top seed in the Pacific Division, they will bypass the first round of the playoffs and face the bottom-seeded Pacific team to make it to the semi-finals.

It remains to be seen whether @Glenn Gawdin, @Connor Zary, @Juuso Valimaki, and @Mark Simpson will play for the Heat on Tuesday. Gawdin, Zary, and Simpson sat out of Stockton’s 4–0 loss to Bakersfield on April 23 while dealing with injuries; Valimaki missed the game due to illness.

The Gulls (28–31–6) are guaranteed to finish seventh in the Pacific and will take on the No. 2-seeded Ontario Reign (41–17–9) in a best-of-three series. San Diego has won just three of its 12 meetings against Ontario this season; however, if the Gulls were to pull off the upset, they would face the Heat in the second round.

Stockton has won five of its seven games against San Diego in 2021–22, most recently prevailing by a 7–5 score back on March 27. Heat forward @Luke Philp led the way with two goals in that game while goaltender @Adam Werner stopped 21 of 26 shots.

Projected lineups

These combinations are based, in part, on those used in these teams’ respective previous games.

Stockton Heat

@Jakob Pelletier – @Glenn Gawdin – @Matthew Phillips
@Justin Kirkland – @Luke Philp – @Martin Pospisil
@Emilio Pettersen – @Connor Zary – @Walker Duehr
Tyrell Goulbourne – @Byron Froese – @Eetu Tuulola

@Juuso Valimaki – @Colton Poolman
@Kevin Gravel – @Nick DeSimone
@Ilya Solovyov – @Andy Welinski

@Adam Werner
@Daniil Chechelev

San Diego Gulls

@Greg Printz – Danny O’Regan – @Lucas Elvenes
Blake McLaughlin – @Bryce Kindopp – @Jacob Perreault
@Brayden Tracey – Brent Gates Jr. – @Alex Limoges
@Vincent Marleau – @Josh Lopina – Logan Nijhoff

@Jacob Larsson – @Brogan Rafferty
@Nikolas Brouillard – @Drew Helleson
@Nathan Larose – @Greg Pateryn

@Lukas Dostal
@Olle Eriksson Ek

Scoring stars

This section excludes players recalled to the NHL or on assignment to other leagues.

Stockton Heat

Matthew Phillips — 63 GP, 30 G, 67 P
Jakob Pelletier — 64 GP, 27 G, 62 P
Glenn Gawdin — 62 GP, 15 G, 50 P
Justin Kirkland — 64 GP, 25 G, 47 P
Luke Philp — 64 GP, 21 G, 44 P

San Diego Gulls

Nikolas Brouillard — 63 GP, 13 G, 39 P
Alex Limoges — 59 GP, 22 G, 38 P
Jacob Perreault — 52 GP, 14 G, 37 P
Lucas Elvenes — 40 GP, 9 G, 32 P
Danny O’Regan — 50 GP, 13 G, 32 P

Heating up

Stockton struggled to generate much of anything in its shutout loss to the Bakersfield Condors on April 23, being outshot 39–23 and outscored 4–0.

Nevertheless, Adam Werner had one of his better performances of the 2021–22 season in the defeat. The 24-year-old Swede has struggled this year, posting an 11–6–2 record and an .882 save percentage in 20 games, but he kept things close on Saturday by stopping 35 of 38 shots.

With Dustin Wolf in Calgary, it remains to be seen whether Werner or Daniil Chechelev will start for Stockton on Tuesday.

How to watch

Tuesday’s game in San Diego will be broadcast on AHL TV (subscription required) and on Spreaker (audio only), with the opening puck-drop set for 8:00 p.m. MT.

FlamesNation contributor Paige Siewert will provide live game updates on her Twitter account. Additionally, you’ll be able to follow along at TheAHL.com.

HEAT GAME PREVIEW BROUGHT TO YOU BY DAILY FACEOFF

Looking to up your fantasy hockey game? DailyFaceoff has the tools you need for both daily and season-long fantasy leagues, including a lineup optimizer, daily projections, and a whole lot more. Sign up for the DailyFaceoff tools here.

Uncategorized