Got playoffs? NHL Stanley Cup openers have yielded surprises

The National Hockey League playoffs are dominating headlines right now as a slew of underdogs have slain higher-seeded opponents in the opening round of competition. The Los Angeles Kings, Florida Panthers and Anaheim Ducks have all been eliminated by lower-seeded teams.

Egad!

The Ducks, the team with the best record in the 30-team league after Christmas, were picked by many to win this year’s Stanley Cup championship. But they saw their season end much too soon for their liking in a 2-1 Game 7 loss to the unheralded Nashville Predators, a wild card playoff qualifier.

The Kings, winners of two recent Stanley Cup championships, were done in by the San Jose Sharks.

Anaheim and L.A. finished 1-2 in the Pacific Division standings, just one point apart. Now both are done.

Also gone are other teams with name recognition: the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

What is to become of this year’s bracket, much less to say, about television ratings?

Should we expect a Stanley Cup Final between the Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals? How about the Tampa Bay Lightning and San Jose Sharks. It could happen.

Pro hockey playoffs often deliver the most unexpected results. It’s not always the team that has played the best over the entire course of the season that gets it reward but the team that plays its best after having flown under the radar that delivers.

It’s been the same closer to home as the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup playoffs have faced off.

The fourth-seeded Grand Rapids Griffins swept the top-seeded Milwaukee Admirals 3-0 in their best-of-five Western Conference Central Division semifinals series. Meanwhile, another top seed will watch the remainder of the Calder Cup playoffs after the third-seeded Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins eliminated the second-seeded Providence Bruins in three straight games in their Eastern Conference Atlantic Division semifinals.

Five divisional series have yet to be decided and three of them look to be up for grabs with the participating teams tied 1-1.

The second-seeded San Diego Gulls won their Western Conference Pacific Division semifinal opener over the third-seeded Texas Stars by a score of 3-1 on April 21, but the Stars, braced by one of the AHL’s top offenses, stormed back to even the series on the strength of a 5-1 home ice victory on April 23.

The series shifts to the Valley View Casino Center for the remainder of the series. Games are guaranteed Thursday (April 28) and Friday (April 29), with a potential rubber game scheduled Monday (May 2).

Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins said it doesn’t matter where his team has to play, just that his team must play its game to be successful on the ice. Certainly, the San Diegans played smart in the opener, using opportunistic goals and solid goaltending by Anton Khudobin to take a 1-0 series lead.

But the Texans got back to their game, which is scoring goals, in Game 2. The Gulls also got off their game by taking 20 minutes in penalties and yielding two power play goals. The Stars broke open a 1-1 contest with two second-period goals, both on the power play, and closed out the game with four unanswered goals overall.

Nick Ritchie tied the game with his second post-season goal at the 10:12 mark of the opening period, assisted by Ondrej Kase, to offset the jump goal by Derek Hulak just 3:53 into the contest.

Esa Lindell and Matt Mangene both scored their first playoff goals of the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs on man-advantage opportunities in the second period to push the Stars up 3-1 on the scoreboard.

Curtis McKenzie and Justin Dowling added third-period goals for the final 5-1 verdict. Texas outshot San Diego 42-26, including 19-7 in the pivotal middle period.

Khudobin, who stopped 28 of 29 shots in the series opener, made 37 saves in the second game. Jack Campbell, taking over for Game 1 starter Maxime Legace, allowed just one goal on 26 shots he faced.

The Stars have outshot the Gulls 71-43 in the two games.

San Diego was 0-for-5 on the power play in Game 2 after finishing 0-for-2 in Game 1 with the man-advantage. San Diego is 0-for-7 with one shorthanded goal allowed, and that just won’t cut it in postseason play. The Gulls made a name for themselves as one of the league’s top power play units during regular season play.

Texas is 2-for-14 on power plays so far in the series. That part of the Gulls’ game plan appears to be working.

Antoine Laganiere, Ritchie and Chris Mueller each scored goals in the series opener, though the visitors were outshot 29-17.

Mueller led San Diego with 57 points during the regular season, finishing in a tie with rookie teammate Brandon Montour. However, Montour, an AHL First All-Star Team and AHL All-Rookie Team selection, remains scoreless so far in postseason play.

So, which team will show up in Game 3 – the defensive-minded Gulls squad that won Game 1 or the run-and-gun Texas squad that won Game 2?

San Diego, which finished second in the league in regular season attendance, should be well supported on its home ice. Gulls players said they feed off the energy of their adoring home crowd. They’ll likely need that power boost at home.

The Ducks’ misery has turned into a blessing for the Gulls after Anaheim reassigned four players to its AHL affiliate. They include defenseman Marcus Pettersson, right wing Nick Sörensen, defenseman Shea Theodore and center Chris Wagner.

Theodore and Wagner had spent a significant amount of time on the San Diego roster this season. In 50 games with the Gulls, Theodore had recorded nine goals and 37 points. In 10 games in San Diego, Wagner had collected six goals and 10 points.

Calder Cup notepad

The regular season Pacific Division champion Ontario Reign is also knotted in a 1-1 battle with the fourth-seeded San Jose Barracuda after the teams split a pair of games last week in the Bay Area.

The Reign, the defending Calder Cup champions, eked out a 2-1 win in Game 1 but were stopped 3-2 in Game 2. Hot goaltending defined both games. Ontario’s Peter Budaj, the AHL’s outstanding goaltender in 2015-16, stopped 28 of 29 shots in Game 1 while San Jose’s Aaron Dell stopped 34 of 36 shots in posting a win in Game 2.

The Reign managed to pop in goals off the sticks of Kurtis MacDermid and Jonny Brodzinski. MacDermid’s goal broke nearly 30 minutes of scoreless action while Brodzinski’s game-winner came with just 4:03 remaining in the game.

Ontario’s second goal in Game 2 came with just 35 seconds left after the Barracuda had managed to manufacture a 3-1 lead on goals by Ryan Carpenter, Bryan Lerg and Nickolay Goldobin.

The Reign outshot San Jose 37-29 in Game 1 and 36-15 in Game 2. The series shifts to Ontario for games April 28, April 29 and, if needed, May 1.

The games have been exceedingly tight so far. Both teams went scoreless on the power play in Game 1 and again in Game 2. The Reign is 0-for-6 with the man-advantage while the Barracuda is 0-for-5.

The Toronto Marlies, which finished with the league’s top regular season record, holds a 2-0 series lead over the fourth-seeded Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the Eastern Conference North Division semifinals while the second-seeded Albany Devils hold a 2-1 series lead over the third-seeded Utica Comets in their Eastern Conference North Division semifinal series.

The top-seeded Hershey Bears and the fourth-seeded Portland Pirates are tied 1-1 in their Eastern Conference Atlantic Division semifinal series.

Calder Cup playoff preview

Series H

P2 San Diego Gulls (39-23-4-2) vs. P3 Texas Stars (40-25-8-3)

The second-seeded Gulls will face the third-seeded Texas Stars in the Pacific Division semifinals starting Thursday in Cedar Park, near Austin. Game 2 in the series is Saturday. The series then shifts back to San Diego for Game 3 on April 28. If a fourth game is necessary in the best-of-five series, it would be played on April 29, also at the Valley View Casino Center, followed by a potential Game 5 on May 2 at the same site.

The Gulls finished with 16 more wins than losses. That’s a blockbuster showing considering the team, as the Norfolk Admirals last season, posted 12 more losses than wins.

The Gulls have compiled several impressive streaks this season. The team is 31-0 when leading after two periods, is 18-2-0-1 when leading after the first period and has lost only once in regulation play after scoring the first goal (28-1-2-1).

The Gulls are also 20-1-4-2 in one-goal games – a significant statistic that should buoy the team in the upcoming playoffs.

But there is one nagging statistic that will not go away. Despite finishing above the Stars in the division standings, the Gulls dropped five of six regular season meetings against the Texas team.

The first-round series goes quickly and leaves little margin for error: it’s a best-of-five format.

San Diego head coach Dallas Eakins admitted the Stars will be facing a different Gulls team than the Texas bunch faced earlier in the season when the team was battling through injuries to key players.

“I think we’re a little deeper,” the San Diego bench boss explained. “We’re going to have some decisions to make with our defense. I think we’ll be bettered prepared for them.”

Brian McGrattan said the team’s dramatic come-from-behind 3-2 win in the regular season finale over the Ontario Reign, the Western Conference’s top team, will provide the Californians with some much-needed momentum heading into the series against Texas.

“It’s going to be an exciting series (against the Stars),” McGrattan said. “They’re a fast-skating team. We’ll have our hands full but I like our chances.”

The Stars wrapped up regular season play with a 4-1 win over the visiting Manitoba Moose. The winners received goals from Matjas Backman, Matej Stransky, Esa Lindell and Greg Rallo. Rallo also picked up an assist in support of goaltender Jack Campbell, who made 32 saves on 33 shots.

The Stars finished as the highest scoring team in the Pacific Division (second overall in the 30-team AHL) with 277 goals in 76 games. Regular season leaders on the Stars include left wings Brendan Ranford (19 goals, 40 assists) and Kurtis McKenzie (24 goals, 31 assists); centers Travis Morin (15 goals, 39 assists), Jason Dickinson (22 goals, 31 assists) and Justin Dowling (11 goals, 35 assists), left wing Greg Rallo (22 goals, 22 assists); defensemen Julius Honka ( 11 goals, 33 assists) and Esa Lindell (14 goals, 28 assists); left wing Derek Hulak (17 goals, 23 assists); and right wing Matej Stransky (23 goals, 16 assists).

Rallo led the team with 12 power play goals while McKenzie and Dickinson both had three short-handed goals.

Four Texas players finished with 20 or more goals, six with 30 or more assists and nine with 40 or more points.

Maxime Legace (19-10-3) registered the majority of minutes between the pipes for the Stars this season. He has a 2.90 GAA and 0.913 save percentage.

Ranford and Lindell were selected to appear in the AHL All-Star Classic at midseason.

Brett Ritchie, the older brother of the Gulls’ Nick Ritchie, collected 14 goals and 14 assists in 35 games for Texas this season.

The Stars, who are averaging 3.64 goals per game, enter the playoffs on a 2-0-1 streak and are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.

San Diego, which is averaging 3.06 goals per game, is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games. The Gulls, however, appear to have an advantage in defense and goaltending by allowing 2.94 goals per game as opposed to 3.27 goals per game for Texas.

Chris Mueller and Brandon Montour finished as San Diego’s co-scoring leaders in 2015-16 with 57 points. Mueller posted 20 goals and 37 assists in 63 games while Montour collected 12 goals and 45 assists in 68 games. Mueller led the team with 20 goals while Montour led the team with 45 assists.

Mike Sgarbossa finished third in team scoring with 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points; Corey Tropp was fourth with 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points.

Mueller and Ritchie pace San Diego with eight power play goals apiece while Matt Bailey leads the team with two short-handed goals.

Anton Khudobin is 19-8-1 between the pipes for the Gulls with a 2.46 GAA and 0.921 save percentage; Matt Hackett is 10-7-0 with a 3.03 GAA and 0.895 save percentage.

The Reign, which finished regular season play 44-19-4-1, will play San Jose in the division semifinals after the Barracuda secured the league’s final playoff berth by defeating the visiting Stockton Heat, 6-0, in the last scheduled regular season game of the season (the league’s 1,120th and final game of regular season play).

San Jose, led by Roy Sommer, the all-time winningest coach in the AHL’s 80-year history, is 31-26-8-3. The Barracuda is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games and finished 3-6-3 against Ontario during regular season play. All three wins against the Reign came at the SAP Center where the series will open with games April 22 and 23 (Friday and Saturday).

Ontario, which finished 9-3-0 against San Jose, will have home ice advantage for the duration of the series.

Schmalz, one of the Reign’s amateur tryout rookies, collected a goal and assist in the game. The 20-year-old right wing, who stands 6-6 and weighs 214 pounds, had played the past four seasons with the Sudbury Wolves in the Ontario Hockey League. The two points were his first as a pro in three games with Ontario.

— Phillip Brents

Calder Cup Playoff Report:

Stars in their eyes: Gulls pull out 3-1 win in playoff series opener

CEDAR PARK, Texas, April 21, 2016 — History continues to be written for the San Diego Gulls in their first American Hockey League season in San Diego. The Gulls won their first Calder Cup playoff game Thursday in Cedar Park, Texas, by defeating the host Texas Stars, 3-1, to take a 1-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-five Pacific Division semifinal series.

Antoine Laganiere scored the first playoff goal in Gulls’ history with five minutes to play in the first period, and teammates Nick Ritchie and Chris Mueller each added goals to support goaltender Anton Khudobin, who stopped 28 of 29 shots he faced to earn first star of the game honors.

Khudobin, making his first post-season appearance since leading the Houston Aeros to the conference finals in 2009, stopped all 14 shots he faced in the opening frame as the Stars controlled the pace with a 14-7 edge in shots; the Gulls netminder also came up huge in the final 2:45 of the game when the host Texas team pulled its goaltender in favor of an extra attacker. He stopped all nine shots he faced in the final frame.

The Stars outshot the Gulls 29-17 in absorbing the playoff loss.

Maxime Lagace, who was making his playoff debut for Texas, made 14 saves.

The Gulls scored their first two goals on turnovers by the Stars. A defensive zone error led to Laganiere’s go-ahead goal. After stealing the puck, Laganiere broke in on Legace to score his first AHL playoff game. Matt Bailey received credit for the assist.

The hosts evened the score, 1-1, by scoring a short-handed goal just 39 seconds in the second period. AHL First Team AHL Star Brandon Montour lost the puck under similar pressure to the Stars’ Justin Dowling, who broke free and beat Khudobin low to tie the game. Esa Lindell received credit for the assist.

The Gulls worked the puck free deep in the Texas zone late in the period, with Mike Sgarbossa feeding Ritchie near the right face-off circle. The Gulls rookie star then ripped off a low shot to beat Legace to his blocker side to put his team ahead, 2-1, at the 15:58 mark.

Ritchie’s goal, his first career AHL playoff goal (and 17th in 39 games this season), would stand up as the game-winning goal.

Mueller helped seal the fate of his former team by scoring on a backhand shot with 10:56 gone in the third period to put the visitors ahead 3-1. Mueller, who helped the Stars win the 2014 Calder Cup championship, slipped the puck between the pads of Legace.

Mueller now leads the Gulls in season scoring with 58 points on 21 goals and 37 assists in 64 games. The 21 goals lead the team.

Montour is second with 57 points on 12 goals and 45 assists.

The Gulls improved to 32-0-0 when leading after two periods.

After the offensively talented hosts opened the game on a torrid pace, the San Diego defense was able to slow down the Texas offense a bit over the course of the final two periods that saw the Stars gain a 15-10 advantage in shots. Texas out-shot San Diego 6-4 in the second period and 9-6 in the final period.

The Gulls, who finished 0-for-2 on the power play, held the Stars scoreless in four man-advantage opportunities.

Brian Cooper and Andrew Welinski, both on amateur tryout agreements, started for San Diego.

The teams rematch Saturday night in Texas before the series switches to San Diego.

Dowling earned second star of the game honors while Ritchie was named the game’s third star.

The win was the 40th of the season for the Gulls, who improved to 40-23-4-2 overall, including regular season play.

San Diego’s most important number right now is its 1-0 series lead.

— Phillip Brents

Gulls protect the nest, top Stars 6-1 to take 2-1 series lead

SAN DIEGO, April 28, 2016 — After three games in their Pacific Division semifinal series against the third-seeded Texas Stars, the secret to success for the second-seeded Gulls is evident: keep the host Stars’ potent power play off the ice while scoring on the man-advantage when they have the puck.

In Game 1, the Gulls highlighted their superior defense and goaltending in capturing a 3-1 decision. The Stars were held scoreless in four power play opportunities. The second game in the series didn’t turn out the way the visitors might have hoped as the Stars scored two power play goals to break an early 1-1 tie en route to claiming a 5-1 win to even the series.

Game 3, played Thursday in front of 6,571 raucous fans at the Valley View Casino Center, saw the Gulls get back to basics, or as head coach Dallas Eakins would refer to it, return to their structure and values.

The hosts scored two power play goals while holding the powerful Texas offense to one even-strength goal in cobbling together a solid 6-1 victory. The Gulls have now set the tone for the series with a 2-1 lead and can punch their ticket to the Western Conference Pacific Division Finals by defeating the Stars for a third time in the teams’ best-of-five series on Friday.

“It was a good game for us — we can enjoy this for about 10 minutes and then we have to prepare for (the next game),” Eakins said following the Game 3 victory – the first AHL playoff win on home ice during the Gulls’ inaugural season.

Despite what proved to be a dominating San Diego victory, there some nervous moments to start the game. The Gulls were whistled for a tripping penalty just 37 seconds into the contest. But the Stars rarely had possession of the puck as the hosts confidently killed the penalty.

The game featured a slow pace at beginning, with the Gulls bouncing a shot off the shoulder of Texas netminder Jack Campbell in the opening two minutes.

After going scoreless on seven power play opportunities in the opening two games in Texas, the Gulls finally solved their power play woes when rookie defenseman Brandon Montour found the back of the net on a laser shot from just inside the blue line with 34 seconds to play in a hooking penalty to Travis Morin.

Prior to the goal, the Gulls had two centering passes fly through the crease, and a scrum erupted behind net 19 seconds prior to Montour’s jump goal.

The goal was the first postseason point for Montour, who had gone scoreless in the first two games of the series after tying for the team lead in regular season scoring. Shea Theodore and Mike Sgarbossa drew the assists.

San Diego was back on the power play at the 10:36 mark when Curtis McKenzie was sent to the sin bin for a tripping minor. A scrum then erupted in front of the Gulls bench whereupon Brendan Ranford and Nick Ritchie took two-minutes minors for roughing.

But the hosts’ power play was nullified when Theodore was almost immediately whistled for a hooking infraction.

The Stars appeared in a particularly feisty mood with several confrontations between San Diego players, particularly in front of the Texas net as the hosts maintained offensive pressure throughout the opening frame. The Gulls did not back down; they shoved back.

Meanwhile, San Diego netminder Anton Khudobin was rock steady between the pipes, stopping all 12 shots he faced in the opening period as the hosts finished with a 14-12 edge in shots.

The Stars appeared to have the momentum to start the second period, though the Gulls would rebound to claim a decisive 21-8 advantage in shots in the stanza.

The hosts scored three times in the frame, with one goal coming on the power play.

Ritchie doubled the Gulls lead when he beat Campbell at the 8:51 mark. Sgarbossa then added a power play goal at 11:58 to make the score 3-0 and Joe Camarossa tacked on an even-strength goal at the 14:27 mark for a 4-0 lead.

The Gulls twice caught Campbell out of position on close-in tap-ins.

Chris Mueller and Sgarbossa assisted Ritchie’s goal while Theodore and Khudobin drew the assists on Sgarbossa’s 3-0 marker. Chris Wagner and Andy Wellinski provided the helpers on the Gulls 4-0 tally.

The hosts ended the middle period with a commanding 35-20 edge in shots, and more shots would be forthcoming.

San Diego opened the third period with a two-man advantage and fired a maze of shots at Campbell.

The Stars broke Khudobin’s shutout bid with a goal 3:22 into the third period. Prior to Esa Lindell’s goal, the San Diego netminder had stopped 21 consecutive shots.

Stefan Noesen scored on another tap-in after another flurry of activity in front of the Texas goal at 14:25 to push to hosts back in front by four goals, 5-1. Wagner and Ondrej Kase drew assists.

The hosts potted what looked like another easy tap-in when Wagner scored with 4:39 to play, assisted by Theodore and Noesen.

The roster addition earlier in the day of Theodore and Wagner proved a bonus for the winners.

Theodore and Wagner were reassigned to the Gulls following the Anaheim Ducks’ first-round exit from the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. They provided dividends to the Gulls’ Game 3 playoff win with six points between them –Wagner with a goal and two assists and Theodore with three assists.

“They were a big help, especially Theodore on defense,” Eakins said.

The game was a physical affair, though only 24 minutes in total penalty minutes were charged to the teams.

Khudobin earned top star billing with 28 saves on 29 shots. The Gulls outshot the Stars 48-28, with Campbell recording 42 saves in defeat.

Wagner was voted the game’s second star while Theodore was named the game’s third star.

The Gulls improved to 33-0 when leading after the second period.

“I wouldn’t call it a mirror image of Game 2, but I will say we played our game (tonight) and they played their game (last week),” Sgarbossa explained. “We play a heavy game and they play a heavy game. But they don’t like to be hit; when you hit them, it slows them down.

As the game ended, teh fans gave the victorious Gulls a standing ovation.

“It was nice to get back in front of our home crowd. We draw off their energy,” Sgarbossa said. “It pumps us up.”

Sgarbossa added that the Gulls can ill afford to relax mentally headed into Game 4. “You can’t afford to do that in the playoffs,” Sgarbossa said. “If we let them back in the series, you don’t know what might happen in a Game 5.”

Tailfeathers

The Gulls started three players on amateur tryout agreements – forward Kallie Kossila and defensemen Andy Welinski and Brian Cooper.

Eakins welcomed his team’s return home for a reason other than the fan support as the home team receives the benefit of the last line change. “That helps a lot, it enabled us to get the right people we wanted out there,” he said.

The Gulls finished 2-for-6 on the power play whiel Texas was 0-for-4.

Ritchie has scored a goal in each of the first three games in the series.

Calder Cup playoffs

The Eastern Conference North Division Finals are now set after the Toronto Marlies eliminated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in three straight games and the Albany Devils ousted the Utica Comets, last year’s Calder Cup runner-up, by a 3-1 series edge.

The Portland Pirates are bidding for an upset in their Eastern Conference Atlantic Division semifinal series against the top-seeded Hershey Bears by winning a 2-1 triple overtime decision in Hershey to take a 2-1 series lead.

The Ontario Reign took a 2-1 series lead on the San Jose Barracuda in their Western Conference Pacific Division semifinal match-up on the strength of a 3-1 win on home ice Thursday. Adrian Kempe led the hosts with two goals while Nic Dowd scored once in support of winning goaltender Peter Budaj, who stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced. The Reign outshot the Barracuda 43-17.

Aaron Dell had 36 saves on 39 shots for San Jose. Nikolay Goldobin scored the lone goal for the Barracuda, which fell behind 3-0 with 6:32 remaining in the third period

Ontario, like the Gulls, can punch their ticket to the Pacific Division Finals with a win on Friday.

The Western Conference Central Division Finals between the Lake Eerie Monsters and the Grand Rapids Griffins is slated to start May 5.

— Phillip Brents

Gulls clobber Stars, 6-2; win first AHL playoff series

SAN DIEGO, April 29, 2016 — Chants of “Let’s Go Gulls! Let’s Go Gulls” echoed throughout the Valley View Casino Center as Friday’s Western Conference Pacific Division semifinal playoff game fced off between the host Gulls and the Texas Stars.

The Gulls – and the home crowd – were out for the kill in the best-of-five series after second-seeded San Diego had taken a two games to one lead on the strength of a 6-1 victory the previous evening.

The crowd of 7,509 did not go home disappointed as, for the second consecutive night, they witnessed another Gulls’ romp. San Diego’s 6-2 victory against the third-seeded Stars clinched the series three games to one and set up a much anticipated meeting against the top-seeded Ontario Reign in the Pacific Division Finals.

The clash between the Southern California rivals is scheduled to face off Thursday, May 5, on the Reign’s home ice. Game 2 is scheduled Saturday, May 7, on the Gulls’ home ice.

“It’s a great moment for our team,” San Diego head coach Dallas Eakins told the media after Friday’s deciding contest. “It’s payback for our home fans who have supported us all season.”

But Game 4 took an unexpected turn early on when San Diego goaltender Anton Khudobin was pushed into the cage on a fierce collision that knocked the net off its mooring. Khudobin lay sprawled face first on the ice until medical care arrived. He was subsequently escorted off the ice to cheers.

Moreover, San Diego defenseman Brandon Montour was also injured on the play.

Khodobin, the first star of the game in Thursday’s playoff win, had made six saves at the time of his departure from the game. While Khudobin did not return and the status of his injury was listed only as an upper body injury, Montour (lower body injury) did return to the ice just seconds before the start of the second period.

No matter, the Gulls scored the first goal of the game just 51 seconds after Khudobin’s departure. On a pile up of players in front of Stars goaltender Jack Campbell, a loose puck squirted out and Shea Theodore found himself in the right spot at the right time to neatly slip it over the goal line at the near post.

Nick Ritchie and Chris Mueller received assists at the 6:45 mark.

Eakins said the mettle of his team was tested when Khudobin, with two playoff wins to his credit, and Montour had to leave the game for the bulk of the first period.

“Two of our top guys hit heads, what a freak thing to happen,” the San Diego coach related. “To get that goal obviously helped us to regain our form. We’re a large group and it just underscored to all the players who did not dress that they have to be ready. It might not be this game, but it could a game in the next series that they’re going to be called on. They’ve got to be ready.”

After the go-ahead goal, it was this left up to Matt Hackett, Khudobin’s replacement, to preserve the lead. However, the Gulls’ slim 1-0 lead didn’t last long as Texas evened the score at the 7:46 mark on a goal by Ahl All Star Brendan Ranford, assisted by Matej Stransky and Mattias Backman.

The fans were not about to abandon their team and chants of encouragement once again quickly went up from the home crowd.

Both teams created scoring opportunities – the Gulls’ Stefan Noesen came closest to scoring on a point-blank shot on Campbell – but the score remained deadlocked as play began to get particularly rough between the teams.

The Texans were obviously on the brink of elimination and fighting hard for a win to extend the series to five games. Conversely, the hosts were obviously working hard to end the series.

Fans cheered whenever a Stars player was knocked down and jeered whenever a Gulls player took a spill.

Texas left wing Curtis McKenzie took a cross-checking penalty with 1:06 left in the period. Though the hosts could not score, the penalty carried over into the second period. The Gulls got a bonus when the Stars defenseman Julius Honka was called for a high-sticking penalty at the 20:00 mark. The Gulls thus opened the second period with as 54-second two-man power play.

It didn’t take the hosts long to take advantage of the opportunity presented to them. The Gulls promptly cashed in on the two-man advantage just seven seconds into the period as Mueller potted his second goal of the playoffs unassisted to push his team ahead 2-1.

Still on the power play, the Gulls made it 3-1 on Antoine Laganiere’s second goal of the playoffs at the 1:17 mark.

The hosts then added a shorthanded goal at 8:20 when Joseph Camarossa broke in from the blue line on Campbell and scored to delight of the fans. Up 4-1, the Gulls looked invincible.

The shorthanded goal chased Campbell from the game. As he skated off the ice with 11:40 to play in the period, rookie Maxime Legace skated onto the ice to replace him,

This isn’t to say that the Stars didn’t have their chances to get back in the game. Corey Tropp received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct with 4:49 left in the period. But the Gulls managed to kill off the penalty to escape danger.

The hosts received a standing ovation from their fans at the buzzer to end the period.

While Texas outshot San Diego 16-11 in first period, the Gulls piled up a decisive 14-4 shot advantage in the second period.

The Gulls special teams went to work with just under five minutes gone in the third period as the hosts were handed another power play opportunity. The hosts squirted a couple of shots through the crease but the Stars were able to kill the penalty.

Hardly had the penalty expired, however, when the Gulls went back on the power play after McKenzie was called for high-sticking. It took just nine seconds for the hosts to engineer a tic-tac-toe play, with Ondrej Kase having an easy tap-in at the far post. Noesen and Sgarbossa picked up assists as the Gulls extended their lead to 5-1 with more than 12 minutes to play in the game.

The big lead and impending series-clinching victory had fans in an understandably joyous and celebratory mood. Fans spontaneously clapped during time outs and cheered as Hackett (21 saves on 23 shots) and the Gulls defense scooped up pucks in their defensive zone.

The Stars trimmed the score to 5-2 with 4:52 to play in the game as Brett Ritchie whipped in a shot from Hackett’s right. The goal gave the visitors some momentum

Texas went on the power play with 3:35 left. But Stransky leveled Hackett to offset that with 3:04 left. The visitors pulled Legace in favor of an extra attacker but it backfired as the Gulls scored an empty net goal with 2:38 remaining.

Camarossa got the goal at 17:22, assisted by Matt Bailey.

With the score 6-1 San Diego, fans began singing. They were on their feet in the final minute waving commemorative Willie O’Ree No. 20 towels. It was a surreal sight.

More excitement should be in store in the upcoming division finals against the arch rival Reign.

“Ontario is a different team than the team we just played,” Eakins cautioned. “They’re big and heavy just like us. We might have to make some changes in our line-up to compensate for a few things.”

The Gulls likely will not have to tinker with a power play unit that has suddenly righted itself after a 0-for-7 start against Texas. San Diego finished 3-for-6 with the man-advantage on the night and closed out its two home games with five power play goals and one shorthanded goal.

“We were a top five power play team all season, and we’ve got back to our foundation,” the Gulls coach explained. “We stopped worrying about what Texas was doing and the goals started to come.”

The Gulls ability to overcome an injury to a key player in a key game was the talk of the locker room after the game. The team’s ability to overcome a team that had beaten them in five of six regular season games was the talk of fans and the media after the game.

“These are lessons learned during the regular season — you just don’t turn on when you get in the playoffs,” an obviously proud Eakins explained. “We’ve had our ups and downs during season, we’ve had guys hurt or call-ups, guys demoted. We’ve brought new guys in from juniors and college. The mind-set of our group is that no matter who is in the lineup that there is an expectation for an effort level and a level of execution.

“It’s been a great experience to watch these young men believe in themselves and have the confidence that no matter who’s in the lineup or who is called upon they’re going to get the job done.”

Veteran Chis Mueller, who won a Calder Cup championship in 2014 with the Texas Stars, echoed Eakins’ comments.

“The next guy has to step up and take control and that’s what we did,” explained Mueller, who recorded a goal and assist. “Credit the PK, too. Five-on-three you have to score in the playoffs – 100 percent. They did it in Game 2 against us, and that was kind of a dagger in Game 2. We weren’t sure we’d get one that quick, so that was nice and to get another one, our power play has been unbelievable all year. In the playoffs, you have to score power play goals. It gets harder; there are fewer chances.

“We have to cash in and we did a good job, both our power play and our PK killing the five minute major, that’s crazy, especially against a team like Texas — to kill a five minutes major and not get any chances is an unbelievable effort.”

The Gulls were outshot 16-11 in the first period but turned the tables on the Texans with a decisive 14-4 edge in shots in the second period and three goals. The hosts finished the game with a 37-29 shot advantage.

The Stars finished 2-for-21 on the power play in the series. San Diego improved to 34-0 when leading after two periods.

The win was the 42nd on the season for the Gulls, regular season and playoffs combined. There could be more coming before the team’s playoff run ends.

“We want to keep going in the playoffs,” Mueller said. “Ontario is going to be an incredible series. It’s going to be dirty but exciting for the fans.”

Calder Cup playoffs

Ontario defeated visiting San Jose, 4-1, on Friday to join the Gulls in the Pacific Division Finals. The Reign received goals from Justin Auger, Nic Dowd, Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Andrew Crescenzi (empty-netter) while goaltender Peter Budaj (3-1 in the playoffs) made 18 saves.

All four games against the fourth-seeded Barracuda were close. San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell stopped 31 of 34 shots against him before leaving for the extra-attacker.

Eakins improved to 9-1 in the first round in the Calder Cup playoffs in his career.

Theodore, after rejoining the Gulls are appearing in five Stanley Cup playoff games with Anaheim, has collected four points (one goal, three assists) in two Calder Cup playoff games.

Ritchie has scored at least one point in each of the Gulls’ four playoff games so far, including goals in the opening three games.

San Diego outscored Texas 16-9 in the four games – 12-3 in the final two match-ups in the Gulls’ nest.

Despite finishing nine points behind the Reign in the regular season standings, the Gulls won eight of the 12 games between the teams.

Calder Cup Playoffs
Pacific Division Semifinals

Series H (Best-of-5)
P2-San Diego Gulls vs. P3-Texas Stars 

Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 21 – San Diego 3, TEXAS 1
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – TEXAS 5, San Diego 1
Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – SAN DIEGO 6, Texas 1
Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – SAN DIEGO 6, Texas 2
San Diego wins series 3-1

Series G (Best-of-5)
P1-Ontario Reign vs. P4-San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Ontario 2, SAN JOSE 1
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – SAN JOSE 3, Ontario 2
Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 –ONTARIO 3, San Jose 1
Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – ONTARIO 4, San Jose 1
Ontario wins series 3-1