Buoyed by a late season three-game winning streak and braced by seven wins in their last 10 outings to the ice, the San Diego Gulls have reduced their magic number to clinch a berth in this year’s American Hockey League Calder Cup playoffs to three.
The magic number is the number of standings points a team needs to clinch a playoff berth. The magic number is reduced when a team earns standings points or when the team with the highest number of points outside the playoff bracket fails to earn points.
A team picks up two standings points for a win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss.
The Gulls need one more regulation win or overtime decision totaling three standings points to clinch a playoff berth and land them into postseason play for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
The top seven teams in the 10-team AHL’s Pacific Division standings qualify for the playoffs.
The Gulls are currently in seventh place with 76 standings points. The Tucson Roadrunners are in eighth place with 69 points and still in pursuit of a postseason berth. The most standings points Tucson can accumulate in its final five games is 79, meaning the Gulls need three points to finish ahead of the Arizona team in the playoff race.
Should the teams tie with the same number of standings points, the Gulls would own the tiebreaker based on 26 regulation wins to Tucson’s 18.
Both teams have five regular season games remaining, including an April 15 rematch at Pechanga Arena.
The hunt could be over by then, however, with San Diego scheduled to play in Bakersfield Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11. The games are meaningful for both teams as playoff positioning enters crunch time.
The Gulls sit just four standings points behind the sixth place Condors entering this weekend’s two-game set. San Diego can accumulate a maximum of 86 standings points over their remaining five regular season games that could place them as high as third place in the division standings. The locals are still within reach of home ice advantage in the first round.
The clinching scenarios for Friday are as follows: A win at Bakersfield and a Tucson loss at Colorado or a point (overtime/shootout) at Bakersfield and a Tucson regulation loss at Colorado.
The Gulls put themselves on the bubble with Tuesday’s 5-2 comeback win in San Jose. Trailing 2-1 after the first period in front of 1,526 fans at Tech CU Arena, the San Diego visitors rallied with a 2-0 edge in the second period and tacked on two more goals in the third period to fly way with the win on the strength of four unanswered goals.
“It wasn’t a problem,” said San Diego defenseman Nikolas Brouillard, who skated in his 229th AHL game with the Gulls to become the team’s all-time leader in games played. “We’ve been down by way more than one, and in the third period, we’ve come back. So, we know we can come back. It’s usually a hard building to play for us this year, so we just wanted to come in here and have a good start, because we definitely didn’t have good starts coming in here in the past couple of games.
“I thought that we let down for a little bit and they got two, but then we got right back to our game. I think our PK did a really good job. Our power play got a big one for us, so special units have been great for us today.”
Brouillard said it came down to the team’s mindset during its playoff drive.
“For the past 10 games, we know it’s going to be a hard race to the playoffs,” he said. “Coming into this season, it was a big thing for us, making playoffs. So, I feel like we’ve played the playoff style the whole year. It’s paying off. It’s paying off for us right now, because we’re hard to play against, and we’re playing that gritty, gritty style of hockey that you know the playoffs need.”
The visitors didn’t waste time to make their mark.
Matthew Phillips started the scoring with a goal at 2:10 of the opening period, his 14th of the season and 47th point, assisted by Ducks top draft pick Roger McQueen playing in his second AHL game.
The Barracuda, which is in a race to secure a relatively high playoff berth (two points out of sole possession of third place), responded with back-to-back goals by Oliver Wahlstrom at 12:33 and Patrick Giles at 16:38 to go in front by a goal.
Sasha Pastujov tied the game, 2-2, with his 20th goal of the season, 54th point, at 14:01 and Gaucher netted the 3-2 go-ahead goal at 15:54, his 13th goal of the season and 27th point. Sam Colangelo and Brouillard drew the assists on Pastujov’s goal while Brouillard and Nico Maytovic assisted Gaucher. The assists were the 19th and 20th of the season for Brouillard.
Colangelo scored a power play goal at 4:20 of the third period to increase the Gulls’ lead to 4-2 and Gaucher added an empty net goal with nine seconds to play for the final three-goal margin despite being out-shot 37-26, including 16-8 in the third period.
“I loved our start,” San Diego head coach Matt McIlvane said. “I thought we were great for maybe the first 10 minutes or so. Then we got a penalty. They scored on their power play, and then felt like they caught some momentum, and we were just making the game too hard on ourselves. And that really took us midway through the second plus. There’s a timeout and we just kind of chat a little bit about playing a little bit faster. And sure enough, we started getting rewarded right after that. We got our two goals, and it’s a big insurance goal by Sam (Colangelo) on the power play late. And as a gutsy effort, you know what the takeaways for this is. We were great in stretches and when we needed to, we hung on and we hung together, and we were able to push back, which was great.”
The visitors swept the three stars of the game awards: Colangelo (first star with one goal and one assist), goaltender Calle Clang (second star with 35 saves on 37 shots) and Sasha Pastujov (third star with one goal and one assist).
Gaucher led the Gulls with two goals on three shots while Brouillard added two assists.
Brouillard’s two assists moved him into a tie with Kalle Kossila for fourth-most assists by a Gulls. He now had 116 points (26 goas, 90 assist) with San Diego and 190 career AHL points (38 goals, 152 assists).
Brouillard called it an “honor” to make history with the team. “Like I always said, I love San Diego. I love this team. It always had a special place in my heart. This the first team who gave me a real opportunity to play in the American League, and now as a veteran player, I love to see the team grow, and it’s definitely a huge honor.”
San Diego head coach Matt McIlvane said Brouillard, a former Gull who later spent time in Bakersfield, was a sought-after re-acquisition this season.
“We brought him in because we’re adding leadership to the back end, and we needed somebody that could help us move pucks out of the zone and defend hard,” the Gulls bench boss said. “I think Brouillard has taken that role and done a really good job with it. Kudos to him for being the all-time games leader.”
Others are leaving their mark as well.
It marked the first time Pastujov has hit the 20-goal mark in his AHL career.
The 19-year-old McQueen, the 10th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, picked up an assist for the second consecutive game with the Gulls.
Tristan Luneau and Pastujov assisted on Colangelo’s power play goal. It marked Colangelo’s 11th goal of the season, Luneau’s 30th assist and Pastujov’s 34th helper. Luneau has now picked up 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his last 10 games while Pastujov had collected 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in his last 11 games.
Gaucher’s empty net goal was unassisted.
Other notables:
Judd Caulfield skated in his 200th career AHL game, the fourth Gull in San Diego AHL history to skate in his first 200 pro games with the team.
Lucas Pettersen, the Ducks’ second-round pick (35th overall) in the 2024 NHL Draft, made his Gulls debut with four shots.
Pastujov leads San Diego in season scoring with 54 points (20 goals, 34 assists) in 67 games, followed by Phillips with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 67 games and team captain Ryan Carpenter with 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 67 games. Luneau has 39 points (nine goals, 30 assists0 in 67 games, followed by fan favorite Justin Bailey with 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) in 67 games. Caulfield has logged 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 67 games while Colangelo has netted 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) in 45 games. Gaucher has collected 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists) in 58 contests.
Clang has logged an 18-8-6 record in 34 appearances to go with a 2.73 GAA and 0.898 save percentage.
McIlvane said Clang was “strong” in Tuesday’s game. “Eighteen shots in the third is a lot,” the Gulls coach said. “There’s time with the empty net, and they’re putting a lot to the cage. I also felt like our guys did a good job collapsing and grabbing sticks around the net for most of the game. I felt like the team defense was real strong, and a lot of that 35 is from the outside and not allowing too many second opportunities. So, Calle was strong and I thought the team defense was strong.”
The Gulls want to get the clincher as soon as possible.
“We’re fighting for our lives,” McIlvane relayed. “We know that urgency has been a thing for us for the last month or so because we know how tight it is. We know we have so much respect for our division and how tight the race is. So, every bit of this experience that we can stack together is valuable. We’ll just keep collecting those experiences.”
“It’s playoff mindset,” Brouillard underscored. “We want to win every game. We want to make playoffs, and if we can maybe climb up from seven to six, who knows? But it’s the same mindset that we’ve had for the past 10 games. It’s just a playoff mindset, and that’s how we’re going to approach those two games this weekend.”
On a roll
The Gulls started their latest streak with a clutch 3-0 win over Tucson on April 1 with the teams separate by just one point in the standings and continued with a 6-3 win two days later against visiting Bakersfield on April 3.
Despite being down 2-0 early in the second period against the Condors, the hosts reeled off four unanswered goals to assume a 4-2 lead and tacked on two more goals after that to lead 5-2 entering the third period.
The Gulls and Condors combined for seven goals in the second period. The five goals by the Gulls set a new club record for most goals scored in the second period, one short of the team record for most goals scored in a period (six in a game in Tucson on March 31, 2017).
Justin Bailey tallied his team-leading 21st and 22nd goals on the season, including one on a rush out of the penalty box to ignite the fans in attendance. He finished the game with one power play goal and one shorthanded goal. He also notched what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Bailey now has five power play goals and two shorthanded goals on the season. His shorty gives San Diego 11 on the season to rank in a tie for second among all AHL teams. Bailey co-leads the AHL in game-winning goals.
Longtime fans are already comparing Bailey, with his bursts of speed, to NHL Hall of Famer Willie O’Ree, the Gulls’ all-time fan favorite.
Team captain Ryan Carpenter scored his 17th goal, his seventh on the power play, and tallied his 26th and 27th assists of the season to match his season-high points in a game (one goal, two assists). He co-leads the team in power play goals and ranks tied for third in goals.
Phillips scored his 13th goal and tacked on his 33rd assist, which co-leads Gulls skaters and places him second on the team in total points.
McQueen picked up his first AHL point in his professional debut with the primary assist on Phillips’ goal.
Tyson Hinds posted his 14th assist to set a new AHL career high with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists).
Myatovic tallied his 10th assist of the season, giving him points in back-to-back games (one goal, two assists) while Stian Solberg tallied his ninth assist, giving him 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) this season.
The rapid-fire sequence of goals in the second period put the Gulls back on course with just a three-point lead over Tucson in the standings.
“I think special teams to get one on the power play quick, (Cal) Burke’s goal was quick,” Carpenter said. “I think it just shows the belief in this room that when we’re down, we’re never out of it. It felt like even they got a little bit of momentum, maybe in the third off of that shorthanded goal. It felt like it was maybe a tough bounce, but they executed well.
“There was just a lot of belief and a lot of execution in this room. I thought Calle (Clang) played great and made some big saves, and when the game was tight, that kind of kept us the lead. And so, I think the way we responded from that Abbotsford trip, nobody was happy, especially this time of year, not to get any points, and I think it just shows a mature group to come back and respond.”
“They came out pretty hard in the first, we weathered it,” Bailey said. “Obviously, they scored two in the second, but you’ve seen all year, we’re a very resilient group. There’s no panic in our game when we’re down, so just kind of stuck with our game. We know our game is good enough to beat anybody on any given night. That second period is really great for us to see, putting pucks in the back of the net.
“I think I’m just playing with speed, playing with pace. Our whole team was playing with a lot of speed. I was able to settle that one down for the first one, and great pass from (Ryan) Carpenter on the second one just to find me on the breakaway.
“I think the power play has been cooking for a while here. We have two good units that can contribute at any time. I think for us anytime the power play can get us on the board it gives our whole team confidence. That was a huge goal, down two, get us right back in it right away. Anytime the power play can chip in like that, it makes things easier for everybody else.”
McQueen, at 6-5 and 205 pounds, impressed the veteran players on the ice.
“Man, he’s tall,” Carpenter assessed. “He skates well, he’s got a lot of skill. I’m pretty jealous the type of talent he is. I can’t imagine being that young stepping into your first pro game. You can tell he’s got a real bright future ahead of us. We’re lucky to have him here, and I’m sure he’s only going to get better.”
“He’s a big center man who can skate,” Bailey assessed. “I’m excited to add him to our team. He’s obviously a big piece for the organization and a big piece for us going down the stretch. It’s good for him to get that first game out of the way. I’m sure he’ll be building as we go on.”
Friday’s home game against Bakersfield doubled as Mexican Heritage Night, which has become a staple on the promotional schedule in recent years.
The Gulls host Fan Appreciation Night on April 18 in their final regular season home game. The Gulls play in Ontario on Friday with the Reign in a hot battle for first place in the division standings.
Mexican Heritage Night
Photos by Phillip Brents
