San Diego Gulls coach Dallas Eakins said he will make “a couple of minor adjustments” Saturday evening for Game 2 of the American Hockey League’s Western Conference finals as the Gulls try to even the best-of- seven series at one game apiece.
The Gulls rallied from three one-goal deficits but lost Game 1, 5-4, to the Chicago Wolves on Friday as Cody Glass scored on a breakaway 14 minutes, three seconds into overtime at Rosemont, Illinois — also the site of Game 2.
“I thought we were a little slow coming out of the gate, getting our feet underneath us with the travel and the time change,” Eakins said. “I thought we played well in spurts.
“The times we got ourselves into trouble is when we get hemmed in our own zone, which only happened a couple of times. Certainly, we’d love to close that one out, but that ice was not great at the end. That puck was bouncing all over the place on us.”
The Gulls took their lone lead, 4-3, with 9:17 left in regulation on Maxime Comtois’ second goal of the game and fifth in seven playoff games since being assigned May 3 by the Gulls’ NHL parent team, the Anaheim Ducks.
The Wolves forced the overtime when Nic Hague put a shot under Gulls goaltender Jeff Glass with 3:05 remaining in regulation for his third goal of the playoffs.
Cody Glass, who is not related to Jeff Glass, scored the game-winner shortly after having his stick slashed from his hands near the Gulls blue line and racing to the Wolves bench for a new stick.
“I was seeing (the play) developing for (the Gulls) because of Cody having to come to the bench,” Chicago coach Rocky Thompson said. “So there was an odd-man situation and that’s why their (defensemen) were activated. They were trying to take advantage of that situation.”
Wolves right wing Tomas Hyka intercepted a pass and sent a stretch pass up the center of the ice. The delay allowed Cody Glass to sneak behind the Gulls defense for a breakaway. He put the puck under the pads of Jeff Glass for his fifth goal in 12 games in the 2019 Calder Cup playoffs and third game winner.
“I was second-guessing myself whether I should play defense without a stick or go to the bench,” Glass said. “I heard the boys yelling and Ryan threw me a stick right away and luckily Hyks found me going for a breakaway.”
Glass also assisted on Tye McGinn’s goal 5:50 into the third period that gave Chicago a 3-2 lead.
Glass was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, the Wolves’ NHL parent team, in the first round of the 2017 draft, the sixth overall choice.
Glass spent most of the 2018-19 season with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. He made his debut with Chicago April 5, scoring twice in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals, the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate.
The Gulls led in shots 44-28, including an 11-6 advantage in overtime. Both teams scored on one of two power-play opportunities before a crowd at Allstate Arena announced at 3,607.
Glass made 23 saves for the Gulls. Chicago goaltender Oscar Dansk made 40 saves.
The Wolves opened the scoring 6:10 into the first period when Tobias Lindberg redirected defenseman Zach Whitecloud’s shot from the point for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Gulls tied the score with 28 seconds left in the first period when Corey Tropp scored on a wrist shot off assists by Kalle Kossila and defenseman Andy Welinski.
Chicago regained the lead on Daniel Carr’s power-play goal 10:05 into the second period, nine seconds after Gulls defenseman Simon Benoit was called for slashing.
Comtois re-tied the score with 1:09 left in the second period on a shot from the left faceoff circle off a pass from the Gulls zone by Adam Cracknell. Ben Street was also credited with an assist.
Comtois and Cody Glass were teammates on the Canadian team that was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in January.
The Gulls tied the score for the third time on Welinski’s power-play goal with 11:42 to play in regulation off assists by Justin Kloos and Sam Steel.
“That was a good game to feel out,” Cracknell said. “The refs let us play. Lots to learn from it and move on for tomorrow. All in all, pretty happy with our game other than the loss.”
Game 3 of the series will be played Wednesday night at Pechanga Arena San Diego.
–City News Service
