Sometimes you can do everything right in a hockey game and still come up short because you come across a hot goalie.
That's what happened to the San Diego Gulls in their home-and-home series against Bakersfield.
Needing just one point to reach the American Hockey League playoffs for the second straight year they ran in to a brick wall named Jonas Gustavsson. The Condors netminder stopped 30 shots on Friday night and stoned the Gulls another 44 times in front of 12,449 fans on Saturday night at Valley View Casino Center in a 3-1 Bakersfield win.
The Gulls finally broke through in the 3rd period when Nick Kerdiles redirected a shot to beat Gustavsson. Despite the two straight setbacks the Gulls punched their playoff ticket anyway because Stockton lost in Texas.
So fellas, you are in the post-season! How does that feel?
“Good,” said Gulls Defenseman Nate Guenin. “I mean that was one of our goals all year. I think it was expected of this group to make the playoffs. So now it’s about getting ready for them and hopefully we’ll be peaking at the right time.”
San Diego still has eight games left in the regular season and a chance to take over San Jose for the best record in the Western Conference, which would give them home-ice advantage up to the finals of the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs.
