Gulls Recapture Home Playoff Ice

San Diego's hockey team set up nicely for remainder of Calder Cup series

In the second half of the season the San Diego Gulls were one of the best home teams in the American Hockey League while the Ontario Reign were not exactly tremendous on the road.

So of course the first two games of their Calder Cup Playoffs series saw the road team win both games. Because hockey.

The Reign stole Game 1 by a goal at Valley View Casino Center when the Gulls had a late mental lapse. That letdown did not happen in Game 2, also a 1-goal affair. When these teams get together for Game 3 in San Diego on Friday pretty much everyone is expecting another close one.

“I’ve said it numerous times, but it is like we are playing our twin brother out there,” said Gulls Head Coach Eakins. “They are such a good team and we think highly of our team. I don’t expect anything to change moving forward. I am really surprised neither of these games went to overtime.”

The unique 1-1-1-1-1 schedule (home, road, home, etc.) is made more interesting by the fact the first two games were played back-to-back … then there’s a six day break. It’s different in the framework of how most post-season series are set up in professional sports but in the American Hockey League the Gulls have faced this kind of break multiple times in the regular season so they know how to stay sharp during the layoff.

“We have a good coaching staff,” said goalie Jhonas Enroth. “They’re going to manage our days off or day off and all that stuff pretty well for us. So pretty much just going to leave it up to them and try to think about other things than hockey away from the rink.”

The Gulls went 7-2 during the season when they had at least six days between games. Add that to their 15-4-0 record at home in 2017 and the Gulls have a good chance to take their first series lead when the puck drops at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night.

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