Gulls Edged in Overtime by Firebirds
AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Edged in Overtime by Firebirds

Published on November 21, 2025 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls fell 3-2 in overtime to the Coachella Valley Firebirds Friday night at Acrisure Arena. San Diego has earned standings points in seven straight contests (4-0-3-0) and in nine of the last 10 games (5-1-4-0). San Diego now stands with a 6-4-5-0 record.

Sasha Pastujov netted a goal for the third straight game, his fifth of the season and third on the power play. He has posted points in five straight games (3-4=7) and in six of his last seven (4-5=9).

Yegor Sidorov moved his point streak to three games (1-3=4) with a power-play goal, his fifth overall this season.

Roland McKeown earned his seventh and eighth assists of the season, giving him six helpers in his last five games (0-6=6).

Ryan Carpenter stretched his point streak to six games with his seventh assist of the season. He has now reached double digits with 3-7=10 points.

Ville Husso stopped 24 shots. He also picked up an assist, the third of his AHL career.

The Gulls return home to face the Calgary Wranglers for the first time this season tomorrow night at Pechanga Arena (6 p.m. PST).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Right wing Cal Burke

On how important it is to pick up a point for the seventh straight game

It's a long season, so every point that you get goes a long way in the end. It shows our resiliency to be able to pick up points in seven straight games. Obviously, we'd like to win, but points are good.

On how difficult it was to break through Coachella Valley's goaltender tonight

It's tough. I feel like we were getting some chances and they weren't ticky tack chances either. They were really good chances, and I give credit to the goalie. He played well obviously and made some good saves. I think when that happens, you just have to focus on your defense too. Just because you're getting chances doesn't mean you can let up defensively, so I think that's something we can take away from tonight.

On having a strong four lines

It's not often where you have four lines that can go pretty much against anyone or for any reason. I think we have a lot of talented players in this group, and it just gives that depth, just helps and gives everyone confidence. No matter who's on the ice, they're going to get the job done. It just brings stability, and it allows guys to rest. You don't have to play guys as much if they're not feeling their best.

On tomorrow's game against Calgary

It's our first time seeing them, so I'll be interested to see how they play. They're always a hard-to-play team. I think they always have good details to their game, so I'm not expecting a lot of room on the ice. I think they're going to be on top of us. It's probably going to be a hard-working game tomorrow.

Head coach Matt McIlvane

On tonight's overtime loss to Coachella Valley

Start with two power play goals. That's a big time start for us, and it was a great shot by [Yegor] Sidorov. I think we had a flash screen on the play, and then Sasha [Pastujov] with individual effort on the power play, that was really nice. I thought we were highly competitive throughout the game. I think that we did a lot of things that we would want to do. The difference in the game ends up being five-on-five scoring. We had all those shots and plenty of great chances, but we weren't able to bury. Then in the second period, we gave them a couple too many of the big chances and they get in behind us for two-on-ones, and one of them makes us pay. Then they get a power play goal in the third and then in overtime, it's opportunity for us that's missed.

On how the team takes advantage of five-on-five chances

In games, it's going to go like that. The biggest thing is you just keep generating. There's an old cliche, you bear down, and things like that. In my mind, you just keep generating chances, and eventually they go, and then you explore some curiosity of how we can create better chances, or how can we get better looks? I thought we had enough today. It just didn't fall.

On tomorrow's game against Calgary

It'll be a fast turnaround. They'll be waiting for us in San Diego. I think the mentality for us is we felt like we left a point here in Coachella today, and we'll go try to earn that back tomorrow.




American Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central