Gulls Shut out in Playoff Opener
AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Shut out in Playoff Opener

Published on April 23, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls fell 3-0 to the Colorado Eagles in Game 1 of the Pacific Division First Round Wednesday night at Blue FCU Arena. Colorado now leads the three-game series 1-0.

Damian Clara stopped 25-of-27 shots in his Calder Cup Playoff debut.

The Gulls and Eagles square off in Game 2 of the Pacific Division First Round on Friday night at Blue FCU Arena (6:05 p.m. PDT).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Right wing Judd Caulfield

On tonight's game

I thought we competed really hard tonight. There's so much care in the locker room, and our compete level is definitely there, but we just didn't really play smart enough tonight. We gave them a lot of luck. Damian [Clara] bailed us out plenty of times, and we didn't capitalize on our chances either. I thought we had a lot of good looks. [Trent] Miner played well for them, and we know we're going to have to come back hard on Friday and finish our chances and limit theirs.

On Damian Clara

He was great for us like I said. He was making key saves for us, giving us a chance to win the game. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have had the chance to tie it up late in the game. But yeah, he was unbelievable for us. We'll have to help him out a little bit more on Friday and not have to lean on him as much.

On the message for Friday night

We know what's at stake. It's a three-game series, so we're backs against the wall a little bit for this game on Friday. But we know that we've been counted out a lot all season. So, we know that we're going to have to come out hard and just show what we got. We've been working for this for eight months now. So, we know what we got to do. We're going to go take care of business.

Head coach Matt McIlvane

On tonight's game

Colorado played a heck of a game, and I think that there were moments of the game where we were getting to the way that we wanted to play. I think that combination of some penalty issues and allowing them too many big opportunities shifted the momentum, I felt, in the game. It's still 1-0 and then, in a shift, we've got two breakaways and an open net that bounces over our stick. Then in that same shift, they go down and score, and so it was a big momentum swing in that part of the game. But I think for us, there's opportunity for us to play better, certainly both with and without the puck, and that's what we'll be searching for.

On Damian Clara

He was great. He made too many grade-A saves. All of a sudden there's a big goalie sliding across the crease, making some gigantic saves. So, I thought that he was excellent. I think that he certainly gave us an opportunity to win.

On the message going into Friday's game

I think the biggest thing right now is keeping discipline, to be able to stay positive, and also have real open minds about opportunities for growth, because we left some stuff on the ice today. To be able to look at it with an honest perspective and own it so that we have a chance to move forward for the next game.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 23, 2026


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.

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