Gulls Take Matinee at San Jose
AHL San Diego Gulls

Gulls Take Matinee at San Jose

Published on April 7, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


The San Diego Gulls won their third straight game with a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Barracuda Tuesday afternoon. San Diego now stands with a 32-23-8-4 record. The Gulls' magic number to clinch a 2025-26 Calder Cup Playoff berth is now five points with five games left in the regular season.

Nikolas Brouillard skated in the 229th game of his Gulls career, surpassing Chase De Leo (228) for most games played as a Gull. Brouillard recorded two assists (0-2=2), giving him 20 helpers on the season. He is now tied with Kalle Kossila for fourth-most assists in Gulls AHL history with 90.

Nathan Gaucher scored his 13th and 14th (ENG) goals of the season, giving him three straight multi-point games. He now has five goals and seven points in his last three AHL contests (5-2=7).

Sasha Pastujov netted his 20th goal, the first time in his AHL career he has crossed the 20-goal mark in a season. He also picked us his team-leading 34th assist. Pastujov leads all Gulls skaters in points (20-34=54) and points-per-game (0.81). He has 7-7=14 points in his last 11 games.

Sam Colangelo scored his 11th goal, his sixth on the power play, and earned his 21st assist of the season, his second straight multi-point effort (1-3=4). He has posted 2-8=10 points in his last eight games.

Matthew Phillips netted his 14th goal of the season, giving him points in back-to-back games (2-1=3) and eight points in his last nine (4-4=8). Phillips ranks second among Gulls skaters in points with 14-33=47 points.

Tristan Luneau earned his 30th assist of the campaign, his 21st point in his last 16 games (5-16=21). He continues to lead AHL defensemen and ranks tied for fourth among all skaters in points since the All-Star break (Feb. 13) with 5-20=25. He ranks tied for 11th in points (9-30=39) and assists among AHL blueliners this season.

Roger McQueen picked up his second assist, giving him points in back-to-back games to begin his AHL career (0-2=2).

Nico Myatovic extended his point streak to three games with his 11th assist of the season. He has earned 1-3=4 points in that span.

Calle Clang earned his third straight victory, stopping 35-of-37 shots. Clang now has a 17-8-6 record on the campaign.

Judd Caulfield skated in his 200th career AHL game, the eighth player in Gulls AHL history to cross the 200-game mark and fourth to skate in his first 200 pro games with San Diego.

Lucas Pettersson made his AHL debut.

The Gulls will face the Bakersfield Condors next in back-to-back contests at Dignity Health Arena starting Friday night (7 p.m. PDT).

POSTGAME QUOTES

SAN DIEGO GULLS

Defenseman Nikolas Brouillard

On the second period comeback

It wasn't a problem. We've been down by way more than one, and in the third period, we've come back. So, we know we can come back. It's usually a hard building to play for us this year, so we just wanted to come in here and have a good start, because we definitely didn't have good starts coming in here in the past couple of games. I thought that we let down for a little bit and they got two, but then we got right back to our game. I think our PK did a really good job. Our power play got a big one for us, so special units have been great for us today.

On the team's recent play

For the past 10 games, we know it's going to be a hard race to the playoffs. Coming into this season, it was a big thing for us, making playoffs. So, I feel like we've played the playoff style the whole year. It's paying off. It's paying off for us right now, because we're hard to play against, and we're playing that gritty, gritty style of hockey that you know the playoffs need.

On becoming the Gulls' all-time games played leader

It's an honor for sure. Like I always said, I love San Diego. I love this team. It always had a special place in my heart. This the first team who gave me a real opportunity to play in the American League, and now as a veteran player, I love to see the team grow, and it's definitely a huge honor.

On the upcoming series against Bakersfield

We got a day off tomorrow, at least. We're going to have a little practice before leaving for Bakersfield on Thursday to get things going again. But it's the same mindset. It's playoff mindset. We want to win every game. We want to make playoffs, and if we can maybe climb up from seven to six, who knows? But it's the same mindset that we've had for the past 10 games. It's just a playoff mindset, and that's how we're going to approach those two games this weekend.

Head coach Matt McIlvane

On today's game

I loved our start. I thought we were great for maybe the first 10 minutes or so. Then we got a penalty. They scored on their power play, and then felt like they caught some momentum, and we were just making the game too hard on ourselves. And that really took us midway through the second plus. There's a timeout and we just kind of chat a little bit about playing a little bit faster. And sure enough, we started getting rewarded right after that. We got our two goals, and it's a big insurance goal by Sam [Colangelo] on the power play late. And as a gutsy effort, you know what the takeaways for this is. We were great in stretches and when we needed to, we hung on and we hung together, and we were able to push back, which was great.

On the Pacific Division playoff race

We're fighting for our lives. We know that urgency has been a thing for us for the last month or so because we know how tight it is. We know we have so much respect for our division and how tight the race is. So, every bit of this experience that we can stack together is valuable. We'll just keep collecting those experiences.

On Calle Clang's performance today

Calle was strong. 18 [shots] in the third is a lot. There's time with the empty net, and they're putting a lot to the cage. I also felt like our guys did a good job collapsing and grabbing sticks around the net for most of the game. I felt like the team defense was real strong, and a lot of that 35 is from the outside and not allowing too many second opportunities. So, Calle was strong and I thought the team defense was strong.

On Nikolas Brouillard setting the Gulls' all-time games played record

We brought him in because we're adding leadership to the back end, and we needed somebody that could help us move pucks out of the zone and defend hard. I think Brouillard has taken that role and done a really good job with it. Kudos to him for being the all-time games leader.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 7, 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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