San Diego Gulls forward Judd Caulfield can often sound like a hockey coach when discussing the game and his team’s performance.

The Gulls (26-22-15-6-3) enter Wednesday’s 7 p.m. tilt against San Jose at Pechanga Arena four points behind the Barracuda (27-15-1-2) in the American Hockey League Pacific Division standings. The Gulls are currently in sixth place in the division; the top seven make the postseason.

Every game matters when you’re trying to make the playoffs, and few Gulls know it more than the 24-year-old Caulfield.

Consider: Caulfield has been with the Gulls since April 2023. He has yet to appear in a postseason game.

“Points are at a premium this time of this season, so we’re making our push right now,” Caulfield said.

“That’s our goal: just to keep winning games and keep stacking and get ready for that playoff-style hockey, because we can’t just be satisfied with being the middle of the pack. We want to be the best team in the division, and we’ve got to start right now.”

Caulfield scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season in Saturday’s 5-4 home loss to Bakersfield, placing him second on the team behind Justin Bailey (16) for the team scoring lead.

Caulfield also has 14 assists; the 28 points are already a career-high for the former University of North Dakota standout.

Caulfield has been particularly effective skating on a line with Nathan Gaucher (six goals, nine assists) and Nikita Nesterenko (two goals, three assists); the three Gulls have consistently created scoring chances in the offensive zone.

The steady production of players like Caulfield, Bailey, Yegor Sidurov (13 goals, 12 assists), Matthew Phillips (10 goals, 22 assists) and Sasha Pastujov, who registered his 100th career AHL point over the weekend and has a team-high 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists) on the season, are reasons why Gulls coach Matt McIlvane has consistently struck an optimistic tone about his team’s big picture chances.

Goalie Tomas Suchanek is beginning to round into shape after a rough start. He has won two straight starts, and made a career-high 31 saves in Friday’s 3-1 win at Bakersfield.

If Suchanek can play well along with primary goalie Calle Clang, who was an AHL All-Star, the Gulls will have a tandem that can skate with anyone in the highly competitive Pacific Division.

“That’s a big-time game for him,” McIlvane said of Suchanek following Friday’s victory. “He’s been going through the break, he got a game in, he got practices in, so it’s easy for him to keep him going. These are the kinds of games we expect from him because he’s done this before.”

The Gulls travel to Rockford, Ill., following Wednesday’s game, where they’ll play Saturday and Sunday against the IceHogs. San Diego then returns home Feb. 25 for a game against the Tucson Roadrunners.

Gulls (26-22-15-6-3) vs. Barracuda (27-15-1-2)

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Pechanga Arena