Defenseman Nikolas Brouillard played his record 229th San Diego Gulls game in Tuesday’s 5-2 victory at San Jose.
More milestone games could soon be coming. The Gulls are 32-23-8-4, with 76 points, are currently in possession of the seventh and final American Hockey League Pacific Division playoff spot. They enter this weekend’s series at Bakersfield needing five more points to clinch a playoff spot. The club has five regular-season games remaining.
“For the past 10 games, we knew it was going to be a hard race to the playoffs,” said Brouillard, a 31-year-old Canadian who was on the Gulls’ last playoff team in 2022. “Coming into this season, it was a big thing for us, making the 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.”
The Gulls are 5-1 this season against Bakersfield, winning their most recent game 6-3 last Friday.
“We’re fighting for our lives,” Gulls coach Matt McIlvane said. “That urgency has been a thing for us for the last month or so because we know how tight it is…Every bit of this experience that we stack together is invaluable.”
Slumping Seals look to get on track
The San Diego Seals have lost five straight games by a total of eight goals entering Sunday’s crucial 4 p.m. game at the Georgia Swarm (10-5).
With three games remaining, the Seals (6-9) are tied for 10th place in the National Lacrosse League standings. The top eight teams make the playoffs.
Sunday’s game will air nationally on ESPNU.
Sockers await St. Louis
The top-seeded San Diego Sockers will face the St. Louis Ambush next week when the MASL playoffs begin.
The Sockers (16-6-2) visit St. Louis (13-5-6) on April 17 for Game 1 and return to Frontwave Arena two days later for Game 2. If the series is tied 1-1, the teams will play a shortened “knockout game” immediately following Game 2.
The Sockers defeated St. Louis 5-4 in overtime on March 15.
Strike Force heads to Tucson
The San Diego Strike Force (1-1) of the Indoor Football League visits the Tucson Sugar Skulls (1-1) Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Strike Force last played on March 28, losing 49-27 to the Arizona Rattlers.
Mojo update
The San Diego Mojo (10-10) of Major League Volleyball entered Thursday night’s home match against the Indy Ignite riding a three-match winning streak.
The Mojo host the Orlando Valkyries (10-11) at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Libero Shara Venegas was named MLV Player of the Week following her strong efforts in a win over Dallas and a pair of victories over Columbus.