Gameday Preview: Texas Stars at San Diego Gulls

Texas Stars 30-18-3-3, 66 pts, 0.611 #2 Pacific Division

at

San Diego Gulls 23-19-1-1, 48 pts, 0.545 #4 Pacific Division

February 17th at 9:05 PM

Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, CA

UPDATE: Curtis McKenzie has been reassigned.

The San Diego Gulls are returning to their home arena after their longest road trip of the year, not in time but in distance. Two games against the Charlotte Checkers took the Gulls three time zones away from their nest in southern California. They took both by one goal each, handing Charlotte a loser point in OT on Friday. For San Diego, even though it was non-divisional game, it was a bad point to give up. Charlotte is currently in position to claim the Gulls' spot in the Pacific division playoff race if the postseason began today.

(Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)

The Gulls really front loaded their travel and have already played every game against the Stars in Cedar Park for the season. Further, they will not leave the state of California for the rest of the season with San Antonio being the only team to visit them from out of state after tonight's match.

Texas has had a lot of success against the Gulls this season. In compiling a 4-1 record, the Stars have outscored the Gulls 21-12. SD's lone win came in Cedar Park as they clogged the lanes and slowed down the speedy offensive attack of the Stars. Texas rebounded the following night in a 5-2 win.

The Stars are really riding a streak right now. The team itself is on a five game streak and their starting goalie, Maxime Lagace, hasn't lost a game since November 28th.

Derek Hulak and Travis Morin are both expected to be in despite late game injuries on Sunday.

Stars injury/call up report:
Faksa, McKenzie (call up)
Rallo, Shore, Dowling (injury)

Gulls Web Resources:
Website: sandiegogulls.com
Twitter: @SDGullsAHL
Twitter: @619sports (PBP)
Twitter: @danarelAHL