Pro Sports Report: Gulls can climb standings during 3-game stretch; Clippers home for 2

Following a brief break for Christmas, the San Diego Gulls will jump into an important stretch of contests against American Hockey League Pacific Division foes.

It all starts Saturday, when San Diego travels north to take on the Bakersfield Condors.

The Gulls (11-8-6-1, 29 points) sit eighth in the tightly packed 10-team division but could move up quickly with success against the sixth-place Condors (13-9-5, 31 points). Sunday, they’ll take on 10th-place Abbotsford (8-15-2-3, 21 points) at Pechanga Arena, with the puck dropping at 5 p.m. Wednesday, they’ll visit the ninth-place Tucson Roadrunners (10-12-4, 24 points).

After splitting a pair of road games in Calgary last weekend, the Gulls are only three standings points behind fifth-place Coachella with 46 regular-season games remaining.

The Gulls have a plus-10 goal differential (78 scored, 68 allowed), rank 21st in the 32-team AHL in power play percentage (16.5%) and second on the penalty kill (86%).

The team has benefited from solid goaltending from both Valle Husso, who recently rejoined the club after a stint with the Anaheim Ducks, and Calle Clang. The Gulls also have one of the better rookies in the AHL in defenseman Tim Washe, who has 11 goals and 11 assists.

The Gulls do not have a player ranked among the top 20 in goals scored and at times have struggled to create and finish scoring chances, but have occasionally broken out. They put up four goals in last Friday’s win over Calgary.

Gulls coach Matt McIlvane likes to break the long season into segments and evaluate his team’s progress in those segments.

The next phase begins this weekend and runs through the Feb. 29-March 3 All-Star break.

“It’s just a setup,” McIlvane said. “The beginning of the season is just a setup for the next phase after the (Christmas break) to the All-Star break. That’s the next big chunk of the season. For us, we feel like we’ve learned a lot about our team from the start. We know when we’re great, we know when we’re off, and we know the key areas to improve upon…So we’ve set ourselves up.”

To open the next segment, Gulls will be without talented defensemen Nikolas Brouillard, who was selected to play for Team Canada in the Spengler Cup, an international tournament featuring elite prospects which opened Friday. Brouillard joins Adam Cracknell (2018) and Jared Coreau (2018) as the only Gulls to play in the event.

Team Canada opened double-elimination play Friday with a 3-2 victory over the U.S. Collegiate Selections.

“It’s an honor, for sure,” Brouillard said. “Anytime you have a chance to represent your country, it’s always an honor. To wear that jersey, I’m not going to take it for granted.”

Clippers home for two

The G League’s San Diego Clippers host the Sioux Falls Skyforce at 7 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday at Frontwave Arena.

After completing play in the Winter Showcase in-season tournament with Sunday’s loss to Greensboro in Orlando, Fla., the Clippers (0-2) will be seeking their first win in regular-season play. The Skyforce are 1-1.

Sockers update

The San Diego Sockers (1-2, 4 points) return to MASL action Tuesday night at Frontwave Arena against Tacoma (3-0, 9 points).

Last week, veteran forward and former Poway High School and San Diego State star Kraig Chiles announced that he will retire following the season.

The 41-year-old Chiles is in his 17th season with the Sockers and is the club’s all-time leading scorer with 505 goals and 742 points.