Barber Leads Gulls to 4-1 Victory
Published on March 13, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
SAN DIEGO â San Diego's No. 1 line was up to its old tricks Friday night. Greg Barber led the way with three goals and an assist, while Mark Pederson added a goal and three assists en rout to the Gulls' 4-1 victory over the Fresno Falcons, before 8,908 at the Sports Arena.
Sylvain Deschatelets completed the trifecta, chipping in with two assists. Meanwhile, Trevor Koenig did his job, stopping 18 of Fresno's 19 shots.
With the win, the Gulls (38-12-10) maintain their six-point Pacific Division lead over the Las Vegas Wranglers and stay four points back of the Louisiana IceGators for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Falcons (18-36-6) are now officially eliminated from the playoffs.
San Diego took an early 1-0 lead 7:15 into the first period, thanks to its top unit. Deschatelets started the play with a faceoff win deep in the Fresno zone. The puck squirted to Pederson, who tapped it along the left wing boards. Barber then picked it up, skated toward the net and wristed it by Mike Brusseau for his first goal of night.
The Gulls had plenty of other chances to increase their lead in the first, but Brusseau came up big. The Falcons netminder finished the opening period with 16 saves, while the less-tested Trevor Koenig turned aside all eight Fresno shots.
The No. 1 line connected again 12:03 into the second period to give San Diego a two-goal cushion. Drew Schoneck was whistled for tripping at 11:19 and the Gulls' power play went to work. The puck never left the Fresno zone and Pederson finally buried his league-leading 39th goal after one-timing Barber's pass from the slot. Deschatelets also earned an assist, his second of the night.
Kris Porter finally got the Falcons on the board at 7:15 of the third, making it a 2-1 game. Jason Weaver dumped the puck into the San Diego zone and it wrapped around all the way to the blue line, where Neil Wilkinson held it in. Wilkinson then poked it to Porter, who beat Koenig five-hole from the right wing circle. It was Porter's 15th goal, tying a team high.
San Diego answered at 11:02, regaining its two-goal lead. It was Barber again, putting home his second goal of the game. Brian Gornick started the play when his slap shot from the left circle sailed wide. Pederson hopped on the loose puck and fed a cross-ice pass to Barber, who one-timed it past Brusseau.
Fresno pulled Brusseau late in an attempt to get back in the game, but Barber sealed the win with the empty-netter at 18:37. Billy Tibbets won an end zone faceoff deep in the San Diego that found its way to Pederson. The Gulls' leading scorer then fed Barber, who easily slid in his hat trick tally â 27th of the season.
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