Falcons Stun Gulls to End Winning Streak
February 22, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
SAN DIEGO â The Gulls entered play Saturday night having won 14 straight at the Sports Arena. The Fresno Falcons had dropped 14 of their last 15 games on the road. Should be a piece of cake for the Blue and Orange, right? Well, that's why they play the games. Mike Mathers notched two goals and Terry Friesen turned away 51 shots en route to a 5-3 Falcons victory.
Fresno entered the night allowing a league-high 4.12 goals per game, but Friesen put on a show to lead the last-place Falcons past San Diego in front of 9,403 at the Sports Arena. Friesen turned away 51 of 54 Gulls shots and Mathers (2g, 0a) and Kevin Truelson (1g, 1a) each tallied two-point nights to give Fresno their second consecutive win against the division leaders.
The loss was just the second of the season against a divisional opponent at home this year for the Gulls and snapped an ECHL season-high 14 game home winning streak. It also dropped San Diego (35-12-6) into a tie with the Wheeling Nailers for the best record in the league, each with 74 points. The Blue and Orange still lead the Pacific Division by eight points over the Las Vegas Wranglers and lead the Western Conference by four points over the Louisiana IceGators. Fresno (15-30-6) remains in the cellar of the Pacific Division, 26 points out of the final playoff spot.
Despite having been out-shot, 15-2, Fresno managed to take the early lead, 13:11 into the first period, on Mathers' fourth goal of the season. Truelson picked up the puck and launched a clearing pass into the San Diego zone. The puck took a funny hop of the boards, however, and caromed in front of the Gulls' net where Mathers picked it up and knocked a wrister past David Burleigh, grabbing the lead for the Falcons on just their third shot of the frame.
The Gulls came storming back, 15:41 into the first, when Sandro Sbrocca notched his first goal since Jan. 23. Eric Skaug launched a rocket from the point that snapped his stick in half, but the shot got caught up in a crowd of Falcons near the right circle. A scramble for possession ensued, with Sbrocca coming up with the puck and knocking home a back-hander for his fourth goal of the season. Despite accumulating a season-high 21 shots on goal during the period, the Gulls went into the first intermission tied at one.
Fresno grabbed the lead back, midway through the second, when Mike Sandbeck took advantage of a Gulls' penalty to net his ninth goal of the season. Sylvain Deschatelets was whistled for interference, 9:09 into the period, to give the Falcons their second power-play opportunity of the night, and Michael Kiesman connected with Sandbeck 59 seconds later to put Fresno in front, 2-1.
The Falcons continued to pile it on when Scott Borders netted Fresno's third tally of the night, 17:46 into the middle frame. Borders stripped Mike Garrow of the puck along the right-wing boards before launching a slap-shot from the right circle that beat Burleigh for the unassisted goal. The marker was the eighth of the season for Borders, giving Fresno a two-goal cushion.
San Diego got one back to start the third period, when Chris Gobert slid a pass to Billy Tibbetts in the high slot and the Gulls' center knocked a one-timer past a screened Friesen for his 13th goal of the season. The goal, which came 1:40 into the third, pulled San Diego to within one, 3-2.
Truelson regained the two-goal lead for the Falcons, however, 91 seconds later, notching his second tally of the night. Burleigh failed to control the puck after stopping a Fresno shot and the puck trickled back out into the slot. After a scrum in front of the net, Truelson came up with the puck and smacked a wrister past Burleigh to put Fresno back in control, 4-2. The goal also knocked Burleigh from the game in favor of veteran Trevor Koenig.
Desperately in need of a goal, the Blue and Orange went to the familiar line of Deschatelets, Greg Barber and Mark Pederson. Pederson launched a slap-shot that was stopped by Friesen, but the rebound trickled out to Barber, who fed Deschatelets in the high slot for a wrister that found the back of the net. The goal, which came at the 10:02 mark of the third, was Deschatelets' fourth in as many games and his 15th overall, pulling the Gulls back to within one.
Unfortunately for the Blue and Orange, however, Tapio Sammalkangas and the Fresno defense shut the door from there, and Mathers tallied an empty-netter as time expired, snapping the Gulls' home win streak at 14.
Notes: The Gulls are 23-5-0 at home this season, including a 21-2-0 mark against Pacific Division foes... San Diego is unbeaten in 17 of its last 19 games (14-2-3) and 30 of its last 35 overall (26-5-4), outscoring its opponents 126-80... Pederson, Barber and Deschatelets have combined for 100 points (39, 61a) in the last 23 games... Pederson has 43 points (25g, 18a) in his last 28 games... Barber has 36 points (13g, 23a) in his last 23 games... Deschatelets has 43 points (10g, 33a) in the last 28 games... Josh Gratton remains with American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Dennis Purdie (sprained shoulder) and Kevin Grant (neck strain) both remain on the injured list...
The Gulls now embark on a short two-game road trip that sees them play Wednesday in Fresno and Friday in Las Vegas. Both games begin at 7 p.m. San Diego then returns home on Saturday, Feb. 28 to take on the South Carolina Stingrays. It will be a 5:05 p.m. start and Gulls caps, courtesy of Channel 4 San Diego, will be given to the first 8,000 fans in attendance. All games can be heard live on KPOP and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. The next edition of the Gulls Internet Radio show, hosted by Tera Black and Jeremy Zager on wsRadio.com, will air live Monday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com.
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