Gomez and Aces Beat Gulls In Shootout, 3-2

October 30, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sullivan Arena had the hockey spotlight Friday night with the anticipated return of homegrown NHL hero Scott Gomez. The standing room only crowd of 6,453 didn't go home disappointed as Gomez and his Alaska Aces edged out a 3-2 shootout win over the San Diego Gulls.

Gomez, a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the New Jersey Devils, signed with Alaska earlier in the week because of the on-going NHL lockout. The Anchorage native and 2000 NHL Rookie of the Year received a variety of offers overseas, but opted to play for his hometown Aces instead.

In his ECHL debut and Anchorage return, Gomez notched an assist and a key goal in the shootout. Gomez's tally in the fourth round of the extra frame tied it and allowed Gulls nemesis Charles Linglet to win it in the fifth and final round.

The Aces (1-2-0) were the only ones to light the lamp in the first period... but it didn't count. With a little less than seven minutes left in the opening frame, Mike Scott took a nice set-up pass from Gomez and beat Trevor Koenig. But, with no argument from the Aces, referee Andy Thiessen ruled the play offsides.

The game remained scoreless until Keith McCambridge got Alaska on the board – officially – 5:42 into the second period. Mike Jones started the play with a shot from the point that Koenig steered aside. Mike Lee picked up the rebound, but was denied as well. McCambridge, however, grabbed the second rebound in the slot and fired it home, giving the Aces a 1-0 lead.

San Diego (1-1-1) answered at 14:15 of the second on a power-play goal by Darren Clark. Mike Garrow had the puck at the right point, skated into the high slot and snapped one toward the net. The shot was going wide, but Clark redirected it back toward the net and behind Peter Aubry.

Billy Tibbetts then jammed in his second goal of the season at 18:26, giving the Gulls a 2-1 lead. Clark made it happen again, dropping a pass to a streaking Tibbetts. Aubry stopped his first shot, but Tibbetts crashed the net, found the rebound and poked it home.

The lead was short-lived however, as Alaska's Chris Minard tied it 34 seconds later. When Gomez and Minard rushed down the ice on a two-on-one, the Gulls almost caught a break when the puck rolled off Gomez's stick. The former NHL All-Star regrouped though and tapped it to a wide-open Minard, who tucked it past Koenig.

Both teams had a handful of chances in the third period and overtime, but Koenig and Aubry each did his part and the game headed to a shootout. Tibbetts and Guillaume Fournier tallied for the Gulls in the shootout period, but the last three Alaska shooters (Joe Talbot, Gomez and Linglet) beat Koenig and preserved the victory.

Notes: Gomez tied the NHL lead in assists last season... His father grew up in San Diego before moving to Anchorage... One of Tibbetts' NHL goals came against Gomez's Devils... Boris Protsenko and Nick Ganga signed Friday. Protsenko, however, was unavailable to play... Sean Murphy was activated from injured reserved after sitting out the first two games with a groin injury... Sean O'Connor was re-called by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Both Darren Partch and Stephane St. Amour were released earlier in the week... Sylvain Deschatelets remains on the injured list...

The Gulls and Aces continue their weekend series Saturday and Sunday nights. Saturday's game begins at 8:15 PDT and Sunday's affair starts at 6:05 PST. BOTH GAMES CAN BE VIEWED ON THE GULLS' WEBSITE (WWW.SANDIEGOGULLS.COM) VIA B2 NETWORKS.

The Blue and Orange will also play the Aces when they return home on Wednesday, which is a "Win-Win" night. If the Gulls win on Wednesday, fans can exchange their ticket for a FREE ticket to the Thursday game against the Florida Everblades. "WE WIN, YOU WIN."

All games can be heard live on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. All home games and many road games can be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks link on the home page for a list of the upcoming telecasted games.



ECHL Stories from October 30, 2004


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