Gulls - Stingrays Game Preview
February 28, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
This is the first-ever meeting between the Gulls and Stingrays. The two teams will not face each other again in the regular season.
LAST GAME: FEB. 27 @ LAS VEGAS WRANGLERS
Dave Cousineau, younger brother of San Diego's Dan Cousineau, scored a power-play goal 3:35 into overtime, lifting the Wranglers to a 2-1 win over the Gulls. It was a scoreless game until Chris Wheaton beat Trevor Koenig 12:20 into the second period. Greg Barber tied it, 1-1, with a power-play goal 4:52 into the third. That's how it stayed until Dave Cousineau's game-winning tally. Koenig made 45 saves in a losing effort, while Dany Sabourin turned aside 22 shots to pick up the victory in his Las Vegas debut.
GULLS UPDATE:
The Gulls (36-12-7) enter the day with the third-best overall record in the ECHL, three points behind the Wheeling Nailers and one point back of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies... San Diego remains atop the Western Conference, three points ahead of the Louisiana IceGators... The Blue and Orange hold a five-point cushion over Las Vegas for first place in the Pacific Division... Even with the overtime loss last night, the Gulls still clinched a playoff berth... San Diego is 23-5-0 at home this season and has won 14 of its last 15 on home ice... The Blue and Orange are unbeaten in 19 of their last 21games (15-2-4) and 32 of their last 37 (27-5-5), outscoring their opponents 132-84...
OTHER NOTES:
San Diego is 33-9-5 against Pacific Division teams, but just 3-3-2 outside of its division... The Gulls are 2-3-0 against non-Pacific Division teams at home... San Diego has made the playoffs all nine seasons of existence (1996-2004)... Koenig is third in the ECHL with 26 wins, two behind Pensacola's Brian Eklund and one behind Atlantic City's Scott Stirling. He's fourth among league goaltenders with a 2.23 goals-against average... Koenig is unbeaten in 16 of his last 17 starts (11-1-5)... Billy Tibbetts has seven points (4g, 3a) in his last four games...
PEDERSON, BARBER, DESCHATELETS SPLIT UP (AT LEAST FOR NOW):
Trying to gain a more balanced scoring attack, head coach Steve Martinson split up the red-hot line of Mark Pederson, Barber and Sylvain Deschatelets... The trio combined for 100 points (39g, 61a) in 23 games together... The other two lines combined for 41 goals during the same span... Pederson leads the ECHL with 37 goals and 16 power-play goals, while ranking sixth with 65 points. He has 44 of those points (26g, 18) in the last 30 games. He is also in the midst of an ECHL season-high 18-game home point streak (18g, 13a)... Pederson left last night's game in the third period after being struck by a Cliff Loya slap shot... Barber is tied for the ECHL rookie lead with 60 points, which is tied for ninth overall in the league. He leads all first-year players with 37 assists and is fourth with 23 goals... Barber has 39 points (14g, 25a) in his last 25 games... Deschatelets' career-high five-game goal streak was snapped last night. He's still in the midst of a career-high nine-game point streak. He has 45 points (11g, 34a) in his last 30 games...
SOUTH CAROLINA NOTES:
The Stingrays (30-10-3) enter the day fourth in the Southern Division, tied with the Charlotte Checkers... Both have 63 points, four points behind the third-place Greensboro Generals... South Carolina, however, has three games in hand on both Greensboro and Charlotte... The Stingrays have six games in hand on the second-place Florida Everblades, whom they trail by five points... South Carolina is in the midst of a six-game Pacific Division swing. They started the road trip last night with a 4-2 win in Long Beach... The Stingrays are 11-8-1 against teams outside of their division... No. 1 goalie Kirk Daubenspeck, who played a season for the West Coast Hockey League's Colorado Gold Kings, has a 2.53 GAA and .921 save percentage... Back-up netminder David Brumby has a 2.50 GAA and a .930 save percentage, which is fourth best in the ECHL...
TRANSACTIONS:
Trent Clark was signed today... Brian Gornick was recalled by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Sunday... Dennis Purdie (shoulder) and Kevin (Grant) remain on the injured list... Josh Gratton remains with the AHL's Mighty Ducks...
FUTURE HEAD-TO-HEAD GAMES:
Last Match-up of the regular season
• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...
ECHL Stories from February 28, 2004
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- Brusseau Leads Falcons to Victory - Fresno Falcons
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