Gulls Beat Victoria Again, 5-4

Published on December 19, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


VICTORIA, British Columbia – It was a back-and-forth game all night long, but Max Birbraer's goal midway through the third period Saturday night was the deciding factor as the San Diego Gulls beat the Victoria Salmon Kings for the second straight night, 5-4, at Bear Mountain Arena.

With the victory, the Gulls (13-7-2) extend their winning streak to a season-high four games. It also moves them into third place in the West Division, now only trailing the first-place Bakersfield Condors by four points. The Salmon Kings (6-13-3) are now winless in their last four games and remain in the West Division cellar.

Victoria opened the scoring 5:51 into the first period on a power-play goal by Jeff Williams. After taking a pass from Corey Smith, Williams dragged the puck behind the San Diego defense and flipped a shot over the shoulder of Gulls goaltender Trevor Koenig for his sixth goal of the season.

NHL veteran Curtis Brown tied it exactly four minutes later with San Diego skating on the man advantage. Nikita Korovkin, stationed near the left wing boards, took a pass from Mark Pederson and quickly flicked it cross-ice to Brown, who banged it past Victoria netminder Jason Stone. It was Brown's second goal since joining the Gulls in mid-November.

San Diego's penalty killing, which entered the day third worst in the ECHL, gave up its second power-play goal of the night at 19:09 of the first. Seth Leonard was the beneficiary this time, notching his fifth of the season after jamming home a pass from Ryan Finnerty.

But the Gulls tied it again, 2-2, as Colin Shields converted on Sylvain Deschatelets' nice set-up play. Deschatelets, who had two assists Friday night, found Shields busting down the right wing and the San Diego rookie forward wristed a shot over the out-stretched glove of Stone for his second marker of the year.

Brad Dexter, reigning ECHL Player of the Week, regained the Salmon Kings' lead with his sixth goal at 13:52, but the Gulls came roaring back again, netting two more in the middle frame to go ahead 4-3.

Mike Garrow got his fourth of the season at 17:59, one-timing in a pass from Guillaume Fournier. Then, on a San Diego power play, Pederson recorded his fifth tally at 19:46 after his centering pass deflected off Finnerty and behind Stone.

The seesaw battle continued, as Victoria knotted the game at four apiece with its third power-play goal of the game. Smith registered the tally, redirecting Dexter's wrist shot behind Koenig at the 4:12 mark of the third period. It was Smith's first goal of the season and third point of the night. Dexter and Finnerty each picked up his second point of the game on the play as well.

Birbraer put the Gulls ahead for good 9:57 into the final frame with his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Fellow linemate Sean O'Connor sent a pass toward Birbraer, but Stone picked it off. The Victoria goaltender couldn't handle it however, as Birbraer was right there to pry it loose and poke it home.

Notes: San Diego is 9-2-0 in its last 11 games, outscoring its opponents 44-29 during that span... The Gulls are now 3-5-1 on the road and 10-2-1 at home this season... They've outscored their opponents 61-30 in their 13 wins, but have been outscored 31-13 in their nine losses (which includes an overtime and shootout loss)... The Blue and Orange have allowed 11 power-play goals in their last six games... The Gulls were 13-7-2 through 21 games last season... Evgueni Nourislamov remains with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. He is expected back with the Gulls after the weekend... Mathieu Chouinard remains Cincinnati... Sean Murphy, recovering from a fractured knuckle, is expected to be back in the lineup shortly after Christmas...

The Gulls and Salmon Kings conclude their three-game series in Victoria Monday, with game-time again set for 7 p.m. San Diego will then play in Las Vegas Sunday, Dec. 26 before ending the 2004 calendar year with two games in Alaska.

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. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com and www.zerodogentertainment.com.

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ECHL Stories from December 19, 2004


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