Gulls Cream Idaho, 8-2

Published on February 6, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


BOISE, Idaho – The San Diego suffered a devastating loss Wednesday night to the Steelheads, but rebounded nicely with an 8-2 crushing of Idaho Friday night at the Bank of America Centre.

It was a 2-2 game early in the second period, but the Gulls took over from there, scoring six unanswered goals. Billy Tibbetts led the way with two goals and two assists, while Chris Gobert (2g, 1a) and Clayton Read (1g, 2a) chipped in with three points apiece.

The Gulls (31-11-3) have now won 10 of their last 11 games and are 6-1-0 against Idaho this season. They regain the top spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Louisiana IceGators and Mississippi Sea Wolves. San Diego remains three points back of the Wheeling Nailers for the best record in the ECHL. The Steelheads (27-14-5) fall six points back of the Blue and Orange.

San Diego jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead 1:26 into the game on Tibbetts' first goal of the night. The Gulls winger grabbed the puck along the right wing boards and blasted a slap shot that beat Kaleb Christenson low glove-side. Christenson again had to fill in for No. 1 netminder Blair Allison, who had to leave Wednesday's game with a back injury.

Jan Kopecky, who was activated from injured reserve earlier in the day, tied it at the four-minute mark of the first with his team-leading 20th goal, before Dan Cousineau regained San Diego's lead with his third goal about four minutes later. Mark Pederson earned an assist on Cousineau's goal, extending his ECHL season-high point streak to 20 games.

The Steelheads knotted the game at two apiece 35 seconds into the middle frame on a breakaway goal from Vasilyev. After taking a pass from Darrel Hay at the San Diego blue line, Vasilyev skated in all alone against Koenig and beat him for his eighth goal of the season, four of which have come against the Gulls.

From there it was all Gulls as they netted three straight in the second period and three more in the third.

Gobert regained the San Diego lead for good with his first goal of the game 1:36 into the second, taking a centering feed from Read and catching Christenson out of position. Then Deschatelets hammered in a power-play goal at 5:32, connecting on a pass from Greg Barber, who extended his career-high point streak to 13 games. It was Deschatelets' 11th goal of the year.

Gobert gave the Gulls a commanding three-goal cushion with his second tally of the night – 12th of the season – at 16:10 of the second. Tibbetts carried the puck all the way into the right wing corner and then fed a streaking Gobert, who one-timed it past Christenson.

Read netted another a power-play goal 6:28 into the third with a rocket from the blue line. Then Tibbetts netted his second goal of the night – 10th of the season – at 7:05, undressing Christenson on a breakaway. Pederson capped the scoring with his league-leading 31st goal at the 15:00 mark.

Notes: Pederson, Barber and Deschatelets have combined for 67 points (26g, 41a) in the last 15 games... Pederson has 33 points (20g, 13a) during his 20-game point streak... The longest point streak in Gulls franchise history is 26 games, set by Kyle Reeves in 1997-98... The longest point streak in ECHL history is 38 games... Barber has 25 points (9g, 16a) in his last 15 games... Deschatelets has 31 points (6g, 25a) in the last 20 games... Allison injured his back after colliding with the Steelheads' mascot during player warm-ups on Wednesday... The Gulls are unbeaten in 23 of their last 27 games (22-4-1), outscoring their opponents 98-57... San Diego is 29-8-3 against Pacific Division teams... Mike Garrow and Josh Gratton remain with the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Kevin Grant remains on the injured list with a strained neck...

The Gulls and Steelheads conclude their three-game set in Boise Saturday, with game-time scheduled for 6:05 p.m. (PST). San Diego returns home Tuesday against the Long Beach Ice Dogs. It will be another "College Night," with discounts on hot dogs and beverages. All games can be heard live on KPOP 1360AM 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 Feb. 16 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com.

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ECHL Stories from February 6, 2004


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