Gulls Drop Penalty Filled Contest To Ice Dogs, 4-3

March 26, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


LONG BEACH, Calif. - Penalties were the story Sunday evening between the San Diego Gulls and Long Beach Ice Dogs. San Diego scored three power-play goals and Long Beach netted two, but the Ice Dogs' two even strength tallies proved to be the difference maker, as they skated away 4-3 winners at the Long Beach Arena.

Referee Mike Peerson called a total of 37 penalties in the game. The Gulls finished 3 for 12 on the power play, while the Ice Dogs were 2 for 14. Long Beach, however, out-scored San Diego 2-0 five-on-five.

The Gulls (31-28-6) had there three-game winning streak snapped. They also stay six points behind the Bakersfield Condors for third place in the Pacific Division with just seven games left in the regular season. The Ice Dogs (35-23-9) move five points ahead of Bakersfield for second place and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Peerson whistled 14 minors and 12 different power play chances in the first period. Each team had six chances and each team cashed in on of the them.

Sean McAslan netted Long Beach's first power-play marker just 1:31 into the game, taking a pass across the crease from Michael Lambert and burying his 25th goal. Lambert then gave the Ice Dogs a 2-0 lead with a five-on-five goal at the 15:33 mark, blocking Steve Villeneuve's point shot before slamming it past Gulls netminder Michael Mole for his ninth tally.

San Diego finally converted on the power play at 18:42 of the first. That's when Steve Hildenbrand blasted a shot behind Ice Dog goaltender Greg Hewitt from the right circle. It was his 25th goal and 61st point of the year, one shy of his career high.

Cory Urquhart notched his 21st goal after converting on a two-on-one 2:52 into the second period, but then the penalty parade continued. Peerson called nine more minors in the middle frame (two-period total of 23) and teams again traded power-play tallies.

Dan Cousineau's power-play goal at the 6:03 mark (his sixth goal overall) gave Long Beach a three-goal cushion, but San Diego's Pierre-Luc Sleigher scored on the man advantage 1:59 later to make it a 4-2 game. Hewitt made the original save on Grady Moore's shot, but Sleigher was able to jam home the rebound. Alex Kim also earned an assist, extending his career-high point streak to 15 games.

Kim scored San Diego's third power-play goal at the 18:44 mark of the third period (his 16th overall), but that's as close as the Gulls could get. The final stanza was again filled with penalties, as 14 more were accessed.

Notes: San Diego is still unbeaten in 12 of its last 17 games (11-5-1)... Kim has 27 points during his career-high 15-game point streak. He has 34 points overall (16g, 18a) in 21 games this season... San Diego has allowed only six power-play goals in the last 11 games, but is 6-for-52 on the power play in its last 10 games... The Gulls finished 4-5-0 against the Ice Dogs this season (1-4-0 in Long Beach)...

San Diego's three game road trip continues Wednesday in Stockton, with game-time set for 7 p.m. The Gulls will play in Las Vegas Friday before opening their final homestand of the regular season Saturday vs. Idaho. All games can be heard on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. All remaining games can also be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks (Watch the Game Live) link on the home page for a list of the upcoming viewable games. To view pictures from this season, visit www.zerodogentertainment.com.



ECHL Stories from March 26, 2006


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