Gulls Earn Shootout Victory In Long Beach, 3-2

March 12, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


LONG BEACH, Calif. – Joel Stepp scored twice in regulation and goaltender Eddy Ferhi stopped all four attempts in the shootout, leading the San Diego Gulls to a 3-2 victory over the Long Beach Ice Dogs Friday night at the Long Beach Arena.

Even with the win San Diego (30-22-6) remains seven points behind the fourth place Fresno Falcons for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. The Gulls are now one point back of the fifth-place Idaho Steelheads, who were idle Friday.

San Diego is now unbeaten in 27 of its last 28 head-to-head meetings against the Ice Dogs (26-1-1), dating back to October 2002. Long Beach (35-17-7) is still in the hunt for first place in the West, but are winless in five of its last six games.

Stepp gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead 18:31 into the first period with his first goal of the night. Brian Gornick started the play by digging the puck out of the corner and dropping it back along the left wing boards. That's where Stepp picked it up and blasted a slapper past a screened Olivier Michaud.

It stayed a 1-0 game through the second period, even though Long Beach controlled the tempo. The Ice Dogs carried a 24-14 shot advantage through the first two frames, but couldn't solve Ferhi. The San Diego netminder, who notched his first professional shutout in the Gulls' last game Saturday versus Fresno, wasn't forced to make too many point-blank saves however, as his defense kept the bulk of Long Beach's shots along the perimeter.

San Diego temporarily weathered the storm and gained a 2-0 lead 8:21 into the third period, thanks to Stepp's second goal of the game. NHL veteran defenseman David Karpa did the work, forcing an Ice Dog defenseman to cough up the puck behind his own net. After Karpa gained possession, he nudged it to Stepp, who roofed a backhander over Michaud's shoulder. It was his fourth goal in as many games since being assigned by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

Marco Rosa finally got one past Ferhi and put the Ice Dogs on the board at the 12:00 mark of the third. Bill Lindsay, Long Beach's NHL player, had the puck behind the net and centered it to Rosa, who lifted a backhander behind Ferhi for his 26th goal of the season.

Long Beach kept the pressure going and tied it less than three minutes later, as Christian Larrivee beat Ferhi from the top of the crease at 14:57. Michael Lambert and Matt Shasby assisted on Larrivee's marker, his sixth of the year.

That's how things stayed through the remainder of regulation and overtime, so the game headed to a shootout. In the extra frame, Curtis Brown and Sylvain Deschatelets scored for the Blue and Orange. Meanwhile, Ferhi stopped Rosa, Lindsay, Lambert and Chris Kenady. He had 34 saves through regulation and the five-minute overtime period.

Notes: San Diego's only regulation loss to Long Beach during the last 27 head-to-head games was on Opening Night this season. The other loss came in a shootout last season... The Gulls are 22-3-1 this season when scoring four-plus goals in a game, but just 8-19-5 when scoring three or less... They have only out-shot their opponent three times since the all-star break (21 games)... San Diego is 9-11-2 in its last 22 games... Since the all-star break the Gulls are 5-1-1 at home and 4-9-1 on the road... Nicolas Corbeil was acquired Tuesday from the Mississippi Sea Wolves in exchange for Mike Garrow... Scott Borders was traded to the Las Vegas Wranglers Tuesday... Chris Lynch (knee), Nick Ganga (knee) and Evgueni Nourislamov (thumb) remain on the injured list...

The Gulls will play in Las Vegas Saturday at 7:05 p.m. before opening a five-game homestand Sunday against the Alaska Aces. Sunday's contest is a 5:05 p.m. start and will be Education and Kids Night, featuring "Skate with the Gulls" immediately following the game. San Diego will then host Long Beach once and Las Vegas twice next weekend, before closing the homestand Friday, March 25 against the Ice Dogs.

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 most remaining 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.



ECHL Stories from March 12, 2005


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