Gulls Fall in OT, 2-1

February 16, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


LAFAYETTE, La – The two top teams in the Western Conference faced off for the first time ever Monday night as Louisiana goalie Derek Gustafson single-handedly stifled the Gulls' offense en route to a 2-1 IceGator win in overtime.

Gustafson turned away 41 shots and Ed McGrane netted the game-winner with just 1:11 left in overtime to give Louisiana the two points. The Gulls had numerous opportunities to pull out the win including a power play to close out regulation, but it wasn't enough. San Diego outshot Louisiana 42-31 in the game, including a 16-9 mark in the third period and overtime, but Gustafson was unbeatable in net.

Despite the disappointing result, the overtime loss gives the Gulls (34-11-5) the best record in the ECHL, moving them one point ahead of the Wheeling Nailers. They lead the Pacific Division by 10 points over the second-place Las Vegas Wranglers and lead the Western Conference by one over the IceGators.

Louisiana (35-13-2) now moves into a tie with Wheeling for the second-best record in the league, and leads the Central Division by six points over the Mississippi Sea Wolves, whom the Gulls will play on Tuesday night.

Both teams came into the game atop their respective divisions and ranked in the top five in the league in goals for, goals against and power-play percentage, so it stood to reason that they would be pretty evenly matched on the ice, as was evidenced by a quick and scoreless first period.

Having never played each other before, the Gulls and IceGators used the first frame to complete the requisite feeling-out process. Both teams employed solid defense and took few chances and Louisiana failed to convert on the period's only power-play. San Diego managed nine shots on goal and the IceGators tallied eight during the first, but Gustafson and Trevor Koenig kept goose eggs on the scoreboard.

The pace picked up in the second period, however, as both teams showed signs of life on offense. The Gulls dominated the first 10 minutes of the frame, outshooting the IceGators, 16-3, but it was Louisiana that drew first blood. Semir Ben-Amor skated hard toward the net, picking up the rebound of a Jamie Johnson shot and knocking home the wrister for his eighth goal of the year, giving the IceGators the 1-0 lead, 1:04 into the middle frame.

Louisiana then took over in the latter half of the second, limiting the Gulls to just one shot on goal in the final 10 minutes of the frame. Fortunately for San Diego, however, that shot belonged to Sylvain Deschatelets and found its way past Gustafson to even the score. The Gulls' top line continued to key the offense, as Greg Barber found Deschatelets near the crease and the Gulls' center tipped home the shot for San Diego's first tally, 17:02 into the second.

The two teams settled back into a defensive struggle to start the third period, with little transpiring in the way of scoring chances until Milt Mastad was whistled for hooking with just 1:24 remaining in regulation. The puck didn't leave the IceGators zone for the remainder of the period, as the Gulls fired shot after shot at Gustafson, but the Louisiana netminder was up to the task, sending the game into overtime.

The Gulls closed out the power play with several more shots on goal to start the extra period, but were again turned away by Gustafson. San Diego looked to be headed to another shootout, but with just 1:11 left to play, Kenny Corupe found Ed McGrane, who skated past Samy Nasreddine and knocked home a back-hander, beating Koenig for the win.

Notes: Pederson, Barber and Deschatelets have combined for 89 points (34g, 55a) in the last 20 games... Pederson has 39 points (24g, 15a) in his last 25 games... Barber has 33 points (12g, 21a) in his last 20 games... Deschatelets has 39 points (7g, 32a) in the last 25 games... The Gulls are now 3-3-1 against teams outside their division... The Blue and Orange are unbeaten in 15 of their last 16 games (13-1-2) and 28 of their last 32 overall (25-4-3), outscoring their opponents 116-71... The Gulls have now gone into overtime in four of their last nine games. They are 2-0-2 in those contests and 6-0-5 overall this season in games not decided in regulation. This was the first overtime game of the year for the IceGators at home... Brain Gornick joined the Gulls after being assigned by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Josh Gratton remains with AHL's Mighty Ducks... Dennis Purdie (sprained shoulder) and Kevin Grant (neck strain) both remain on the injured list...

San Diego finishes up its Central Division swing when they take on the Mississippi Sea Wolves Tuesday at 4:05 p.m. (PST). The Gulls then return home with games against Las Vegas on Thursday and Fresno on Saturday. Tuesday's game will be tape delayed on KPOP 1360AM until 7 p.m. (PST). All other games can be heard live on KPOP 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. 23 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com.



ECHL Stories from February 16, 2004


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