Gulls Fall To Vegas, 2-1 in OT
February 28, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
LAS VEGAS â Dave Cousineau scored a power-play goal 3:35 into overtime, lifting the Las Vegas Wranglers to a 2-1 win over the San Diego Gulls Friday night, before 7,035 at the Orleans Arena.
Even with the overtime setback, the Gulls (36-12-7) still clinch a playoff berth in the 2004 Kelly Cup Playoffs. They do, however, lose ground in the overall ECHL standings. San Diego now has the third best record in the league, three points behind the Wheeling Nailers and one point back of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. The Blue and Orange lead the Louisiana Ice Gators by three points for the top spot in the Western Conference.
The Wranglers (34-17-6) are now unbeaten in six of their last seven games and move within five points of San Diego for first place in the Pacific Division. They still lead the third-place Idaho Steelheads by three points.
Las Vegas dominated the first period, but had nothing to show for it. The only reason was the spectacular goaltending of Trevor Koenig. The San Diego netminder stopped all 14 shots he faced in the opening period, a bunch of which came at point-blank range. Wranglers' goaltender Dany Sabourin, who played four games with the NHL's Calgary Flames this season, only had to make two saves.
The game remained scoreless through the first half of second period, but the trend continued. Las Vegas kept the offensive flurry going, while the Gulls struggled sustaining any kind of attack.
It was only a matter of time before the Wranglers broke through, which they did at 12:20 of the second. Chris Wheaton was the beneficiary, beating Koenig with a slap shot from the left wing circle for his fifth goal of the season.
San Diego tied it 4:52 into the third period on a power-play goal from Greg Barber. The play started when Mike Garrow's dump-in took a funny hop off the right wing boards and caromed to Sylvain Deschatelets right in front of the net. Deschatelets then quickly whipped it to Barber, who knocked it past Sabourin for his 23rd goal of the season.
Offensive chances for both teams were kept to a minimum the remainder of regulation and the contest headed to overtime, tied 1-1.
Dan Cousineau, older broader of Las Vegas hero Dave Cousineau, was whistled for high sticking 1:45 into the extra session and the Wranglers power play went to work. Koenig, who finished with 45 saves, thwarted the attack until Dave Cousineau's screened slap shot found the back of the net. Las Vegas out-shot San Diego 7-0 in overtime (47-23 in the game).
Notes: Koenig is now third among ECHL goaltenders with 26 wins. He entered Wednesday tied with the third-best goals-against-average in the league. Koenig is unbeaten in 16 of his last 17 starts (11-1-5)... Deschatelets' career-high five-game goal streak was snapped. He, however, extended his career-high point streak to nine games. He has 45 points (11g, 34a) in his last 30 games... Mark Pederson left the game early in the third period after getting cut by Cliff Loya's slap shot... Barber has 39 points (14g, 25a) in his last 25 games and is tied for the ECHL rookie lead with 60 points overall... The Gulls are unbeaten in 19 of their last 21 games (15-2-4) and 32 of their last 37 (27-5-5), outscoring their opponents 132-84... San Diego is 13-7-7 on the road this season, including a 2-1-2 mark in Las Vegas... The Gulls have made the playoffs all nine seasons of existence (1996-2004)... Josh Gratton remains with American Hockey League's Mighty Ducks... Samy Nasreddine missed the game after suffering a knee injury in Fresno Wednesday night. His status is day-to-day... Dennis Purdie (sprained shoulder) and Kevin Grant (neck strain) both remain on the injured list...
The Gulls return home Saturday to take on the South Carolina Stingrays for the first time ever. It will be a 5:05 p.m. start and Gulls caps, courtesy of Channel 4 San Diego, will be given to the first 7,000 fans in attendance. 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, March 8 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com and www.zerodogentertainment.com.
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