Gulls Lose In Idaho Again, 5-1

April 1, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


BOISE, Idaho – No one can beat the sizzling Idaho Steelheads lately and Friday night was no exception. Warren Peters notched three points and Tim Verbeek added a pair of goals, leading Idaho to a 5-1 victory over the San Diego Gulls.

The Steelheads (40-21-7), fighting for a playoff spot in the West Division, are now unbeaten in their last 16 games (12-0-4) and 23 of their last 24 games overall (19-1-4). Their last loss in regulation came against the Gulls Feb. 27 at the ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena.

San Diego (34-28-6), which was eliminated from the playoffs after Wednesday's loss in Idaho, has now lost two straight and three of its last four.

Just as he did Wednesday night, Tim Verbeek gave the Steelheads an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 3:20 into the first period. It came on a lucky bounce, however, as the puck was inadvertently deflected into the net by San Diego defenseman Sean Murphy. Verbeek was rushing down the left wing and tried to center a pass, but it instead knocked off Murphy's stick and behind netminder Simon Lajeunesse.

The Gulls tied it at 7:04 of the first period on a nice deflection by Grady Moore, who picked up his fourth goal of the season – second with San Diego. Moore was streaking toward the net and redirected Jonathon Shockey's centering feed in between Idaho goaltender Matthew Yeats' pads.

Idaho quickly regained the lead at the 8:50 mark on Scott Burt's 22nd tally of the year. Warren Peters, who picked up an assist on Verbeek's early goal, barreled toward the net, but was stopped by Lajeunesse. The rebound however bounced right to Burt, who easily punched it home.

Verbeek notched his second of the game – sixth of the season – at the 14:09 mark of the first, giving the Steelheads a 3-1 cushion. After streaking uncontested to the front of the net, Verbeek redirected in Dan Vandermeer's pass from the left wing corner.

Peters, already with two helpers in the game, made it 4-1 with his 20th goal 3:09 into the second period. Jonathon Zion had the puck along the right wing boards and found a wide-open Peters, who squeezed a shot by Lajeunesse.

Bobby Russell put the game away with his team-leading 26th goal 5:04 into the third period. Vandermeer had the puck at the left point and whipped a pass across the blue line to Russell, who one-timed it through a tangle of bodies and into the net.

Notes: The Gulls are 3-3-0 against Idaho this season, with two head-to-head games remaining... San Diego is 22-8-3 at home and 12-20-3 on the road... The Gulls are 28-4-2 this season when scoring three-plus goals in a game, but just 6-24-4 when scoring two or less... Since the all-star break, they are 8-4-1 at home and 5-12-1 on the road (13-16-2 overall)... NHL veteran Curtis Brown has opted not to play for the remainder of the season... Sean O'Connor, out with a sprained knee, remains on the injured list... Nick Ganga (knee) remains on the injured list, but is close to being activated... Andrew Canzanello was recalled to the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Friday... Joel Stepp was also recalled to Cincinnati earlier in the week...

San Diego's next two games are also against the Steelheads. Saturday's contest will be in Boise, with game-time scheduled for 6:05 p.m. (PST). The two will square off for the final time this season in San Diego Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. (PDT). It will be the last "Wacky Wednesday" of the season, featuring "Pooch Party III." All fans are invited to bring their dogs to the game!!! The Gulls will close out the season with two more home games Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9 against the Victoria Salmon Kings.

All games can be heard live 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 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 April 1, 2005


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