Gulls Lose New Year's Eve Battle to Alaska 5-4 in OT

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


ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Chris Minard netted a pair of goals, including the game-winner in overtime, leading the Alaska Aces to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls Friday night in a New Year's Eve showdown at Sullivan Arena.

The Gulls carried a 3-1 lead early in the third period, but the Aces scored three straight to go ahead 4-3. Brian Gornick, however, tied the game with 7.3 seconds left in regulation sending the game to overtime and giving San Diego one point.

With the point, the Gulls (15-8-3) now trail the first-place Bakersfield Condors by three points in the West Division standings. They trail the second-place Long Beach Ice Dogs, who were victorious in Victoria Friday, by two points. The Aces (14-12-2) move into a fourth-place tie with the Idaho Steelheads.

Sylvain Deschatelets gave the Gulls an early 1-0 cushion 5:42 into the first period with his first goal of the night. It all happened on an Aces turnover, as Deschatelets stole the puck right in front of the crease and flipped a backhander over sliding goaltender Peter Aubry.

San Diego, which out-shot Alaska 10-6 in the opening frame, had a bunch of other chances to increase its lead, but Aubry was equal to the task. On the other side was red-hot Mathieu Chouinard, who's only allowed one goal during his previous two games. The Gulls' netminder wasn't tested much in the first, but was perfect when called upon.

The Gulls picked up right were they left off in the first period and grabbed a 2-0 lead 1:05 into the second. The score again came via an Alaska turnover, as this time Brian Gornick picked off an errant pass. Gornick then flipped it to a wide-open Deschatelets, who slipped another backhander past Aubry for his second goal of the night – sixth of the season.

Alaska answered 40 seconds later on NHL all-star Scott Gomez's fourth goal off the year. Gomez skated down the right wing side and fired a wrist shot that eluded a handcuffed Chouinard.

Sean O'Connor, who's been an Aces killer this season, regained San Diego's two-goal lead with his team-leading 11th tally 32 seconds into the third period. Scott Borders grabbed a pass from Curtis Brown and then dropped it to O'Connor, who beat Aubry to give the Gulls a 3-1 advantage.

The Aces again cut the margin to one, notching a power-play goal at the 3:44 mark. Mike Jones, standing in the right wing circle, took a setup feed from Gomez and blasted home a slap shot for his second goal of the season.

Minard and Joe Talbot then scored back-to-back goals 1:58 apart midway through the third, completing the comeback and reversing the score to a 4-3 Alaska lead.

Minard netted his first of the game at 7:50, knocking in a rebound off Gomez's initial shot. Talbot recorded his eighth at 9:48, converting on a rebound from Ryan Bast's shot from the left point.

It looked as if that was going to be the final score, but Gornick dramatically tied the game with 7.3 seconds left in regulation after Aubry couldn't control Mike Garrow's initial point shot.

Minard, however, ended the game 4:27 into overtime after taking a nice setup feed from Gomez and sending a slick backhander underneath Chouinard's pads. Gomez finished the game with one goal and three assists.

Notes: San Diego is 11-3-1 in its last 15 games, outscoring its opponents 53-38 during that span... O'Connor has 10 points (7g, 3a) in five games against Alaska... The Blue and Orange have outscored their opponents 64-31 in their 15 wins, but have been outscored 39-19 in their 10 losses (which includes two overtime and one shootout loss)... San Diego is 8-3-3 in one-goal games this season. Its last nine games have been one-goal decisions... The Gulls are 5-2-2 against the Aces this season... They were 16-8-2 through 26 games last season. Jonathon Shockey remains on the 30-day injured list with a separated shoulder... Mark Pederson remains out of the lineup with back spasms. His status is day-to-day...

The Gulls return home to take on the first-place Condors Sunday, with game-time set for 5:05 p.m. It will be another "Kids Night" featuring "Skate with the Gulls" immediately follow the game. San Diego will play in Las Vegas Tuesday before hosting the Peoria Rivermen Wednesday. Both of those games begin at 7:05 p.m. ALL THREE UPCOMING GAMES WILL BE TELEVISED LIVE ON THE GULLS' WEB SITE, VIA B2 NETWORKS.

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 many 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 January 1, 2005


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