Gulls Nipped By Falcons, 3-2

Published on November 21, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


FRESNO, Calif. – NHL Veteran Curtis Brown was held scoreless in his first game with the San Diego Gulls, but so were most of his new teammates Saturday night against the Fresno Falcons. Brown and company out-played Fresno from start to finish, but still came up short, losing 3-2.

The Gulls finished the game out-shooting the Falcons 38-17 and dominated the scoring chances all night long. They only made three blatant mistakes throughout the game, but each resulted in Fresno outnumbered attacks... And each resulted in Fresno goals.

Otherwise the story was Brett Jaeger, who was two saves away from completely shutting down San Diego (4-5-2). The rookie netminder finished the game with 36 saves, handing the Gulls their third straight road loss and extending their overall winless streak to four games (0-3-1).

The Gulls dominated the opening half of the first period, well out-shooting and out-chancing the Falcons (4-7-1). Jaeger, however, weathered the storm and was rewarded when his teammates lit the lamp at 12:17.

San Diego first-year defensemen Nikita Korovkin and Andrew Canzanello both got caught inside the Fresno zone and Jason Weaver skated in with Shaun Sutter two-on-zero against Trevor Koenig. Weaver carried the puck all the way to the left wing circle and finally dished it to Sutter, who easily tapped it home.

Guillaume Fournier, who had five points against Fresno Oct. 23, scored the equalizer with just 24 seconds left in the first period. Sylvain Deschatelets and Mark Pederson started the play on the fore-check, working the puck loose behind the Fresno net. Fournier, standing at the left post, took Deschatelets' centering feed and jammed it past Jaeger.

Weaver was sprung on another breakaway early in the second and this time took care of business all by himself, regaining Fresno's one-goal lead. After taking a pass from Kevin Truelson, Weaver was off to the races and eventually beat Koenig on the forehand at 5:54.

Meanwhile, the Gulls continued to pile up the shots, but Jaeger remained rock-solid. San Diego, which failed on a two-man advantage for 1:50 in the first period, had a golden opportunity to re-tie the game with a five-minute major power play in the second. However, Jaeger's stingy goaltending and Mike Garrow's penalty during the power play kept Fresno's 2-1 lead.

The trend remained the same in the third period as San Diego kept firing rubber at the Fresno net. The results remained the same too, as Jaeger kept turning away shot after shot.

The Falcons, who didn't even register a shot in the third until halfway through the frame, took advantage of another outnumbered attack as Dan Tessier connected on a two-on-one rush at the 17:17 mark. That goal proved to be huge because Colin Shields scored a power-play marker 59 seconds latter to make it 3-2, the game's final score.

Notes: Brown signed with the Gulls Tuesday. He has more than 500 games of NHL experience... Deschatelets, who missed the first 10 games of the season, made is season debut. He and Pederson tied for the team lead with 81 points last season... The Gulls are now 1-5-1 on the road this season... They have scored 22 goals in their four victories and only eight goals in their seven losses (which includes an overtime and shootout loss)... San Diego has been outscored 13-5 during its four-game winless streak... Shield's third-period goal was his first as a professional... Brian Gornick (knee) and Mathieu Chouinard (hip) both remain on the injured list... Sean O'Connor remains with the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks...

The Gulls have a week off before opening a season-long nine-game homestand Saturday Nov. 27 against the Falcons, with game-time set for 7:05 p.m. San Diego will then host Bakersfield Sunday Nov. 28 at 5:05 p.m. Saturday's game will be Mullet Night and special T-shirts and free haircut vouchers, courtesy of Supercuts, will be given to the first 6,000 fans in attendance. Sunday's game is the first Kids Night, and "Skate with the Gulls" will be held immediately afterward.

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.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from November 21, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central