Gulls Take Down Idaho, 4-1
March 13, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
SAN DIEGO -- In what may very well be a preview of this year's Taylor Cup Finals, the San Diego Gulls sent a direct message to the first place Idaho Steelheads with a convincing 4-1 win Wednesday night.
Idaho (44-13-4) still leads San Diego (39-18-3) by 11 points in the West Coast Hockey League standings and is still the odds-on favorite to hold onto the No. 1 seed. But with the three-goal win before 3,874 at the Sports Arena, the Gulls gave the Steelheads a little reminder that the playoffs are a whole new season.
While catching Idaho for first place may be out of the question, the Blue and Orange still have some business to take care off regarding the second seed. And with business taken care of, at least for tonight, the Gulls extend their second-place lead over the Bakersfield Condors to four points, with still one game in hand.
As far as tonight's game was concerned, you can bet that scoring first was on both Steve Martinson and John Olver's agenda. Both teams came into the game with 32-4-2 records when lighting the lamp first. And the way the Gulls and Steelheads can buckle down defensively, that 1-0 lead can seem pretty safe.
The Gulls converted on an early power play opportunity in the first, thanks to a lucky bounce, to draw first blood. Sylvain Deschatelets and Dennis Purdie played catch with the puck behind the Idaho net before Purdie's backhand-centering feed was inadvertently tipped in by Steelhead defenseman A.J. Begg. Marc Busenburg also assisted on Purdie's sixth tally of the season.
Dan Cousineau gave San Diego a 2-0 cushion with his third goal at 19:46 of the opening period. Cousineau grabbed a pass from Purdie, skated across the blue line and ripped a low slap shot past Jason Cugnet. Busenburg notched his second assist on the goal.
Idaho cut the lead in half with a power-play goal 2:39 into the second. Joe Rybar collected a pass on the half boards and whipped it over to Jeremy Mylymok, who crept in from the point and one-timed it past a sliding Trevor Koenig for his 12th goal.
San Diego, however, answered with two more goals later in the second to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Sylvain Deschatelets regained the two-goal lead with a shorthanded marker at 13:38. Deschatelets picked off an Idaho clearing pass, spun around and wristed a soft shot by Cugnet for his 19th on the year. Some 3:30 later, Mark Pederson notched another power-play goal to give the Gulls their three-goal lead. Trevor Sherban worked the puck to Kevin Grant, whose ensuing slap shot was redirected in by Pederson for his team-leading 39th.
The Steelheads had a few chances in the third, but San Diego's league-leading defense and goaltending did its job, keeping Idaho out of the game. The Gulls have allowed only 146 goals this season, thanks in large part to Mr. Koenig.
Notes: San Diego is 31-8-2 since starting the season 8-10-1... Pederson has 27 points (16g, 11a) in his last 15 games, including three hat tricks... Koenig needs four more wins for 100 in his Gulls career... Martinson is 30-25-7 head-to-head against Olver in the regular season. He's 349-96-24 against everyone else... Martin St Amour served the third of his seven-game suspension tonight...
Trade Deadline Transactions: R.J Enga was activated from injured reserve in time to play tonight... Ashlee Langdone, still bothered by a concussion, was placed on the season-ending injured list (joining Mike McGhan, Dennis Mullen and Joe Bianchi)... Jamie Miller, who spent the majority of this season in the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, signed Tuesday... Bryan Vines was acquired from the Long Beach Ice Dogs Tuesday in exchange for Trent Clark... Dean Tiltgen was loaned to the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears... Robb Wismer was claimed off waivers from Long Beach today...
The Gulls now embark on a four-game road trip, which begins this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska. Game time for Friday and Saturday nights from Sullivan Arena is set for 8 p.m. (PST). San Diego then plays in Bakersfield and Fresno before returning home Sunday, March 23 against the Aces. All games can be heard live on 1130AM-KSDO with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. The Gulls' Internet radio show broadcasts live every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on wsradio.com with Tera Black and Jeremy Zager hosting.
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