Gulls Win 7th Straight; 5-2 In Bakersfield

Published on April 2, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – It now comes down to the last day of the regular season to decide who will win the Brabham Cup for the best overall record. The San Diego Gulls defeated the Bakersfield Condors 5-2 Friday night, while the Wheeling Nailers took care of business against the Trenton Titans.

Both teams now have 106 points with one game left to go. San Diego (48-13-10) will play host to the Alaska Aces Saturday, while Wheeling (51-16-4) will visit the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. The Nailers own the tiebreaker with more wins, so one of two things must happen in order for the Gulls to overtake the Nailers.

If the Gulls beat Alaska Saturday, Wheeling must either lose in regulation or overtime. If the Gulls lose in overtime against the Aces, the Nailers must lose in regulation. If Wheeling wins or San Diego loses in regulation Saturday, the Nailers will take home the Brabham Cup.

As far as Friday night was concerned, it was all Gulls. San Diego cruised to its seventh straight win behind two goals and an assist by Brian Gornick and a pair of tallies by newcomer Darren Partch. Not to be out-done was Trevor Koenig, who stopped 25 shots on his way to earning his 36th win of the season.

The Gulls jumped out to a 1-0 lead 1:38 into the first period, thanks to Gornick's first goal of the night. Clayton Read won an end zone faceoff back to the point, where Mike Garrow flung a shot that squirted to the right circle. Gornick picked up the loose puck and backhanded it underneath a fooled Shane Bendera.

Partch gave San Diego a two-goal cushion at 18:42 of the first. Trent Clark made the play happen when he went behind the net and stole the puck from Bendera. Clark then threw it to the slot, where Partch easily slammed it home. It was Partch's first goal of the game and first with the Gulls.

San Diego netted two goals 27 seconds part early in the second period to gain a commanding 4-0 advantage. Gornick notched his second of the game – eighth of the season – at 4:28 and Paul Caponigri converted his first professional goal at 4:55.

Gornick's tally came off a rebound from Cliff Loya's blue line slap shot. Bendera got a piece of it, but not enough as Gornick was right there to pick up the rebound and slip it past the out-stretched Bakersfield netminder. Caponigri then lit the lamp on the next shift, wristing a shot that just trickled past Bendera over the goal line.

Joe Watkins relieved Bendera after Caponigri's goal but couldn't stop the bleeding as Partch put the game away with his second of the night – 16th of the season – 3:03 into the third period. The tally came on a nice give-and-go setup from Gornick, for his first assist and third point of the game.

The Condors (25-37-9), who had their modest three-game winning streak snapped, finally got on the board at 5:35 of the third. Jimmy Drolet took a pass from Jason Ralph in the right wing circle and snapped it behind Koenig for his seventh goal of the year. Todd Alexander then made it a 5-2 game when he dented the scoreboard at 9:16. Quinn Fair had the puck at the point and whipped a quick pass down low to Alexander, who beat Koenig for his 12th goal.

All that did was give the scorekeepers a little more work because the Gulls had the game well in hand by that point. Bakersfield had a few more quality chances to get back in the game, but Koenig was equal to the task.

Notes: The franchise record for points in a season is 107, set in 1997-98. San Diego can break that with a win Saturday... The Gulls have won seven straight and are unbeaten in 17 of their last 18 games (13-1-4)... They've lost in regulation only three times in their last 37 games (27-3-7) and six times in their last 53 games (39-6-8)... San Diego finished the regular season 19-8-9 on the road and unbeaten in 15 of its final 16 games away from the Sports Arena (9-1-6)... The Blue and Orange have broken the ECHL record for most wins by an expansion team. The 1991-92 Toledo Storm had the previous record with 46 wins... Mark Pederson was scratched Friday with the flu. He was given the 2003-04 ECHL Sportsmanship Award and was also named to the All-ECHL Second Team... Greg Barber was named to the All-Rookie Team on Wednesday... Read has a seven-game point streak (5g, 6a), which is a new career high... Gornick has a career-high five-game point streak. He has 12 points in his last seven games (6g, 6a)... Koenig is unbeaten in 27 of his last 29 games (21-2-6)... Kevin Grant, Chris Gobert, Jamie Black and Dennis Purdie all remain on the injured list... San Diego still has three players in the American Hockey League: Billy Tibbetts (Houston), Nick Lent (Springfield) and Josh Gratton (Cincinnati)...

The Gulls close out the regular season Saturday at home against the Alaska Aces, San Diego's first-round playoff opponent. The game, which starts at 7:05 p.m., will be Fan Appreciation Night and free Gulls T-shirts, courtesy of the San Diego Hall of Champions, will be given to the first 9,000 fans. The playoffs, sponsored by Assil & Flowers Vision Institute and Medical Group, Inc. begins next week at the Sports Arena. Games 1 and 2 will be Tuesday and Wednesday, both starting at 7:05 p.m. The series then shifts to Anchorage, Alaska for Game 3 and, if necessary, Game 4.

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 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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ECHL Stories from April 2, 2004


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