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Gulls Win Sixth Straight Over Vegas, 5-3

January 22, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Gulls scored five power-play goals, including three with a two-man advantage in the third period, en route to a 5-3 victory over the Las Vegas Wranglers Friday night. The win was San Diego's sixth straight, extending a season high.

The Wranglers carried a 4-3 lead into the third period and everything seemed to be well in hand. That is until Las Vegas self-destructed, taking penalty after penalty... after penalty. The Gulls, who were frustrated by the Vegas defense up until that point, certainly took advantage and scored three straight goals – all with a two-man advantage.

With the victory, the Gulls (21-11-4) move into sole possession of third place in the West Division with 46 points, seven behind the Bakersfield Condors, who lost in Idaho. The Wranglers (17-17-4) have now lost five of their last six games and remain seventh in the West, eight points behind the Gulls.

Las Vegas grabbed a quick 2-0 lead, cranking out back-to-back goals in the opening 3:26 of the game. Jeff Attard lit the lamp first 43 seconds into the first period, punching a shot past San Diego netminder Eddy Ferhi from just outside the crease. After Jason McBain held the puck in at the right point, he wrapped it around the boards to Dustin Johner, who then shifted a pass to an open Attard.

Ryan Gaucher came calling next for the Wranglers, notching a power-play marker less than three minutes later. Chris Stanley had possession along the right wing boards and found Gaucher, who crept in from the point and beat Ferhi high glove-side.

The Gulls answered with two power-play goals of their own later in the first, erasing the Vegas lead and making it a 2-2 game. Brian Gornick got San Diego on the board at 5:33, as he drove down the left wing and tipped home Curtis Brown's across-the-crease pass behind Wranglers goaltender Marc Magliarditi. It was Gornick's team-leading 15th goal, 11 of which have come in the last 16 games.

Guillaume Fournier, who missed the last seven games with concussion-like symptoms, tied it at 12:28 after flicking a quick shot top-shelf on Magliarditi. Mark Pederson started the play when he dug the puck out of the left wing boards and found Fournier, standing inside the near faceoff circle.

That's how the game stayed until Vegas banged in another power-play tally at the 15:50 mark of the second period. Johner, who assisted on the Wranglers' first two scores, recorded the goal – his team-leading 17th of the season. Christian Chartier, manning the left point, took a pass from Dana Lattery and flung it to Johner, skating into the slot. The Vegas centerman then maneuvered the puck onto his backhand and shoveled it past Ferhi.

The Wranglers got into huge penalty trouble in the third period, which ultimately led to their demise. At the 11:26 mark Attard was issued a double-minor for spearing, the Vegas bench was assessed a minor penalty and head coach Glen Gulutzan was given a game misconduct for arguing. On the ensuing two-man advantage, Sylvain Deschatelets redirected home Evgueni Nourislamov's point shot at 11:57 to even the score, 3-3.

With Attard's spearing penalty still on the board, Derek Engalland was whistled off two minutes for boarding. San Diego capitalized on the five-on-three power play again, as this time Nikita Korovkin tickled the twine at 13:20, giving the Gulls a 4-3 lead.

But the Gulls weren't done scoring and the Wranglers weren't done taking penalties, as at the 16:01 mark Lattery was given a slashing penalty and Attard was called for delay-of-game. That meant another two-man advantage and another San Diego goal, as Fournier knocked home his second of the night – ninth of the season – at 17:54, making it a 5-3 game.

Notes: The Gulls have outscored their opponents 25-15 during their six-game winning streak... They are 14-3-2 at home this season... Brown has 12 points (3g, 9a) in his last nine games... Deschatelets is now in the midst of a seven-game point streak (4g, 8a)... Gornick has 16 points in his last 16 games (11g, 5a)... ECHL All-Star Andrew Canzanello was re-called by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks Friday... Mathieu Chouinard (sore groin) and Max Birbraer (sprained shoulder) were both placed on the seven-day injured list Friday... Fournier and Trevor Koenig were both activated from injured reserve Friday... Jonathon Shockey, recovering from a separated shoulder, and Sean Murphy, recovering from a broken thumb, both remain on 30-day injured reserve...

San Diego concludes its homestand and closes out the first half of the season Saturday against the Pensacola Ice Pilots, making their first-ever visit to the Sports Arena. Game-time is set for 7:05 p.m. and the first 6,000 fans in attendance will receive special "Old-Time-Hockey" Gulls T-shirts, courtesy of the San Diego Hall of Champions. The Gulls return to action after the All-Star break when they'll begin a seven-game eastern road trip. The trek starts Friday, Jan. 28 in Peoria, Ill. and concludes Sunday, Feb. 6 in Wheeling, W.Va.

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.

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