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Hitting The Home Stretch

March 1, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY - WEEK RECORD: 2-1-1 - SEASON RECORD: 38-13-5 - 2nd NORTHERN

BULLIES REWIND: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies went 2-1-1 losing on the front end and back end of the week with a pair of victories in the middle. Despite taking 5 out of a possible 8 points, the Bullies trail first place Wheeling by 5 points with a game in hand.

Tuesday, the Reading Royals used four first period goals, including a pair from David Masse who finished with 2 goals and 2 assists to defeat the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies 6-2 before 4160 at the Sovereign Center. The loss snapped the Bullies 4-game winning streak. Reading tallied three of their four first period goals in a span of 3:19. Masse opened the scoring at 8:13 when he found the puck in the slot and slapped it by Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland for a 1-0 lead. The Royals would make it 2-0 when Kent Davyduke in the slot took a feed from Graig Mischler behind the net and fired a one-timer by Moreland at 9:20. Reading capped off the flurry as Lars Pettersen, streaking up the right-wing boards, received the puck from Masse and found the back of the net at 11:32 to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. Masse finished the scoring for Reading in the first at 18:26 on the power play when he rifled a shot over the left shoulder of Moreland for a 4-0 advantage at the end of the period. The Bullies would get one back in the second period. Danny Eberly, from his own zone, came up the right wing boards around Ian Turner and slid the puck to an open Scott Horvath who stuffed it through Royals goaltender Peter Hamerlik at 7:29 to cut the lead to 4-1. Reading would add some third period insurance with a pair of goals from Peter Hay at 6:21 and Regan Rome at 7:53 on the power play. Josh Prudden added a late goal for the Bullies at 14:37. The Royals out-shot the Bullies 34-31. Moreland stopped 28 shots in taking the loss. The Bullies went 0-3 on the power play, snapping their consecutive games streak with a power play goal at 10.

Wednesday, Aaron Foster tallied the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal 1:00 into the third period and Jake Moreland stopped a career-high 37 shots as the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies defeated the Dayton Bombers 4-2 before 2690 at the Nutter Center. Dayton raced out to the early 2-1 lead with a pair of power play goals in the first period. Jason Crain deflected Jason Deskin's shot from the point by Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland at 6:55 of the first on the power play for a 1-0 lead. The Bullies would counter on their power play as Preston Mizzi's shot from the blue line sifted its way through traffic and by Dayton goalie Andrew Penner at 12:17 to tie the score 1-1. The Bombers would regain the lead right before the end of the period. Fraser Clair's rebound came out to the slot and Grady Moore fired a slap shot by Moreland at 19:03 on the power play to give Dayton a 2-1 advantage. Pierre-Luc Sleigher brought the Bullies back to even-strength in the second frame, as he batted Aaron Foster's centering feed out of mid-air and by Penner at 8:17 tying the score again 2-2. After Foster's goal put the Bullies ahead 3-2, Luke Curtin added some insurance with his team-leading 29th goal of the season at 6:00 of the period to give the Bullies a 4-2 lead they would not relinquish. Jon Cullen assisted on the goal to extend his scoring streak to a season-high 11 games. Dayton out-shot the Bullies for the game 39-38. Atlantic City went 1-5 on the power play.

Friday, Josh Prudden scored the game-tying goal at 6:24 of the third period and Aaron Foster netted the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal at 7:34 of the period leading a furious third period comeback as the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies defeated the Roanoke Express 4-2 before 2880 at Boardwalk Hall. With the victory, the Bullies sweep the season series from the Express 4-0. Jon Cullen opened the scoring for the Bullies at 4:47 of the first slapping Ian Walterson's rebound by Roanoke goalie Jason Wolfe for a 1-0 lead. The Express would counter with a power play goal on a two-man advantage at 15:59 of the period. Dan Carlson tipped home a loose puck by Bullies goaltender Scott Stirling to the tie the game 1-1. Roanoke would take a 2-1 lead in the second frame when Blair Stayzer's centering feed deflected off a Bullies player and behind Stirling at 8:05. Down one entering the third period, the Bullies would score three unanswered goals to claim victory. Prudden snapped Brian Fahey's rebound behind Wolfe for the equalizer at 6:24, and then 1:10 seconds later, Foster stuffed home the puck on the far side through Wolfe at 7:34 to give Atlantic City a 3-2 lead. Stefan Rivard gave the Bullies some insurance when he slipped Luke Curtin's rebound by Wolfe at 14:22 on the power play to make the final score 4-2. The Bullies matched a season-high with 51 shots on goal, out-shooting the Express 51-27. Stirling stopped 25 shots for his 27th win of the season. The Bullies went 1-9 on the power play.

Saturday, Robert Liscak tallied the game-winning goal in the third round of the shootout and Chris Houle stopped 4 of 5 Bullies shooters as the Trenton Titans defeated the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies 3-2 in a shootout before 4416 at Boardwalk Hall. After a scoreless first period, Trenton jumped on the board with a Tyler Kindle goal at 15:19 of the second. It took the Bullies just 1:44 seconds to net the equalizer as Sam Paolini fired a low wrist shot by Houle at 17:03 to tie the score 1-1. Chris Pittman broke the tie taking a feed across the crease from Scott Bertoli and sliding it past Bullies goaltender Scott Stirling at 12:54 of the third to give the Titans a 2-1. Josh Prudden potted his second game-tying goal in as many nights when he stuffed home Jon Cullen's rebound in front of the net at 15:06 to tie the score 2-2 and send it to overtime. With the assist, Cullen extended his current ECHL-leading scoring streak to 13 games. Trenton out-shot the Bullies 32-22. Stirling stopped 30 shots in the shootout loss. The Bullies went 0-7 with the power play.

BULLIES "TOP DAWG" AWARD: Each Monday from now until the end of the season, Public Relations and Broadcasting Manager Dan Weiss will select the Bullies "Top Dawg" for the week. This week's winner is Jon Cullen who finished the week with 1 goal and 4 assists and is currently riding a 13-game scoring streak, the longest current streak in the ECHL. Honorable mention goes out to Josh Prudden who netted a pair of third period game-tying goals and finished the week with three markers. Previous recent winners below include:

1/5/04: Brian Fahey (3 goals, GW goal)
1/12/04: Luke Curtin (4 goals, 4 assists)
1/19/04: Stefan Rivard (4 goals, 1 assist)
1/27/04: Aaron Foster (3 goals, 1 assist, 2 GW goals)
2/2/04: Jim Henkel (3 goals, 1 assist)
2/9/04: Jake Moreland (career-high 35 saves against Reading)
2/16/04: Luke Curtin (4 goals, 2 assists)
2/23/04: Scott Horvath (4 goals, 1 assist)

HEARTSTOPPERS: For the first time this season, the Bullies fell behind in four consecutive games, yet managed to pull out 5 of a possible 8 points. On Friday, the Bullies won for just the third time this year when trailing after two periods, and for the first time, won back-to-back games in which they trailed in each game. The Bullies have traditionally this season not been a good team playing from behind, going 2-5-2 when trailing after the first period and 3-11-3 when trailing after the second period.

NOT SO UNLUCKY 13: Jon Cullen continues to play with a hot hand, riding a 13-game scoring streak. It's the longest current streak in the ECHL and the longest such streak for any Bullies player this season. Cullen has 6 goals and 10 assists dating back to February 1. The longest scoring streak in the league this season belongs to San Diego's Mark Pederson who recorded a point in 20 straight games from December 28 through February 7. Jim Henkel put together the longest scoring streak in Bullies history last year. Henkel tallied a point in 23 consecutive games from December 18, 2002 through February 22, 2003. In addition to Cullen, Luke Curtin extended his scoring streak at Boardwalk Hall to 11 games on Saturday.

GARDEN STATE GRUDGE: In the final meeting of the season between the Bullies and their arch rival Trenton in Atlantic City, the Titans emerged victorious leaving the Bullies with a 4-3-1 edge in the season series. The teams will play two more times this year with both games coming at the Sovereign Bank Arena where the Bullies are 1-2. In the "rubber" year of the Garden State Cup Series, each team has accumulated 9 points, while the Titans lead the overall point total by the slimmest of margins, 33-31.

FEBRUARY'S PEAK PERFORMERS: For the third consecutive month, Luke Curtin finished as the Bullies top scorer in the month of February with 6 goals and 14 assists in 14 games. Jon Cullen tallied a point in every game he played in February to finish with 6 goals and 10 assists. Josh Prudden had his best month tallying 4 goals and 10, while Scott Horvath finished as the Bullies leading goal scorer with 7 markers. In net, Jake Moreland got more starts than Scott Stirling (8-6) and finished with a 4-2-1 record and a 3.71 goals against average. Stirling went 4-1-2 with a 1.97 goals against average and a .934% save percentage.

RECORDS ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN: The 2003-04 Boardwalk Bullies are a mere 6 wins away from tying the franchise record for wins of 44 which has stood since 1993-94, currently the longest standing record in franchise history.

POWER PLAY FOR UNITED WAY: The Bullies have teamed up with United Way of Atlantic County to sponsor the Power Play for United Way. For every power play goal the Bullies score this season, Trump Plaza, Sands Casino Hotel, Advance Door & Supply, Kline Construction and HR Solutions will donate $10 dollars to United Way of Atlantic County. The Bullies produced a pair of power play goals last week to run their season total to 62, good for $3,100 dollars towards the Power Play for United Way.

STAY ONLINE WITH THE BULLIES: Follow the Bullies throughout the season by pointing your computer mouse to www.boardwalkbullies.com. You can read game updates, get to know your favorite Bullies, and find out where "Wooly" and the team will be appearing next. Click and score with www.boardwalkbullies.com!

UP NEXT: The defending ECHL Kelly Cup Champions will play a pair of games on the road this weekend. Saturday, the Bullies make their final visit of the year to the War Memorial in Johnstown to battle the Chiefs at 7PM. Sunday, the Bullies and Reading Royals renew rivalries at the Sovereign Center at 1:05PM. Catch both games live on ESPN Radio 1450AM and on the Surfer Network at www.boardwalkbullies.com beginning with the pre-game show 20 minutes prior to face-off with Dan Weiss.

BULLIES SCHEDULE WEEK OF MARCH 1ST

Monday, March 1: Off Day

Tuesday, March 2: No Practice; 12PM Workout - Boardwalk Hall

Wednesday, March 3: Practice 10:30AM-12PM @ Flyers SkateZone

Thursday, March 4: Practice 10:30AM-12PM @ Flyers SkateZone

Friday, March 5: Practice 10:30AM-12PM @ Flyers SkateZone; Depart for Johnstown 2PM

Saturday, March 6: Morning Skate 11:15AM; Bullies @ Johnstown 7PM

Sunday, March 7: Bullies @ Reading 1:05PM

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