Hot Goaltender Stymies Falcons in Shootout
Published on January 29, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release
SAN DIEGO - San Diego Gulls goaltender Tom Lawson made 43 saves in regulation and overtime last night to help lead his club to a 2-1 shootout win over the Fresno Falcons at ipayOne Center on Saturday.
The Gulls scored the only goal of the first period with essentially a shorthanded effort. As time was ticking away on Fresno's first power play of the game, the Falcons had trouble breaking out of their own zone and turned the puck over. San Diego eventually found Mark Wires in the slot, who fired a wrist shot that eluded goaltender Brett Jaeger at 10:16. Officially the tally goes into the books as an even strength goal, because it occurred one second after Fresno's power play expired.
The Falcons did score a shorthanded goal on Lawson's only miscue of the evening during the second period. After Fresno cleared its own zone to kill some time, Lawson attempted to kick-start the Gulls' power play by moving the puck up ice himself. But he mishandled the outlet pass, sending it right into the skates of a pressuring Luke Curtin. The Falcons' leading scorer had an easy tap-in into an empty net for his third shorthanded goal of the year at 15:47 of the second to tie the game at one.
Neither team scored in the third nor in overtime as both teams' power plays faltered, each going 0 for 6 for the game. The Falcons ended up out-shooting the Gulls 44-29 through 65 minutes of hockey, but when only Fraser Clair scored for the visitors in the shootout and both Jesse Bennefield and Pierre-Luc Sleigher scored for San Diego in the tie-breaker, Fresno was handed the 2-1 shootout defeat.
The Falcons have begun the second half of the season following the All-Star Break with a pair of extra time losses. They lost 4-3 in overtime to the Long Beach Ice Dogs at home on Friday before suffering their league high-tying 10th overtime/shootout setback on Saturday in San Diego. The club does remain unbeaten against teams from its own Pacific Division, though, with a record of 11-0-4. Overall, Fresno is 23-7-10 with 56 points, giving the first-place Falcons a nine-point edge over the second-place Ice Dogs in the division.
The Falcons return to the ice on Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. when they host the Utah Grizzlies at Save Mart Center. The game is a Carl's Jr. Two-for-Tuesday, with two-for-one coupons available at participating Carl's Jr. restaurants.
Individual tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets and Save Mart Center's box office with prices ranging from $8 - $22. For complete ticket information and an arena map of Save Mart Center, visit www.fresnofalcons.com/singletickets.html, or contact the Falcons front office directly at (559) 485-PUCK (7825).
ECHL Stories from January 29, 2006
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- Gladiators Douse Inferno, 7-3 - Atlanta Gladiators
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Doyle To Charlotte - Toledo Walleye
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- Ice Pilots Win Thriller in Shootout vs Greenville 4-3 - Pensacola Ice Pilots
- Royals' Special Teams Shine In Win Over Dayton, 4-2 - Reading Royals
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