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New Year brings old woes for Gulls

January 3, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO – The promise of a new year brought an all too familiar and disappointing finish for the San Diego Gulls, who, playing in their tenth-straight one-goal game, held tough in regulation but came up empty in the shootout, falling to the West Division rival Bakersfield Condors for the fourth time in five contests this season, 3-2.

Like their last meeting, the Gulls (15-8-4) and Condors (17-9-4) took a back-and-forth slugfest to a shootout, but this time it was Bakersfield that walked away the winner as Connor James and Kevin St. Jacques tallied the only goals of the shootout. Brian Gornick and Sean O' Connor lit the lamp for the Gulls in their tenth-straight one-goal game, a streak in which San Diego has gone 6-2-2. The Gulls remain third in the West Division with 34 points while Bakersfield stays in second place with 38 points. The Gulls, however, have games on both the Condors and the first-place Long Beach Ice Dogs.

This installment of the Gulls' one-goal game streak was a battle between two stalwart goaltenders in San Diego's Mathieu Chouinard and Bakersfield's Yutaka Fukufuji. In regulation, both netminders were nearly impenetrable between the posts, frustrating the offenses and turning away a combined 57 shots. However, it was Fukufuji who was the better man in the shootout, stopping all four of San Diego's efforts.

By the time the opening minute elapsed, Gornick had already put the Gulls on the board with a power-play goal at 0:50. After Bakersfield's Dennis Shirayev was called for hooking, Gornick and Colin Shields, at the top of the right-wing circle, exchanged a few passes back-and-forth before Gornick fired a slap-shot from the right point for his ninth goal of the season.

The Condors struck back with a power-play goal of their own when Todd Alexander capitalized on a five-on-three advantage at 6:28 in the first. Alexander's sixth goal of the season was all the offense the Condors could muster in the period despite out-shooting the Gulls 11-9. San Diego had its own offensive shortcomings however, failing to convert a five-on-three advantage late in the period.

But it was O' Connor who finally broke the scoring doldrums at 7:03 in the third, recovering his own rebound for his team-leading twelfth goal of the season. From the left-wing circle, O' Connor took a shot that Fukufuji knocked away with his pad, but the winger grabbed the puck and tucked it inside the left post.

The Condors wouldn't let San Diego off the hook so easily, leveling the score with Lars-Peder Nagel's goal at 15:53 to send the game into overtime. Vlad Serov took a pass near the right-wing circle and wristed a shot that Chouinard stopped at the right post, but the puck took an unlucky bounce right to an unmarked Nagel at the left post.

Notes: San Diego is 11-3-2 in its last 16 games, outscoring its opponents 55-41 during that span...The Gulls are 8-3-4 in one-goal games this season...O' Connor has 12 goals in his last 13 games... The Gulls are 1-2-2 against the Condors this season... San Diego had 36 points through 27 games last season... Eddy Ferhi was re-assigned by the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Trevor Koenig was placed on the seven-day injured list with a sore elbow... Andrew Canzanello (bruised spleen) and Sean Murphy (broken thumb) were also placed on injured reserve... Mark Pederson was activated from the injured list... Jonathon Shockey remains out of the lineup with a separated shoulder... Evgueni Nourislamov is also out with a knee injury...

The Gulls start another busy week Tuesday in Las Vegas, with game-time against the Wranglers set for 7:05 p.m. San Diego comes back home Wednesday to face the Peoria Rivermen, also at 7:05 p.m. It will be another "Wacky Wednesday," featuring "American Idol – Gulls Style." The Gulls will then play in Fresno Friday night before hosting the Falcons Saturday, which is Golf Night. The first 8,000 fans in attendance Saturday will receive special Gulls golf balls.

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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