Pretty In Pink: Gulls Win 2-1 In OT
February 26, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
SAN DIEGO - Steve Hildenbrand scored with 23.5 seconds remaining in overtime, giving the San Diego Gulls a 2-1 victory Saturday night over the Utah Grizzles before 12,358 at ipayOne Center. The crowd was the eighth-largest in Gulls history, surpassing the 12,240 mark set one week earlier against Victoria.
Sporting bright pink jerseys for the first time ever - for "Pink in the Rink" night to benefit the Mary Kay Ash Foundation - the Gulls got another solid game from Tom Lawson. The goaltender stopped 32 shots, including six in overtime, most of which came from point-blank range only moments before Hildenbrand's game-winner, his fourth of the season. On the play, Taj Melson fed Hildenbrand, who buried a shot top-shelf from the left-wing circle.
The win pulls San Diego (22-23-5) back within one game of the .500 mark, while Utah (31-20-5) still picks up one point.
The match-up marked the second meeting between the two clubs this week after the Grizzlies came back for a 5-4 win Wednesday at ipayOne Center. After combining for six goals in the opening 20 minutes Wednesday, San Diego and Utah both failed to score in the first period, and the match went into OT tied 1-1.
Gull Patrick Levesque finally broke the ice in the second period. The forward beat Michaud at the 12:02 mark for his fourth goal to make it 1-0 San Diego. In the process, defenseman Doug MacIver picked up his first assist of the season, while Darren Clark added the other helper.
That's how the match entered the third period, when the Gulls couldn't put the Grizzlies away. Utah tied it with 13:45 remaining on a score off the faceoff by Ryan Kinasewich. The tally halted San Diego goaltender Tom Lawson's scoreless streak at 123:45, which spanned three games and included a 3-0 shutout win Friday at Phoenix.
Lawson's counterpart, Grizzlies goalie Alfie Michaud, made 30 saves in the loss.
Notes: The Gulls have killed 86 of 95 penalties in the last 15 games (90.5 percent)... Hildenbrand has nine points (4g, 5a) in the last seven games. His goal gave him 20 for the season, which is good enough for second on the team... San Diego is in a stretch of eight games in 11 days, including three matches in as many nights this weekend... Richard Keyes, Guillaume Fournier, Alex Kim, Alex Rogosheske and Kelly Askew all remain out of the lineup...
The Gulls are back on the road Sunday in Stockton, with game-time scheduled for 4 p.m. San Diego will also play the Thunder on Tuesday before opening a four-game homestand Wednesday against the Long Beach Ice Dogs. All games can be heard on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. Most games can also be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks (Watch the Game Live) link on the home page for a list of the upcoming viewable games. To view pictures from this season, visit www.zerodogentertainment.com.
ECHL Stories from February 26, 2006
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- Utah Grizzlies Blank Phoenix 4-0 - Utah Grizzlies
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- Grizzlies Blank RoadRunners 4-0 - Phoenix RoadRunners
- Gladiators Weekly Update - Atlanta Gladiators
- Gulls Notch Third Straight Win, Beat Stockton 5-2 - San Diego Gulls
- Shiryaev Acquired From Bako; Weiman Back From Lowell - San Diego Gulls
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Lynx This Week - Augusta Lynx
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- Cory Murphy Resting at Home after Successful Surgery - Fresno Falcons
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- Ice Dogs Slip Past Roadrunners 4-3 - OSC Original by Andrew Nordmeier
- Salmon Kings edge Aces 4-3 in a shootout - Alaska Aces
- Salmon Kings with the Ace shot - Victoria Salmon Kings
- A Mirror Image - Stockton Thunder
- Pretty In Pink: Gulls Win 2-1 In OT - San Diego Gulls
- San Diego Slips Past the Grizzlies in OT - Utah Grizzlies
- Ice Dogs Win In Wild Finish, 4-3 - Long Beach Ice Dogs
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