San Diego Goes 2-1-0 Last Week; Gains No Ground

Published on March 14, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO –– The San Diego Gulls are starting to rack up some points again, having won three of their last four games. But, and it's a big "BUT," so is every other team they're chasing in the battle for the final playoff spot in the West Division. Even with their hot play of late, San Diego has gained no ground in the standings and now there's only 12 games to go.

The Gulls beat the Long Beach Ice Dogs and Las Vegas Wranglers on the road last week, both one-goal victories. They opened a crucial five-game homestand Sunday, only to fall to the red-hot, first-place Alaska Aces. So (as of Monday), San Diego is still seven points behind the Fresno Falcons for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division and now trails the fifth-place Idaho Steelheads by one point.

WEEK IN REVIEW:

March 11 @ Long Beach: Joel Stepp scored both goals in regulation and goaltender Eddy Ferhi stopped all four attempts in the shootout, leading the Gulls to a hard-fought 2-1 win in Long Beach. San Diego had a 2-0 lead with eight minutes left in the third period, but the Ice Dogs came storming back, sending the contest to the extra frame. In the shootout period, Curtis Brown and Sylvain Deschatelets scored for the Gulls. Ferhi stopped Marco Rosa, Bill Lindsay, Michael Lambert and Chris Kenady.

March 12 @ Las Vegas: Guillaume Fournier's power-play goal with 4:35 left in regulation lifted San Diego to its third straight win, a 2-1 decision against the Wranglers. It was a tight battle all game long. Las Vegas opened up an early 1-0 lead, before the Gulls clawed their way back to a tie late in the second period. The third period remained back and forth, but Fournier's tally stood up. Mathieu Chouinard made 29 saves in net for San Diego.

March 13 vs. Alaska: B.J. Young and Mike Clarke each scored early in the first period, which was all the scoring the Aces would need, as they edged the Gulls 2-1. Brian Gornick got San Diego on the board with a power-play goal early in the second, but Alaska netminder Peter Aubry shut the door from there. Aubry finished with a game total of 34 saves, which included a handful in the game's waning moments.

PLAYER NOTES: Ferhi has stopped 175 of his last 185 shots (.946 save percentage)... Stepp has four goals in six games since being assigned from the American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Nicolas Corbeil was acquired from the Mississippi Sea Wolves in exchange for Mike Garrow... Scott Borders was released... Mark Pederson, who led the ECHL in goals last season, retired... Chris Lynch was activated from the injured list... Evgueni Nourislamov (thumb), Nick Ganga (knee) and David Karpa (groin) are all on the injured list...

TEAM NOTES: The Gulls are 19-6-3 at home and 12-17-3 on the road... San Diego is 22-3-1 when scoring four-plus goals in a game, but just 9-20-5 when scoring three or less... The Gulls have only out-shot their opponent four times since the all-star break (23 games)... They are 10-12-2 in their last 24 games... San Diego is 26-1-1 in its last 28 games against Long Beach... Since the all-star break the Gulls are 5-2-1 at home and 5-9-1 on the road (10-11-2 overall)...

UPCOMING GAMES: San Diego continues its homestand with three games next weekend. The Gulls will host the Ice Dogs Friday and the Wranglers Saturday, with both games starting at 7:05 p.m. They'll also play host to Las Vegas Sunday, March 20, with game-time set for 5:05 p.m. Friday's game is Military Appreciation Night and the first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a Gulls floppy hat, courtesy of your San Diego County Toyota Dealers. Saturday is "80s Night" and the first 6,000 fans will get a Gulls tank top, presented by San Diego Fitness. The Sunday, March 20 game is Kids Night, featuring "Skate with the Gulls" immediately following the contest.

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 all but one remaining road game (March 26 in Long Beach) 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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