San Diego Looks To Get Back On Winning Track Against Vegas

March 19, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Gulls, desperate for some points, look to get back on the winning track when they host the Las Vegas Wranglers tonight at the ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena.

SERIES HISTORY: The Gulls and Wranglers have met six times so far this season with San Diego holding a 5-1-0 series edge. The two teams will clash one more time during the regular season. San Diego and Las Vegas met 10 times last season with the Gulls holding a 6-2-2 edge.

2004-05 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES:
12/26/04 San Diego 1 @ Las Vegas 0
01/04/05 San Diego 2 @ Las Vegas 4
01/13/05 San Diego 4 @ Las Vegas 3
01/19/05 Las Vegas 2 @ San Diego 4
01/21/05 Las Vegas 3 @ San Diego 5
03/12/05 San Diego 2 @ Las Vegas 1

San Diego owns the all-time series match-up, posting an 11-3-2 record against its West Division rival. The Gulls are 6-1-0 all-time against the Wranglers at the ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena.

LAST HEAD-TO-HEAD MEETING (MARCH 12 @ LV): Guillaume Fournier's power-play goal with 4:35 left in regulation lifted San Diego to a 2-1 victory 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.

GULLS UPDATE: The Gulls (31-24-6) enter the day sixth in the West Division, nine points behind the Fresno Falcons for the fourth and final playoff spot... They are six points back of the fifth-place Idaho Steelheads... The Gulls have a game in hand on the Falcons... San Diego's magic number to be eliminated from the postseason is 14 (The combination of points gained by Fresno and points lost for the Gulls totaling 14)... The Blue and Orange still have four head-to-head meetings against Idaho... The Gulls are 19-7-3 at home, but just 12-17-3 on the road this season... They have outscored their opponents 106-83 at home, but have been outscored 101-73 on the road... The Blue and Orange are 10-13-2 in their last 25 games... Since the all-star break, they are 5-3-1 at home and 5-9-1 on the road (10-12-2 overall)...

OTHER NOTES: San Diego is 22-3-1 when scoring four-plus goals in a game, but just 9-21-5 when scoring three or less... The Gulls have only out-shot their opponents four times since the all-star break (24 games)... They are just 15 for 113 on the power play (13.3 percent) since the all-star break... Chouinard is 4-1-0 against the Wranglers this season with a 2.01 goals-against average, one shutout and a .937 save percentage... San Diego is 11 for 34 on the power play against Las Vegas this season (32.4 percent)...

LAS VEGAS UPDATE: Las Vegas (26-27-8) begins the day seventh in the West with 60 points, 17 behind Fresno for the last playoff spot in the division... The Wranglers' magic number to be eliminated from the postseason is six (The combination of points gained by the Falcons and points lost for Las Vegas totaling six)... The Wranglers are unbeaten in their last three games (2-0-1) and unbeaten in nine of their last 11 overall (6-2-3)... Ryan Gaucher ranks seventh among ECHL defensemen with 38 points and his 13 goals is third among league blue-liners... Jason McBain is tied for eighth among league defensemen with 36 points...

TRANSACTIONS: Evgueni Nourislamov was activated from the injured list yesterday after missing 23 games with a broken thumb... David Karpa was placed on the seven-day injured list Sunday with a sore groin... Nick Ganga (knee) also remains out of the lineup...

FUTURE HEAD-TO-HEAD MEETINGS: Sunday, March 20 vs. Las Vegas (5:05 p.m.)



ECHL Stories from March 19, 2005


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