San Diego Looks To Keep Climbing Up The West Division Standings
December 9, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
SAN DIEGO â The San Diego Gulls look for their third straight win when they host the Alaska Aces tonight at the Sports Arena. The two West Division rivals will also square off Saturday and Sunday.
SERIES HISTORY:
The Gulls and Aces have met four times so far this season with each team holding a 2-1-1 record in the series. The two teams will meet five more times during the regular season. San Diego and Alaska met 10 times last season with the Gulls holding a 6-3-1 edge. The Aces eliminated the Gulls in a three-game sweep during last season's Kelly Cup Playoffs.
2004-05 HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES:
10/29/04 San Diego 2 @ Alaska 3 (Shootout)
10/30/04 San Diego 1 @ Alaska 4
10/31/04 San Diego 5 @ Alaska 2
11/3/04 Alaska 3 @ San Diego 4 (Shootout)
San Diego owns the all-time series match-up, posting a 65-18-6 record against its West Division rival. The Gulls are 37-3-1 all-time against the Aces at the Sports Arena.
LAST HEAD-TO-HEAD MEETING (NOV. 3 VS. AK):
Mike Garrow scored the game-tying goal with 4:22 left in regulation and Trevor Koenig was perfect in the shootout, leading the Gulls to a 4-3 victory over the Aces. Alaska jumped ahead 1-0 before San Diego scored back-to-back goals to go ahead 2-1. The Aces, however, reversed the score again with two straight goals before Garrow tied it. In the shootout, Mark Pederson and Billy Tibbetts scored for the Gulls, while Koenig stopped all four Alaska shooters.
GULLS UPDATE:
The Gulls (8-6-2) enter the day sixth in the West Division with 18 points, 10 behind the first-place Bakersfield Condors... San Diego, however, is only five points out of second place and has games in hand on every team ahead in the standings... The Gulls have played four fewer games than Alaska (tied for second place); three fewer than the Idaho Steelheads (tied for second place), Las Vegas Wranglers (fourth place) and Long Beach Ice Dogs (fifth place); and two fewer than Bakersfield... San Diego is 7-1-1 at home this season, but just 1-5-1 on the road... In their eight wins, the Blue and Orange have outscored their opponents 41-17. They've been outscored 26-9 in their eight losses (which includes an overtime and shootout loss)... The Gulls were 9-5-2 through 16 games last season... So far San Diego is 4-1-0 on its nine-game homestand...
OTHER NOTES:
Max Birbraer has scored in three straight games and has five points (3g, 2a) during that span... Sean O'Connor has four points (3g, 1a) in his last two games... Evgueni Nourislamov has seven points (3g, 4a) in his last five games... Darren Clark leads the team with 16 points overall (6g, 10a). He also leads the Gulls with a plus-minus rating of +8... San Diego has killed 22 of its last 23 penalties, dating back to Nov. 17... The Gulls have already won three games when trailing after two periods. Last year they only won twice, heading into the third period trailing...
ALASKA UPDATE:
Alaska (11-8-1) begins the day tied for second in the West Division with Idaho, five points back of Bakersfield... The Aces have already played 20 games, most in the division... NHLer Scott Gomez, who signed with Alaska in late October, didn't make the trip to San Diego. He, along with many other NHL stars, is in Europe participating in a charity hockey tournament... Gomez (3g, 13a) along with Chris Minard (10g, 6a) and Mike Scott (6g, 10a) lead the club with 16 points... Alaska has won three of its last four games... The Aces have the worst power play in the ECHL, clicking at only 9.9 percent. They rank 20th in penalty killing (83.1 percent)...
TRANSACTIONS:
Scott Borders was activated from injured reserve Saturday... Sean Murphy, suffering from a fractured knuckle, remains on the 30-day injured list...
FUTURE HEAD-TO-HEAD MEETINGS:
Saturday, Dec. 11 vs. Alaska (7:05 PST)
Sunday, Dec. 12 vs. Alaska (5:05 PST)
Wednesday, Dec. 29 @ Alaska (8:15 PST)
Friday, Dec. 31 @ Alaska (8:15 PST)
Sunday, March 13 vs. Alaska (5:05 PST)
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