Sea Wolves Beat Gulls, 3-2 in Shootout

Published on February 17, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


BILOXI, Miss. – Louis Dumont scored twice in regulation and Greg Gardner stopped every San Diego shooter as the Mississippi Sea Wolves defeated the Gulls 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

It was a goaltending duel until the shootout. San Diego's Trevor Koenig matched Mississippi's Gardner save for save in regulation and overtime, but the shootout was a different story. Gardner stopped all three Gulls attempts in the extra frame, while all three Sea Wolves shooters beat Koenig.

The game wouldn't have gone to the extra frame if not for the heroics of Mark Pederson. The ECHL's leading goal scorer lit the lamp with 12 seconds left in regulation to tie the contest and send it to overtime.

San Diego (34-11-6) gains another point and now leads the Wheeling Nailers and Louisiana IceGators by two points for the best record in the ECHL. Mississippi (31-16-6) now trails Louisiana by four points for first place in the Central Division.

Sylvain Deschatelets gave the Gulls an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 7:38 into the first period. Pederson had control of the puck along the boards and centered it to Deschatelets, who beat Gardner for his 13th goal of the season.

San Diego had a handful of other quality chances in the first to increase their lead, but Gardner was equal to the task. The Sea Wolves also had a bunch of opportunities in the opening fame, but Koenig kept them off the scoreboard.

Mississippi kept firing away in the second and was rewarded with two goals, both scored by Dumont. His first came at 4:26 off setup passes from linemates Sergei Kuznetsov and Anthony Battaglia. Dumont, the ECHL's all-time leading scorer, netted his second of the game – 25th of the season – at 8:23, connecting again with Kuznetsov and Battaglia.

Tempers flared moments later when Sandro Sbrocca and ECHL penalty minute leader Roger Maxwell got into a heavyweight scrap. Maxwell, who spent two seasons with the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the West Coast Hockey League, now has 255 penalty minutes in 20 career games against the Gulls.

The Gulls, who were held to three shots in the second period, went back on the attack in the third. Gardner kept them at bay, however, until Pederson tied it with 12 seconds left in regulation. Pederson, standing in the right circle, took a pass from Samy Nasreddine and blasted it top-shelf. It was his league-leading 36th goal of the season.

Teams were kept quiet in overtime and the game headed to the shootout period. Gardner stoned Deschatelets, Pederson and Greg Barber while Chris Cava, Steffon Walby and Jim Baxter beat Koenig.

Notes: Pederson, Barber and Deschatelets have combined for 92 points (36g, 56a) in the last 21 games... Pederson has 41 points (25g, 16a) in his last 26 games... Barber has 33 points (12g, 21a) in his last 21 games... Deschatelets has 40 points (8g, 32a) in the last 26 games... The Gulls have now gone into overtime in five of their last 10 games. They are 2-0-3 in those contests and 6-0-6 overall this season in games not decided in regulation... The Blue and Orange are now 3-3-2 against teams outside their division... They finished 1-0-2 on their three-game Central Division road trip... San Diego is unbeaten in 16 of its last 17 games (13-1-3) and 29 of its last 33 overall (25-4-4), outscoring its opponents 118-74... Josh Gratton remains with American Hockey League's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks... Dennis Purdie (sprained shoulder) and Kevin Grant (neck strain) both remain on the injured list...

The Gulls return home for a brief two-game homestand Thursday against the Las Vegas Wranglers and Saturday against the Fresno Falcons, with both games starting at 7:05 p.m. Thursday's game will be televised live on Channel 4 San Diego. Saturday's game will be "Mullet Night" and special Gulls long-sleeved T-shirts will be given to the first 10,000 fans. All games can be heard live on KPOP and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. The next edition of the Gulls Internet Radio show, hosted by Tera Black and Jeremy Zager on wsRadio.com, will air live Monday Feb. 23 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com.

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ECHL Stories from February 17, 2004


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