Steelheads shut the door on Gulls, 3-1
March 31, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release
BOISE, Idaho - The Idaho Steelheads knocked the San Diego Gulls out of playoff contention (marking the first time in San Diego's nine year existence the team has not qualified for a playoff spot) with a 3-1 win at the Bank of America Centre Wednesday night before 4,216. Idaho is currently in fourth spot in the National Conference, West Division, and holds a three-point lead over the Fresno Falcons.
Idaho tallied the lone goal of the first period. Mike Stutzel passed to Tim Verbeek who was in front of the net and tapped one high past Gulls netminder Eddy Ferhi at 7:52. Each team had two man-advantages, including a third chance for San Diego to score on the power play with two-minutes remaining in the period.
Warren Peters scored Idaho's second goal of the game at 16:56 of the second period. While Lance Galbraith had a defender tied up and out of the play, Peters picked up the puck behind the net, circled around, and shot a backhander that beat Ferhi high, glove side.
Idaho managed to kill off a Gulls minute-long five-on-three opportunity about midway through the third period. However, the Gulls pulled their goalie with just over three-minutes remaining, and capitalized with the six-on-five. Brett Draney, recently traded to San Diego from Idaho, killed Frank Doyle's pending shutout as he tallied five-hole on a flurry in front of the net 17:12. Steelheads' leading scorer Bobby Russell answered back quickly though, at 18:06, with his 25th of the year on a slap shot that went top shelf on Ferhi.
Idaho outshot San Diego 27-24 in the game. Frank Doyle's 23 saves earned him a league-high 31 wins (31-12-4).
The two teams resume the three-game series with Game 2 on Friday night. The puck drops at 7:10.
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