Surprise: another overtime for Gulls
April 6, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
SAN DIEGO - For the third straight game, the San Diego Gulls and Idaho Steelheads needed overtime to decide the winner. Once again, Idaho outlasted San Diego by a 4-3 score in a shootout Wednesday night before 4,736 at ipayOne Center.
Also Wednesday, the Gulls hosted the 18th annual San Diego Area Boys and Girls Clubs' Youth of the Year Celebration, which recognizes superior leadership skills, academic achievement and outstanding service to the San Diego community.
The Gulls (34-28-8) still picked up a point, but they are nonetheless guaranteed a fourth-place finish in the Pacific Division. Bakersfield won 4-1 Wednesday to move into second place with 82 points, while idle Long Beach has 81 points and sits in third. San Diego, with 76 points and only two games remaining, is too far behind to catch either club. That means the Gulls will open the playoffs next week on the road against first-place Fresno.
Idaho (43-21-8), meanwhile, wrapped up its regular season with 94 points, good enough for third place in the West Division. The Steelheads also improved to 2-3-1 against San Diego this season and are now 10-1-1 in their last 12 games.
In another seesaw battle between the two clubs, Idaho came out ahead after trailing - again - to the Gulls. On Sunday, the Steelheads came back for a 4-3 win in a shootout, a day after falling 3-2 Saturday in OT - both in San Diego.
In the shootout, the Gulls went 0-for-3 behind Kelly Askew, Alex Kim and Pierre-Luc Sleigher after failing to score in four shootout chances Sunday. Greg Rallo, David Bararuk and Marty Flichel beat goalie Michael Mole for Idaho.
During regulation, San Diego held leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, but Idaho would not go away. Each time, the Steelheads responded to tie the match and eventually force the OT. The biggest blow for San Diego came when former Gull Paul Caponigri scored with less than two seconds remaining in the second period to make it 2-2 heading into the third frame.
Rob Flynn, Pierre-Luc Sleigher and Jesse Bennefield scored goals for San Diego, but it wasn't enough. Alex Kim returned from Portland of the American Hockey League on Wednesday after a three-game absence, but he saw his career-high point streak end at 16 games, which was the longest active streak in the ECHL. He still has 38 points (16g, 22a) in just 23 games for the Gulls this season.
Notes: San Diego is unbeaten in 17 of its last 22 games (14-5-3)... The Gulls finished the season series 4-1-2 against the Steelheads, keeping them just 3-for-46 on the power play (6.5 percent)... San Diego is 20-9-6 at home, with one more regular season game left at the ipayOne Center (Friday against Phoenix)... Kim returned from Portland Wednesday... Mole is unbeaten in his last three starts, stopping 103 of 109 shots (94.5 percent)...
The Gulls close out their final homestand of the regular season Friday against the Phoenix Roadrunners, with game-time set for 7:35 p.m. It will be Golf Night, and sleeves of special Gulls golf balls will be given to the first 2,000 fans in attendance. San Diego finishes the regular season Saturday in Stockton before opening the playoffs next week.
All games can be heard on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. All remaining games can also be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks (Watch the Game Live) link on the home page for a list of the upcoming viewable games. To view pictures from this season, visit www.zerodogentertainment.com.
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ECHL Stories from April 6, 2006
- Bonk Named Runner-Up for ECHL Player of the Month - Bakersfield Condors
- Falcons vs. Gulls - First Round Kelly Cup Playoffs - Fresno Falcons
- Hurricanes hit Victoria - Victoria Salmon Kings
- Thunder Sets Up For Blade-Beating Weekend - Stockton Thunder
- Playoff Dates For Round One Announced - San Diego Gulls
- Passmore nets runner up honors for Player of the Month - Augusta Lynx
- San Diego Hosts Final Regular Season Home Game At ipayOne Center - San Diego Gulls
- More Honors For Drew - Toledo Walleye
- Chiefs to Auction St. Patty's Day Jerseys - Johnstown Chiefs
- Toledo's MacIntyre RBC Financial Group ECHL Saver Of The Month - ECHL
- Hrdel Reassigned to Chiefs - Johnstown Chiefs
- ECHL Transactions - ECHL
- Checkers to Play at home on April 11th - Charlotte Checkers
- Stepp Called up to AHL Chicago - Atlanta Gladiators
- Grrrowl change time of first playoff game - Greenville Grrrowl
- Lynx to relaunch website - Augusta Lynx
- Saviano receives ECHL Sportsman of the Year Award - Florida Everblades
- Florida's Saviano Wins ECHL Sportsmanship Award - ECHL
- Idaho's McConvey Named CCM TACKS ECHL Player Of The Month - ECHL
- Ernst Honored For ECHL Referee Career - ECHL
- Falcons Sign Goaltender Jeff Van Nynatten - Fresno Falcons
- 2006 CCM Man of the Year Voting Begins - Fresno Falcons
- Royals' Fifth Annual Fans' Choice Awards Banquet A Big Hit - Reading Royals
- NHL Network Game Of The Week Is Greenville At Florida - ECHL
- ECHL Today - ECHL
- MacIntyre Back With Storm - Toledo Walleye
- Aces repel Thunder, 7-5 - Alaska Aces
- Alaska takes season series from Thunder in wild 7-5 loss to Aces - Stockton Thunder
- Surprise: another overtime for Gulls - San Diego Gulls
- Steelheads close out regular season with 4-3 shootout win over Gulls - Idaho Steelheads
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