Vegas Deals Gulls Third Straight Loss, 4-2

Published on March 20, 2005 under ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Gulls played in front of another huge Saturday night crowd, but suffered their third straight loss after dropping a 4-2 decision to the Las Vegas Wranglers, before 9,229 at the ipayOne Center at the Sports Arena.

The Wranglers opened up a 3-0 lead early in the second period, which was enough for veteran goaltender Marc Magliarditi, who turned aside 41 of 43 shots. Darren Lynch, Marco Peluso and Derek Engalland each recorded a goal and an assist to lead Vegas offensively.

San Diego (31-25-6) has now dropped three in a row and remains nine points behind the Fresno Falcons for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. The Gulls, however, now trail the fifth-place Idaho Steelheads by eight points.

Las Vegas (27-27-8) is now unbeaten in 10 of its last 12 games (7-2-3), but remains seventh in the West, six points back of the Gulls. The Wranglers' magic number to be eliminated from the playoffs is still six (the combination of points gained by Fresno and points lost by Las Vegas).

It was a back-and-forth first period, with both teams getting quality scoring opportunites. The Wranglers, however, were the only ones to light the lamp, doing so twice.

Lynch notched Vegas' first marker 15:20 into the frame. Dan Tudin had the puck in the left wing corner and dished a pass to a wide-open Lynch, who punched it past San Diego goaltender Mathieu Chouinard for his 14th goal.

Wranglers' newcomer Peluso made it a 2-0 game with a power-play tally at 18:25 of the first. After wrapping around the net, Peluso skated into the right wing circle and flung a wrist shot past an out-stretched Chouinard. It was his first professional goal.

Las Vegas netted another power-play goal 6:54 into the second, taking a commanding three-goal lead. Jason Bonsignore was the beneficiary this time, tallying his third marker of the season. Engalland started the play with a slap shot from the left point that sailed wide. The rebound, however, caromed right off the end boards to Bonsignore, who slammed it behind Eddy Ferhi. Chouinard was replaced by Ferhi to start the second period.

The Gulls finally dented the scoreboard at the 12:01 mark of the second on Darren Clark's ninth goal of the year. Clark, rushing into the Vegas zone, took a feed from Curtis Brown and wristed in a shot low glove-side on Magliarditi.

Sean O'Connor cut the deficit to one with his 20th goal of the season 7:54 into the third period. Magliarditi stopped Max Birbraer's initial shot from the right circle, but O'Connor pounced on the loose rebound and stuffed it home.

Engalland regained Vegas's two-goal lead and put the game away at the 14:48 mark of the third, registering his third tally of the campaign. Ferhi stopped Peluso's original shot, but Engalland found the rebound in a tangle of bodies and buried it.

Notes: Six of San Diego's remaining 10 games are at home... The Gulls have four head-to-head games left against Idaho... They are 5-2-0 against Las Vegas this season and 11-4-2 all-time... San Diego is 22-3-1 this season when scoring four-plus goals in a game, but just 9-22-5 when scoring three or less... The Gulls out-shot Las Vegas 43-21 Saturday. It was only the fifth time since the all-star break that they've out-shot an opponent (25 games)... Since the all-star break they are 5-4-1 at home and 5-9-1 on the road (10-13-2 overall)... David Karpa (groin) and Nick Ganga (knee) both remain on the injured list...

San Diego's homestand continues Sunday against the Wranglers, with game-time scheduled for 5:05 p.m. It will be another Kids Night, featuring "Skate with the Gulls" immediately following the game. The Gulls close out their five-game homestand Friday against the Long Beach Ice Dogs.

All games can be heard live on KLSD 1360AM and www.sandiegogulls.com with Chris Ello calling the play-by-play. All home games and all but one remaining road game (March 26 in Long Beach) can be viewed on the Gulls' web site, courtesy of B2 Networks. Click the B2 Networks link on the home page for a list of the upcoming telecasted games. To view pictures from this season, visit www.sdgullsphotos.com and www.zerodogentertainment.com.

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ECHL Stories from March 20, 2005


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