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Wheeling Defeats Gulls In OT, 4-3

February 4, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release


WHEELING, W. Va. – Yevgeny Lazarev scored 1:46 into overtime, leading the Wheeling Nailers to a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Gulls Friday night at the WesBanco Arena. The Gulls suffer the loss on a day in which they arguably pulled off the biggest trade in club history.

Trevor Koenig, a former two-time Goaltender of the Year in the West Coast Hockey League who also back-stopped the Gulls to two Taylor Cup Championships, was dealt along with Colin Shields Friday morning to the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in a three-way deal with the Dayton Bombers. Atlantic City sent two forwards to San Diego, who were then both shipped off to Dayton in exchange for defenseman Grady Moore.

Moore and his new Gulls teammates, however, fall to 1-3-1 on their seven-game road trip. San Diego (22-15-5) is winless in five of its last six overall and remains fifth in the West Division. The Nailers (26-14-2) have now won four straight and move two points ahead of the Toledo Storm for first place in the North Division.

Wheeling jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead, thanks to power-play goals by Pascal Morency and Curtiss Patrick. Morency struck first with his sixth goal of the season at 9:41, converting a rebound off Alexandre Rouleau's initial shot from the left point. Patrick then netted his first of the year at 19:40, as his shot caromed off Darren Clark's stick and past Gulls netminder Mathieu Chouinard. Rouleau also assisted on Patrick's power-play marker.

Sean O'Connor answered for San Diego just nine seconds after the Nailers scored their second goal, making it a 2-1 game. After chasing down a loose puck deep inside the Wheeling zone, O'Connor threw a shot on net that took a funny hop and bounced past Joe Exter, the reigning ECHL Goaltender of the Week. It was O'Connor's 14th goal of the season.

The Gulls scored two goals 1:59 apart early in the second period, taking a 3-2 lead. Mike Garrow notched the equalizer at 4:07, while Max Birbraer gave San Diego a 3-2 edge at the 6:06 mark. Garrow's goal – his eighth of the season – came on Chris Lynch's faceoff win, as the San Diego defenseman grabbed the puck at the left point and flung a low shot that beat a screened Exter.

Birbraer then notched his 11th marker on the power play, one-timing home a nice setup pass from Curtis Brown. Darren Clark started the play, holding the puck inside the Wheeling zone and dishing it to Brown, who skated to the bottom of the left circle and whipped a cross-ice feed to a wide-open Birbraer.

The Nailers capitalized on another power play late in the second, knotting the game 3-3. It happened again on a rebound as Chouinard stopped defenseman Ray DiLauro's original shot from the blue line. The rebound however bounced to Brendon Hodge, who beat a fallen Chouinard for his 11th goal at 19:35.

Teams skated to a scoreless third period and the game headed to overtime. Only one shot was registered in the extra frame and that was Lazarev's goal. It happened on a two-on-one rush, as Lazarev rushed down the left wing and blistered a slap shot over the out-stretched glove of Chouinard.

Notes: The two forwards that went from Atlantic City, to San Diego, then to Dayton were Rob McFeeters and Brett Nowak... The Gulls are now 3-5-1 against teams outside of their division. They have four games remaining this season against interdivision teams... San Diego is now 8-11-3 overall on the road... The Gulls have been out-shot 189-115 so far on their road trip... They've been outscored 17-9 on the trip as well... Nick Ganga served the third of a five-game suspension. He was assessed the five-game suspension for a major cross-checking penalty Jan. 28 in Peoria... Nikita Korovkin was loaned to the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch and the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks recalled Cory Pecker... Andrew Canzanello remains with Cincinnati... Evgueni Nourislamov (broken thumb), Sean Murphy (broken thumb) and Wes Rypien all remain on the 30-day injured list...

The Gulls continue their road trip Saturday against the Johnstown Chiefs, with game-time scheduled for 4 p.m. (PST).* San Diego will conclude the trek Sunday back in Wheeling, which will be a special 11 a.m. (PST) start-time. BOTH GAMES CAN BE VIEWED LIVE ON THE GULLS' WEB SITE, COURTESY OF B2 NETWORKS.

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 many road games 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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