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Dec. 21, 2002

Gulls head coach Steve Martinson can rest easily during the Christmas break as his San Diego Gulls are once again flying high. After blanking the Aces 5-0 Friday, San Diego stomped Anchorage again 7-1 Saturday night, before 2,630 at Sullivan Arena.

The Gulls have now won seven games in a row, their longest streak since winning nine straight in February 2001. They now trail the Bakersfield Condors by two points for second place in the West Coast Hockey League.

San Diego (15-10-1) began the assault on R.J. Enga's 12th goal 14:27 into the first period. Mike Garrow fired a shot from the point that Ryan Person saved, but Enga hopped on the rebound and put it in. Mike McGhan also received credit with an assist.

The Gulls erupted with four more goals in the second period to take a stranglehold of the game. Dean Tiltgen got his team-leading 14th goal at 2:20, picking the puck out of midair on Kevin Grant's blast from the blue line.

The Aces (9-19-1) had a huge opportunity to get back in the game with a five-minute power play midway through the contest. Dan Cousineau received a major penalty and automatic game misconduct for kneeing J.J. Wrobel at 6:39. But less than two minutes into the man advantage, Cory Cyrenne stole the puck from Anchorage defenseman Don Martin and skated to a breakaway, short-handed goal. It was Cyrenne's fourth goal and 14th point in nine games with the Blue and Orange.

McGhan and David Neale scored three minutes apart late in the middle frame to put San Diego ahead 5-0. Tiltgen stole the puck behind the net, centered a pass to McGhan, who put home his first goal in Gulls sweater at 15:57. Then Neale potted his first professional goal at 18:57 off setup passes from McGhan and Clayton Read.

The bleeding continued for Anchorage as Sylvain Deschatelets notched his fifth goal three minutes into the third period. With the man advantage, Dennis Purdie found a wide-open Deschatelets, who had an empty net to shoot at with Person out of position. McGhan then netted his second of the game (and season) at 12:33 off a feed from Trent Clark. It was McGhan's fourth point of the game, a career-high.

The only remaining question was if Trevor Koenig could hold on for his second consecutive shutout. Eric Landry, however, spoiled the party and put Anchorage on the board at 5:40 of the final stanza. It was Landry's second goal and ended Koenig's shutout streak of 138:49. He set the all-time WCHL record of 197:13 consecutive shutout minutes in 2000-01.

Notepad
San Diego has 12 power-play goals in its last five games. Read now has a career-high six-game point streak. Mark Pederson and Tiltgen each have five-game point streaks. Jamie Black remains on injured reserve with a hairline ankle fracture. Dennis Mullen missed his seventh straight game with a hip injury. The Gulls also played without the services of Trevor Sherban, who injured his groin Friday night. With all the injuries, the Gulls could only dress four defensemen. Sandro Sbrocca, Marc Busenburg and Rob Voltera remain with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears.

FEATURE ARTICLES
Goalies leave their legacy in WCHL
East meets West in final WCHL season
WCHL’s 2002-2003 makeover starts at the top
WCHL Training Camp Notepad
WCHL honors its own with organizational awards

AROUND THE WCHL
November 2002 Edition
October 2002 Edition
May 2002 Edition

GAME RECAPS
02/07/03: Condors 4, Gulls 3 (SO)
02/05/03: Gulls 2, Falcons 1
02/04/03: Falcons 8, Gulls 3
02/01/03: Steelheads 6, Gulls 5 (SO)
01/31/03: Gulls 3, Steelheads 2 (SO)

PROFILES IN HOCKEY
Enga is Gulls’ new ironman
Danielle Dube — pioneer, no; goaltender, yes
Greg Spenrath: Falcons lose a legend
Grandfather, grandson keep Gulls "all in the family"

PRESS RELEASES
Ice Dogs name Kaminski as head coach