Sockers Put Power Back in Power Plays, Beat St Louis, 5-2

Saturday night marked the one-month anniversary of the Sockers’ last power-play goal, which, of course, wasn’t cause for much celebration.

But the Sockers decided that the occasion called for some fireworks anyway.

After they failed to score on their first man-advantage opportunity late in the first quarter, the Sockers snapped an 0-for-16 power-play slump when Raffaele Ruotolo scored early in the third quarter.

Then, in the fourth quarter, as if making up for lost time, the Sockers made it three in a row as Zoran Karic and Paul Dougherty scored on power-play efforts and the Sockers went on to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Steamers in front of 9,798 fans at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Afterward, Coach Ron Newman spotted Waad Hirmez, who is normally a member of the power-play unit but who missed Saturday night’s game, and said: “Now, I know why we couldn’t score. But, don’t tell Waad.”

Newman laughed and then talked about one of the real reasons the Sockers’ power play may have started to come around Saturday.

You see, not by coincidence, another streak came to an end Saturday night. Forward Hugo Perez returned to the lineup after missing 29 games with a fractured left shin. Perez, who was injured Jan. 12, was just three days away from reaching his three-month anniversary without playing.

“With Hugo in there, we’ve got the guy we want in there at the top (of the penalty box),” Newman said. “He does a great job of creating openings and helping set up goals.”

Perez scored a goal and assisted on another Saturday, but neither point was attained while the Sockers’ had the man advantage.

His goal in the first quarter gave the Sockers a 1-0 lead, and his assist on Karic’s first goal of the night put the Sockers up, 2-1, at halftime.

But this game wouldn’t have been won without some help from the power-play unit, which hadn’t scored since Keder scored against Tacoma March 9, exactly one month ago.

First, Ruotolo took a crossing pass from Karic and tipped the ball into the open left-corner of the goal to give the Sockers a 3-1 lead with 10:38 remaining in the third quarter.

“It was starting to concern me that we hadn’t scored,” Dougherty said. “But I felt that once we got one, we might be able to put a few together.”

He was right. With 8:26 left in the fourth quarter, Karic scored on a pass from Dougherty on the power play and with 3:35 left, Dougherty scored on a pass from Ruotolo.

All of this made things a bit easier on goalkeeper Jim Gorsek, who won his 20th game of the season. Gorsek had to make only one save in the first half as the Sockers controlled the league’s worst team.

St. Louis (16-37) trailed only 3-2, however, midway through the fourth quarter before the last two power-play goals put the game away.

Now, the Sockers (39-14) can feel a bit better because they have won two straight after losing four in a row, and because their power-play, which once ranked first in the league but has since dropped to eighth, returned to form.

And Perez is back.

“And you know how I like Hugo back in there,” Newman said.

And so, apparently, does the power-play unit.

Socker Notes

Hugo Perez may have returned Saturday night, but the Sockers are still far from full strength. Midfielder Brian Quinn (strained hip) and forward Waad Hirmez (foot contusion) were both injured Friday night in Tacoma and did not play Saturday. Branko Segota, who suffered a thigh strain Wednesday in Kansas City, missed his second-straight game. All three players are out on a day-to-day basis. Juli Veee, who missed five games with a pulled hamstring, was another Socker to return Saturday night.