Fort Wayne Shuts Down the Gulls

The experience is there. The talent is there. The desire is there.

The goals, for the most part, aren’t.

In front of 5,083 Friday, the Gulls dropped a 5-1 International Hockey League game to Fort Wayne, giving them their third consecutive loss since an opening-night victory Oct. 5 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

“We have to have the net play, we have to bear down a little more,” said Coach Mike O’Connell. “We had too many wasted opportunities.”

San Diego had 33 shots on goal to Fort Wayne’s 28, but the missed chances in the first period, where the Gulls could connect on just one of 12 chances, came back to haunt them.

“For some reason we stopped,” said O’Connell, emphasizing his team didn’t play aggressively. “We’d miss opportunities, then they built off that and we folded.”

The Gulls have outshot their opponents in all four games and have scored only one even-strength goal in the last 11 periods.

Fort Wayne put the game away in the third period by scoring three times.

Right wing Max Midendorf made it 3-1 when he scored his second goal of the night at 7:21 on a wrist shot from the left wing. The shot took a bounce and landed at mid-net.

Left wing Bob Lasko, the league’s fourth-leading point scorer last year, scored on a rebound from the left of the crease at 10:50.

And center Marc Saumier ended the scoring with two seconds remaining, taking it in amid a pileup from the slot.

In much the same way the Gulls dominated the first period, Fort Wayne took the second by storm.

In rapid-fire succession, the Komets scored two goals, overcoming the Gulls’ 1-0 first-period lead.

The Komets capitalized on two second-period penalties on the Gulls’ Larry Floyd (tripping) and Steve Dykstra (cross-checking). With a two-man advantage, center Bruce Boudreau, who was second overall in points standings in the IHL last season, evened it at 1-1 with a slapshot from the slot at 6:15.

Still on the power play 1:14 later, Midendorf freed himself from a pack and took a shot from the right corner, making it 2-1.

Gull left wing Bob Jones scored his first goal on a power play at 3:22, when he stationed himself just to the right of the crease and took a pass from defenseman Al Tuer high at the left point. The timing was perfect, and Jones deflected it to goaltender Steve Laurin’s left side and into the net.

The Gulls outshot Fort Wayne, 12-9, in the first period, but it was Gull goalie Scott Brower who made the saves that sent ripples of appreciation through the crowd.

Brower, making his second start of the season, stopped breakaway attempts by Fort Wayne’s Robin Bawa and Bob Lasko and made a lunging pad save in the first period. Brower was credited with a loss in the Gulls 2-0 decision Wednesday at Salt Lake City.

Gull Notes

Fort Wayne’s Al Sims, in his second year as head coach, said it is rough for independent teams, ones without primary NHL affiliation, to finish better than .500 in the IHL. Fort Wayne and San Diego are two of the five teams in the 11-team league without primary affiliations. “It’s tough for independents,” Sims said. “They can start off fine, do well in the beginning of the season, but they seem to fall by the wayside in January. Let’s look at (San Diego’s) record and see how they’re doing in January.” Fort Wayne is still one of the better teams that goes it alone. The Komets finished second overall in the IHL in 1987-88. “They are consistently the best of the independents,” IHL spokesman Mike Meyers said. . . . They’ll never pass this way again: Friday was the one night of the season the Gulls showed off their visiting black jerseys at home. Just as well, the names are much harder to read. . . . Face in the Town: Gull right wing Brent Sapergia is missing a few front teeth. What do you expect from someone whose hometown is Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. . . . Attendance watch: After three home dates, the Gulls’ attendance average is 6,761.