Kansas City Prolongs Gulls’ Slide

This one was hard to rationalize.

To a team that was deep in the forest and surrounded by darkness, the Gulls brought a ray of sunshine.

The result was a 4-2 Kansas City victory in front of a Bikini Night crowd of 8,519 Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

For the second consecutive game, the Gulls allowed a pair of goals within a 1:40 span in the second period. Wednesday, it was at the root of their 3-2 loss to Salt Lake. Saturday, it added fuel to the fire that eventually snuffed out their chances of going into tonight’s game against Phoenix in a tie for third in the IHL West.

Gulls’ General Manager Don Waddell made no bones about the importance of this game, with contests against Phoenix and Salt Lake, second- and third-place Western teams, scheduled for three of the next four nights. “I hate to say it, but this is a must-win game,” he said early on.

Oh well.

Going into the second period in a 1-1 tie, Ron Handy, the league’s second leading scorer, swooped up the puck off two rebounds and found enough net for his 36th goal.

His goal followed Lee Giffin’s screened shot from behind the left circle at 16:34.

Kansas City (15-37-3) extended its lead to 4-1 when Jim Culhane scored his first goal of the season at 10:19, at which point the Gulls put on their rally helmets.

Steve Martinson ended an 0-for-8 power play drought for the Gulls (24-27-5) by scoring from outside the crease at 12:23.

That goal ended a real power play outage. After Derek Mayer, a point man, was sent to Adirondack of the American Hockey League, the Gulls went 5-for-54 on the power play in their next seven games. After losing Dennis Holland, also to the Red Wings, on Monday, they went 0-for-8 on it.

The loss marked the first time since Oct. 19 that the Gulls have fallen three games below the .500 mark. It was also their sixth loss in their last seven games.

Yet they have retained their fourth-place standing--and playoff hopes--in spite of themselves. They have Milwaukee and Kansas City to thank for that, teams that were a combined 4-15-1 in their last 10 games before Saturday.

Kansas City had outshot opponents in 12 of its last 13 games, and were 2-11 to show for it before Saturday, where they were outshot, 28-27, by the Gulls.

Off a faceoff from the left circle, Darren Lowe scored his 16th goal at 4:40, off a pass from Ron Duguay, to put the Gulls up 1-0. It was Duguay’s seventh assist in the last eight games.

Alain Chevrier’s sharp goaltending, which included two lunging stick saves and a pop fly to his glove, momentarily stifled Kansas City’s comeback.

But the Blades tied it at 16:22, when Ed Christofoli took an unassisted shot from the left wing.

“We had plenty of chances to put them away in the first period,” said Gulls coach Mike O’Copnnell. “But we had too many open nets. Second period, same thing until the 10-minute mark, and it just got away from us.”

Gull Notes

Larry Floyd, ninth in assists, remains the only Gull in the league’s three categories of individual scoring leaders, which are dominated by Western Division leading Peoria and Fort Wayne, second in the East. The two teams hold 18 of the 30 top spots . . . Squeaky Clean: Former Gull Mike Gober, now playing for Kansas City, has 28 minutes of penalties in 12 games. In 34 games with San Diego, he had 17--the primary reason he was released. . . . Clark Donatelli, the Gulls leading goal scorer, has to be helped off the ice after the second period, after suffering contusions to both shins Ron Duguay didn’t return to the game after a second-period groin injury. . . . Goal Digger: Phoenix forward Sylvain Couturier, fourth in goals in the IHL, has 13 of his 33 goals, and eight assists, against the Gulls, the Rivermen’s opponent tonight. At one point, it was 13 of 19. The Gulls are 4-6-1 against Phoenix and have lost six of their last seven.