Rivermen Sink Gulls to New Low
A little something for the Gulls to sink their teeth into over coffee and the morning paper:
New depths were reached in Sunday’s 6-1 loss to Peoria, in front of 5,646 at the Sports Arena.
Desperation has replaced discipline on the ice these days, and unless something drastic happens over the upcoming five-game road trip, the Gulls’ off-season will arrive momentarily.
This loss mimicked Saturday’s 7-5 setback against league-leading Peoria (53-16-5) in the excessiveness of penalties--42.
“Lack of discipline hurt us again,” Coach Mike O’Connell said. “It’s totally against what we’ve been trying to do here. The players know how I feel about it.”
Particularly disturbing to O’Connell were the penalties slapped on defensemen Steve Dykstra and Al Tuer.
With the score knotted at 1-1, Dykstra was called for slashing at 8:21 in the second period, giving Peoria a two-man advantage for 1:31.
The Rivermen didn’t need that long. Darren Veitch scored 17 seconds later, and Michel Mongeau scored 22 seconds after that for the 3-1 lead, which stuck until the third.
That’s when Tuer was sent to the penalty box at 10:32 for cross-checking. Playing two-men short for the second time this night, the Gulls conceded a goal to Dave Thomlinson 15 seconds later. Sixteen seconds after that and still on the power play, Thomlinson scored again for the 5-1 lead.
It was Peoria’s fifth power play goal of the night, the most the Gulls have allowed all season.
Still not done tormenting the Gulls, Mongeau scored his second goal of the night and the Riverman’s last of the game, their third goal in a 2:32 span.
“It’s desperation time every time we put on our skates,” defenseman Steve Dykstra said. “Penalties, like the ones by myself and Al Tuer hurt. They were a factor. But we can’t win hockey games by scoring one goal.”
Mongeau, who had two goals and three assists on the night, said playoff races can do strange things to a team.
“They’re working for a playoff spot, and when you get behind by one or two goals, you start playing with frustration,” he said. “They were frustrated. They played us better in Peoria.”
Of course in Peoria, the Gulls (28-40-8) hadn’t swooped so low. They have lost four in a row, and 22 of their last 27.
Still, they have a chance at that final playoff spot, as Milwaukee lost its third consecutive game Sunday to keep just one point ahead of the Gulls.
“We could be three points ahead of them,” Dykstra said. “It’s plain and simple, we have to win some hockey games.”
In the midst of so many things going awry for so long, the Gulls power play efficiency--they’ve been leading the league all season--held some needed glimmering hope.
But Peoria took the lead in that category and now lead the IHL with 100. The Gulls fall to second with 97.
Larry Floyd scored his 21st goal, a slapshot from 35 feet out, off a breakaway pass from Steve Richmond at center ice for the 1-1 tie in the first.
Gull Notes
Gull defenseman Dave Korol broke his left arm Saturday night against Peoria, sliding to block a shot and will be out the remainder of the season. Korol said the break occured in the first period, but he didn’t notice it until the third. Korol, the teams most consistent defender, missed eight games recently because of an eye injury. . . . Wednesday night’s game against the Roadrunners at Phoenix was originally a home game for the Gulls against Kalamazoo.