Gulls Run Home Winning Streak to Seven

It’s not quite schizophrenia, but it’s close, this late-season split personality the Gulls have developed.

The Gulls have performed feebly on the road, having lost nine in a row. They appear unstoppable at the San Diego Sports Arena, where they routed the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, 6-1, Saturday in front of a season-high 10,492 for their seventh consecutive victory at home.

They might not be able to win on the road, but the Gulls are 22-3-3 here since December. They entered Saturday’s game averaging more than five goals per game at the Sports Arena.

With three of their final four games at the Sports Arena, the Gulls (96 points, 44-26-8 record) need to remain tough at home if they hope to open the first round of the playoffs here.

The second-place Peoria Rivermen were also victorious Saturday, winning, 5-4, at Kalamazoo and staying one point ahead of the Gulls in the battle for home-ice advantage in the Western Division of the International Hockey League.

Visiting opponents have adopted a new philosophy: “If you can’t beat ‘em, punch ‘em. Put ‘em on the power play.”

Gull Coach Don Waddell might be concerned with that strategy on foreign ice, where his team went 0-16 with the man advantage in three games last week. At home? No worries.

“If we score early on their penalties, they won’t be able to continue their game plan,” Waddell said. “We’ll have this game right off the bat.”

The Golden Eagles, the second worst team in the league in penalty killing, piled up 43 penalty minutes in the first two periods. The Gulls responded by outshooting Salt Lake, 29-14, scoring three power-play goals, and taking a 5-1 lead.

So why can’t the Gulls play like this on the road?

“We seem to play both ends of the ice much better at home,” Waddell said. “We play better defense. The fans, obviously, have been a big help. But we didn’t play that bad on the road. We had some good chances.”

Defenseman Derek Mayer, who had a goal and two assists Saturday, gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead, scoring from inside the blue line on the power play, 3:52 into the game. Salt Lake’s Tomas Forslund tied it four minutes later, then Ron Duguay scored the first of his two goals, one-timing it from the slot after a turnover.

Dmitri Kvartalnov blasted his IHL-leading 59th goal (on the power play) from 55 feet to make it 3-1.

Then 2:26 into the second period, Ray Whitney, skating to the crease with defender Kevin Dahl fronting him, stopped, made a 180-degree turn and fed Duguay in the slot for an easy goal. Darcy Norton put the game out of reach with 3:49 left, scoring the third power-play goal on a flip shot that made it 5-1.

Defenseman Alan Hepple capped the scoring with the only goal of the third period. Gull goalie Sean Burke improved to 4-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average. Salt Lake’s Scott Sharples faced 42 shots and fell to 9-18. Salt Lake (70 points) remained one point ahead of the Indianapolis Ice in a battle for the final IHL playoff spot.

Gull Notes

Paul Mendes, producer of the Gulls’ radio and TV broadcasts, said Cox Cable has agreed to televise all away games in the playoffs live. The only scheduling conflict would occur if the Gulls played Game 7 in Peoria, in which case KUSI Channel 51 would probably carry the game. Mendes also said in the event of an NHL strike, Prime Ticket will televise any Gulls games occuring on the date the Kings were scheduled. . . . Gull Coach Don Waddell put to rest any concern than a strike in the NHL might force IHL players on NHL contracts to honor the picket line. For one, IHL players are covered by a different labor union: the Professional Hockey Players Assn. “I’ve talked to enough GMs that I know that won’t happen,” Waddell said. . . . Several Gull players will pose as hosts, waiters and bartenders from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday at Dick’s Last Resort in the Gaslamp district. Proceeds from the promotion, called Tip-A-Gull Night, will go to the Children’s Hospital of San Diego as part of the Children’s Miracle Network.