Blades Defeat Gulls in a Shootout

The Gulls played the Kansas City Blades to a shootout in their final home game of the 1991-92 season before 8,279 at the San Diego Sports Arena Friday. You would think that would be worth the price of admission.

Not when the Gulls are shooting. They went 0-for-4 on the shootout, barely challenging Blade goalie Arturs Irbe, and said farewell until the playoffs with a 4-3 overtime loss.

The Gulls, 2-7 in shootout games this year, took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Ron Duguay with 6:28 left. But a shootout looked inevitable on a night when Kansas City--a team that wrapped up a playoff berth in February--came back.

The victory gave the Blades (112 points) home-ice advantage throughout the International Hockey League playoffs. They were also inspired by a fallen former teammate--Link Gaetz--who is in a Bay Area hospital with serious injuries sustained in an auto accident.

The Gulls (97 points), with three home defeats in a row and six losses in their last eight (twice in overtime), desperately wanted to win this one before closing the season at Phoenix and facing Peoria in the playoffs next week.

But Larry Floyd, Ray Whitney, Len Hachborn and Darcy Norton (who lost control of the puck with the Gulls’ last attempt) were all stopped by Irbe, while Blades Jeff Madill and Ed Courtenay scored off Gull goalie Sean Burke (4-3).

After beating the Gulls, 4-1, Thursday, Kansas City players were informed of Gaetz’s accident and his condition--critical, unconscious, on a life-support system.

“It was a shock; it’s a scary thought to know something like that happened,” said defenseman Pat MacLeod, one of five Blades players sent down from San Jose Thursday. “A lot of us played with the Link the last three years. Nobody expects anything like that.”

“I’m sure he’ll pull through, he’s a competitor,” MacLeod said. “He’s very determined, and he’s such a strong man.

“Everybody here is a professional, but everybody’s been quiet. But I think we were focused. We needed one more point. Tonight was as good a night as any. Our concentration had to be there.”

The Blades gave the Gulls five power-play chances in the first period and Sergei Starikov and Hachborn cashed in two to give the Gulls a 2-0 lead.

Defenseman Starikov scored his fifth goal 5:33 into the game with a low slap shot from the point with the Gulls enjoying a two-man advantage. Hachborn scored 1:08 later on the same power play from what looked like an impossible angle. He was parallel to the left post when he took a long diagonal pass from Whitney and slipped behind Irbe’s skates.

Irbe, just sent down by the Sharks, and Burke, the former New Jersey Devil, put on a puck-stopping show expected from a pair of former NHL goalies. But facing five shots in the first five minutes of the second period, Burke buckled, allowing goals to Jeff Odgers and Courtenay to make it 2-2.

Duguay, after Irbe denied him three times in the third period, put the Gulls ahead, scoring short-handed with 6:28 left as he deflected Alan Hepple’s shot from the blue line. But Madill burned Burke from the slot 46 seconds later, sending it to overtime.

Gull Notes

Dmitri Kvartalnov, the IHL leader in goals (60) and points (116) missed only his sixth game of the season. Coach Don Waddell decided to rest Kvartalnov because he was fatigued. . . . Larry Floyd and Dave Korol returned to action. Defenseman Korol saw his first playing time since knee surgery 28 games ago.