Gulls Find Switch On Power Play : Hockey: Komet penalty-killing unit cannot deal with the surge in goals as the Gulls win, 4-1.

Although they entered Friday’s game undefeated, the Gulls still found fault with their play. It was the power play--they couldn’t seem to score on it, converting only two of 24 opportunities.

The jinx ended Friday, as the Gulls made good on four of 11 power plays and defeated the Fort Wayne Komets, 4-1, in front of 5,664 at the Sports Arena.

“See, I told you to have faith,” Coach Rick Dudley said with a smirk.

The four power-play goals tied a team record for most in a game. The last time the Gulls were that successful playing a man up was Feb. 1, 1991, when they were four of eight at Salt Lake.

With Indianapolis’ 5-2 loss to Milwaukee Friday, the Gulls (4-0) remain with Atlanta (3-0) as the 12-team International Hockey League’s only undefeated teams.

Although the season is four games old, the Gulls have built a five-point lead in the standings over Western Division rivals Salt Lake and Phoenix.

Goalie Rick Knickle came within two minutes 27 seconds of posting the second shutout in Gulls history. Kelly Hurd ruined Knickle’s bid with a backhander from the slot that was tucked inside the right post. It came after Gulls John Anderson and Peter Hankinson collided in front of the net and went down in a heap.

“But I don’t think about shutouts,” Knickle said. “They don’t mean a whole lot--except for money.”

Knickle earns a $300 bonus for every shutout.

“I get about one a year,” he said. “Tonight wasn’t it.”

Nevertheless, Knickle faced 36 shots and came up with several dramatic saves, preserving the lead.

The Gulls can thank Scott Arniel for pulling them out of their power-play rut. He poked in two Friday and now has four of the team’s five overall.

Arniel’s first man-advantage score came 59 seconds after the opening face-off and only 19 seconds after Fort Wayne’s Bob Jay sat down for roughing.

Arniel was the beneficiary after Fort Wayne goalie Dave Gagnon came out of the net to clear the puck. But Gagnon shot it right to Arniel, who didn’t miss the open net.

“That was real important for a lot reasons,” Dudley said. “The players read the newspapers, they watch the news and they know that everyone’s talking about our problems on the power play and they start pressing.”

The pressure has been alleviated.

Arniel’s second goal came with six minutes remaining in the second period--again because he was at the right place (hanging out at the right post) at the right time (as a point shot from Bill Houlder was deflected by Mitch Lamoureux and banked off the end boards).

That goal was important in cementing the Gulls’ strategy.

“We’re trying to take a lot of point shots,” Arniel said. “And then jam them in at the net.”

Lamoureux and John Anderson scored the Gulls’ other goals.

While the Gulls found their way on the power play, they also continued their stingy ways while short-handed. The Gulls denied all eight of Fort Wayne’s man-advantage situations Friday and successfully killed all 15 penalties during the two-game series (the Gulls beat Fort Wayne, 4-2, Thursday).

During the season’s four games, the Gulls have allowed only one goal in 31 short-handed situations.

Gulls Notes

The Gulls outshot Fort Wayne, 41-36, but Fort Wayne outshot the Gulls in the final period, 19-11. It was the first time in 12 periods in which the Gulls have been out-shot this season. . . . There were 106 penalty minutes doled out. . . . Former Gull Dmitri Kvartalnov already has five goals in four games with the Boston Bruins of the NHL. Some considered Kvartalnov, the first-round pick of the Bruins in June’s draft, a risk because of his apprehension on defense. Gulls General Manager Don Waddell, however, said he figured Kvartalnov would be successful at that level. “I said all along that he can play at that level,” said Waddell, who brought the unknown Kvartalnov over from Russia to play for the Gulls a year ago. “Some people question his defensive liabilities, but some of the great scorers like (Mario) Lemieux and (Wayne) Gretzky are not the best defensive players, either.” Waddell wasn’t always convinced of Kvartalnov’s skills. As coach of the Gulls last season Waddell didn’t even start Kvartalnov in the season’s first two games. During the following 80 games, Kvartalnov led the league with 60 goals.