Malarchuk Helps Gulls Sweep Golden Eagles : Hockey: John Anderson scores twice in 4-1 decision, the Gulls’ third victory in four days against Salt Lake.

There was a time, given the brief history of the Gulls, that a two-game winning streak against an opponent would be reason enough to welcome the home team back to its arena with open arms.

Predictably, the Gulls’ third triumph in four days over the Salt Lake Golden Eagles--a 4-1 IHL decision Saturday at the Sports Arena--charmed the masses.

So, what’s new? Sweeping an adversary has become a common occurrence for the Gulls.

Ft. Wayne, Kansas City, Kalamazoo. The only opponent the Gulls’ failed to sweep was Atlanta, and the Knights’ shootout victory remains the only blemish on an otherwise perfect start for the Gulls (15-0-1). Saturday’s effort gave the Gulls their seventh consecutive victory.

The way things are progressing, appreciative San Diego hockey fans may be tempted into stunts of ticker-tape parade proportions.

“I’ve never seen a team play this well,” said Gulls Coach Rick Dudley, who regularly gathers the troops to drill in the dangers of complacency.

“We talk every day about letdowns,” he said. “But they don’t (let down) because they’re competitors.”

In honor of his performance of the past two nights, goaltender Clint Malarchuk was the competitor of note Saturday.

Malarchuk posted a shutout in Salt Lake Friday night. Dudley, with the full support of 10-0 goalie Rick Knickle, decided to go with Malarchuk again.

“When you have a goalie playing as well as he was the night before, you have to go with him,” he said.

Before the Golden Eagles’ Tomas Forslund scored late in the third period to prevent Salt Lake (6-9-1) against consecutive shutouts, Malarchuk had played 129 minutes 19 seconds without being scored upon. He finished the night stopping 19 of 20 shots on goal.

“Every game is getting stronger for me,” said Malarchuk, who is showing renewed confidence with each game. “With all my rehabilitation last year, I came in a little rusty. I’m trying to get the rust off.”

Not a trace of it showed Saturday, as Malarchuk improved to 5-0-1.

It took all of 1:32 into the period for left wing John Anderson to score on a slap shot from the right point. It was the 14th time in 16 games the Gulls have scored first.

The lead was pushed to 2-0 at 3:03 in the second period when Mitch Lamoureux flipped in a shot from the slot as he moved from the left to right circle.

The Gulls’ lackluster 0-for-3 showing on the power play in the second period--shaving 10:31 off the clock--didn’t come back to haunt them as they pulled through with a power-play goal by Daniel Shank at 18:22.

John Anderson scored the Gulls’ second power-play goal of the night at 5:13 in the third. It gave Anderson his 12th goal of the season, to make him the team’s leading scorer.

Gulls Notes

Crowd Buster: Saturday’s attendance of 10,047 is a season high, and the fourth all-time best Gull audience recorded. . . . Home of the Happy Owner: Gulls owner Fred Comrie has a lot to smile about these days. After club losses he estimated at up to $1 million last year, he said this team has already made money. If the Gulls continue to win, the potential earnings can only go up. “It goes to show if you’re winning, San Diegans will come,” Comrie said. “Take tonight. They have 53,000 people across town at the (San Diego State) Aztec game, and we still got 10,000 in here. Typically, November isn’t a good attendance month. Just think of what we might do in January, when there’s nothing else going on.” . . . No short end of this stick: In 93 times the Gulls have played short-handed, they have allowed only eight goals, a penalty-killing percentage of 91.7. . . . With one more victory, the Gulls would tie their franchise record of eight consecutive victories.