Milwaukee Tops Gulls in Shootout

It was gold medal against Gulls’ mettle.

Mikhail Shtalenkov, the goaltender on the Olympic champion Unified Team, proved better Saturday night, stopping five Gulls in a shootout to give the Milwaukee Admirals a 3-2 International Hockey League victory.

“We actually dominated the game,” said Gull Coach Rick Dudley, whose team outshot Milwaukee, 43-24, “but their goaltender played exceptionally well.”

The loss, in front of 13,472 at the Bradley Center, ended a 12-game winning streak by the Gulls (20-0-2), whose other defeat came Oct. 29 in a shootout at Atlanta.

Jeff Larmer beat Gull goaltender Rick Knickle in the shootout for the game-winner.

The Gulls, who had a five-hour bus ride to Milwaukee after Thursday’s victory in Fort Wayne, Ind., fell behind when Randy Skarda scored in the first period.

But Hubie McDonough tied the score 34 seconds into the second period with his 12th goal of the season--and the Gulls’ 12th short-handed score of the season.

Then Brian Dobbin put the Admirals (15-4-3) ahead, marking the first time this season the Gulls have trailed in the third period, before Gord Dineen scored a power-play goal from the right point.

The Gulls complete a stretch of four games in four cities in five nights with a home contest tonight against the Phoenix Roadrunners.