Gulls Get Back on Winning Track : Hockey: Knickle misses shutout but is superb in goal in 6-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals.

Talk about fickle. The Gulls lose one game all season--one lousy game--and their attendance plummets by 4,000.

The fair-weather fans Friday missed one of goalie Rick Knickle’s best performances of the year. He took a shutout five minutes into the final period of a 6-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals.

Despite missing what would have been his fifth shutout this year, Knickle nevertheless reached something of a milestone. He played in his 500th professional game, a rare feat for a goalie.

“The games go by so fast, and the seasons go by so fast, you don’t really think about it,” said Knickle, 32, who never made it to the NHL. “But it’s something to be proud of. You know, you make it to the NHL, and there’s more money, you fly all the time, everything is so much better. But (in the minors) it’s tough to play that long. Still though, it’s a fun job. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

The 7,174 who did show up at the Sports Arena realized Knickle was having a special game midway through the second period as they applauded each save.

By turning away 29 shots, Knickle lowered his league-leading goals-against average to 1.79 and improved his record to 16-1-2.

“You don’t get the kind of record we have without the outstanding goaltending we’ve got,” Coach Rick Dudley said of his 22-1-3 team. “No goalie can play that consistently unless he is good.”

But this time, the goalie, who says he never tries for a shutout, was gunning for one, anyway.

“Yeah, it felt like a shutout game tonight,” Knickle said. “It would have been nice to have one coinciding with my 500th game. It also would have been nice because after every loss so far this year, we’ve come back with a shutout.

“So much for that.”

The Gulls’ previous game was a 6-2 loss at Phoenix. It was their first regulation loss of the season.

Meanwhile, the guy at the other end of the rink Friday was suffering through a hockey hangover. The last time Mikhail Shtalenkov faced the Gulls, he shut them out during a shootout to lead the Admirals to a 3-2 victory on Thanksgiving.

The Gulls made him pay this time. Four times in the second period a Gull got past the Admiral defense and into a one-on-one situation. Unlike the 0-for-5 effort in the shootout two weeks ago, the Gulls converted all four opportunities, blowing open a 1-0 game.

Perhaps most indicative that Friday was not to be Shtalenkov’s night was Larry Floyd’s goal nine minutes into the middle period. Floyd, who went 0-for-7 on shootout attempts last season and was taken off such duty this year, took a pass from Robbie Nichols behind Milwaukee’s defenders, skated in on Shtalenkov and flipped one past his stick side.

That made it 3-0 and came six minutes after Len Hachborn flew down the left wing, took a cross-ice pass from Dan Shank and flicked it over Shtalenkov’s right shoulder.

Lindy Ruff also scored in the period--it was his first goal since opening night--and Hubie McDonough finished the onslaught.

The Gulls lost their fire in the third period, and the Admirals started connecting on some passes. Five minutes 26 seconds into the period, Bruce Bell ruined the shutout by jumping on a rebound in front of the net and sneaking it past Knickle.

“I didn’t even see it,” Knickle said. “I just started to get back up on my feet and the guy shot it.”

Gord Dineen became the sixth Gull to score six minutes later.

The final two periods were in marked contrast to the rough-and-tumble first. The first penalty of the game was doled out faster than Disney could name its new hockey team, or 27 seconds after the face-off. That’s when Milwaukee’s Randy Skarda went off four minutes for roughing.

Only 44 seconds later the Gulls capitalized, scoring their IHL-leading 47th power-play goal. Shank got it by placing Dale DeGray’s rebound into an unguarded side of the net.

That small hint of hockey was otherwise obscured by hostilities. Eleven minors were whistled in the period, two majors and three game misconducts. During the period, 62 penalty minutes were doled out.