Admirals Tip Gulls In OT

The second-best team in the IHL went incognito Saturday and masqueraded as the second-worst team for the second consecutive night. And then came out of hiding in the second period.

After spotting the Gulls a four-goal lead, the Milwaukee Admirals came back to score a 6-5 overtime victory in front of 7,373 at the Sports Arena.

Michel Mongeau got the game-winner 1:15 into the five-minute overtime period as he skated down the middle of the ice and--once in front of the net--took a centering pass from Mitch Messier and flicked it past goalie Clint Malarchuk.

Malarchuk was playing in his first game in 16 days.

The game-winner was the fifth consecutive goal for the Admirals--the second in a row from Mongeau--and proved especially insulting. The Admirals scored it while short-handed, the first such goal the Gulls have allowed this season.

The Gulls have lost four of their past seven. Afterward Coach Rick Dudley was livid.

“There’s going to be some changes around here,” he said. “I’ll tell you that much, if that’s the way we’re going to play. . . . We just got stupid. Maybe it was my fault. We tried to play more conservatively and we just couldn’t do it.”

The comeback by Milwaukee (19-7-3) spoiled two particularly good offensive performances by the Gulls (23-2-3).

Hubie McDonough, one of the few Gulls property of an NHL club, made his case for promotion to the San Jose Sharks with five assists, tying a club record set by Gord Dineen Nov. 6 in a 6-1 victory at Kalamazoo.

McDonough raised his league-leading assist total to 34 and his league-leading point total to 50.

He also extended his point streak to 12 games, longest on the team.

But one of McDonough’s teammates kept pushing him out of the spotlight. Dan Shank became the seventh Gull to have a three-goal game this season. He completed it 9 minutes 43 seconds into the second period and tied John Anderson for the club lead in goals with 17.

Shank lost the opportunity to become the first Gull this year to score four or more goals 7:27 into the final period when he received a game misconduct for cross-checking Milwaukee’s Bruce Bell in the mouth and laying him flat on the ice.

Shank’s 163 penalty minutes leads the team.

Midway through the second period, Shank scored off an Arniel pass from behind the goal.

That goal made it 5-1 but also inadvertently broke the Gulls’ momentum. The Admirals replaced goalie Larry Dyck with Mikhail Shtalenkov, the pillar of confidence who one night earlier let in six goals.

Call it a psychological lift, but the Gulls fell silent as the Admirals worked to close the gap.

With barely under two minutes remaining in the second period, Milwaukee’s Shawn Evans scored what at the time appeared to be a harmless goal. It became less harmless 1:48 into the final period when Bell beat Malarchuk to make it 5-3.

A sign of exactly how abruptly fortunes had swung came three minutes later. The Gulls, who already had capitalized on three of four power plays, skated four against three. Dale DeGray took a pass in the slot and before Shtalenkov had a chance to react, the Gull defender sent the puck toward the left side of the net. Shtalenkov couldn’t get there in time, but the shot hit the post.

Shank rung Bell another 2 1/2 minutes later, and while the two sides skated four-on-four, the Admirals cut the Gulls’ lead to one thanks to a goal from right wing Brian Dobbin.

Finally, it was luck that tied the game for the Admirals with just over four minutes remaining in regulation. Bell skated in along the right boards and centered a pass to Mongeau, who never saw it as he battled a Gull defender. The pass kicked off Mongeau’s skates, changed directions and trickled just inside the right post.