Wings Hand Gulls 8th Straight Road Loss

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Gulls, once a strong team on the road, lost their eighth consecutive game away from the San Diego Sports Arena but lost no ground on second-place Peoria in the Western Division of the International Hockey Saturday.

The Gulls (91 points) allowed two third-period goals and lost for the first time this year to the Kalamazoo Wings, 4-2, in front of 5,395 at Wings Stadium. Kalamazoo (78 points) is third in the East.

The third-place Gulls (42-26-7), battling Peoria (93 points) for home-ice advantage in the first round of the IHL playoffs, caught a break when the Rivermen lost to Phoenix, 5-4, and missed a chance to move ahead by four points.

But with seven games remaining (five at home), the Gulls’ fortunes have become predictable. They’ve won their last five in a row at home. They’ve lost their last eight on the road after starting 18-11-2.

Goals by Mitch Messier (his 40th) and Jim Nesich made it 2-0, Wings, in the first period. The Gulls came back to tie when Ron Duguay (15th) scored 16 seconds after Nesich’s goal and Steve Martinson (18th) scored at the 11:47 mark. Ray Whitney assisted both goals.

After a scoreless second period, the Gulls outshot Kalamazoo, 16-7, but saw the Wings score twice on goalie Rick Knickle (27-12-3), playing for the first time in 13 games. Larry Dyck (23-20-3) got the victory for the Wings, who held the Gulls to 0-7 on the power play. Each team had 33 shots on goal.