Steady Gold Kings pull away for victory

After being held to just one goal Saturday night against San Diego, the Colorado Gold Kings erupted for a pair of power-play goals in the first period and two more in the second to defeat the Gulls 6- 2 at World Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Colorado (5-4-2) fell behind early when San Diego's Mark Stitt intercepted a pass from Gold Kings defenseman Mike Garrow and beat goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck for a short-handed goal just 5 minutes into the game.

But the Gold Kings, who had trouble beating Gulls goalie Trevor Koenig on Saturday night, caught a break when San Diego coach Steve Martinson started Boyd Ballard on Sunday.

Gold Kings center R.J Enga tied the score at 9:24 on the power play. He added his second goal, also on the power play, less than 3 minutes later to give the Gold Kings a 2-1 first-period advantage.

San Diego (5-2-1) evened the score at 14:10 of the first period when Daubenspeck misplayed the puck in front of the net. Dan Gravelle picked up the loose puck and scored.

Colorado, behind Dauben-speck, dominated the rest of the game. The goalie stopped all 25 San Diego shots in the second and third periods.

Colin Chaulk scored the eventual game-winning goal at 3:32 of the second period. Craig Lyons scored on a breakaway with 4 minutes left in the second to make it 4-2.

In the third period, Garrow made up for his first-period misplay, capping a 2-1 breakaway with a hard slap shot into the top right corner of the net. Zac Boyer, the Gold Kings' leading scorer, closed out the scoring at 9:58 to make it 6-2.

The Gold Kings travel to Anchorage to play a pair of games with the Aces on Tuesday and Thursday before returning to World Arena for two games with Idaho next weekend.

- Scott D. Jones may be reached at 636-0250 or gtsports@gazette.com

GOLD KINGS 6

SAN DIEGO 2

Next: Colorado at Anchorage, 8:05 p.m. Tuesday, 1460 AM

Noteworthy: Before the game, the Gold Kings announced the free- agent signings of two players from the East Coast Hockey League. Defenseman Brent Henley, who played with the Jackson (Miss.) Bandits, was in uniform against San Diego. So was right winger Sean Ritchlin, who played with the Reading (Pa.) Royals.

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