Gary Gait scored six goals and assisted on two others Friday night, leading the Colorado Mammoth to an 18-6 rout over the San Jose Stealth at Pepsi Center.

The eight points gives Gait 1,002 for his illustrious fourteen-year career. He is the first NLL player ever to reach the millenium mark.

What's more for the Mammoth, the victory clinches the Western Division title and a first-round bye in the playoffs. San Jose, 7-5, tumbles into a tie for second place in the division.

The Stealth must've felt it came to town for the wrong sport, falling victim to an avalanche.

The Mammoth struck first, a Brian Langtry power-play marker just 59 seconds into the contest, but spent much of the first period attempting to get some separation from the Stealth.

Scott Stapleford made it a 3-1 lead for Colorado with four and a half minutes left in the quarter, but Jim Moss returned fire with an even-strength goal at 13:20.

Colorado finally made its move midway through the second quarter, after Gait and San Jose's Dan Teat swapped goals. Gait struck shorthanded at 5:39, with Jay Jalbert following with a five-on-five goal a few minutes later.

Gait scored again, this time with just over five minutes until intermission, with John Wilson two minutes behind him, and Colorado had a five-goal lead.

Mike Regan pulled one back a short time later, and Colorado's halftime lead was trimmed to 8-4.

There would be no trimming in the second half, as Colorado posted a pair of five-goal runs.

Josh Sims had a goal and an assist in the first run, spanning the entire third quarter and a fraction of a minute of the fourth. Offensive weapons Langtry and Ben Prepchuk added a goal each.

After Josh Sanderson halted Run One with a goal at 0:39 of the fourth, Colorado wasted no time in launching Run Two. Just six seconds later, Del Halladay struck, right off the faceoff.

The highlight of the period came a few minutes later, when Gait ran off three goals in succession -- his 1000th, 1001st and 1002nd career points -- between 3:33 and 6:09.

Gait's natural hat trick made a bad situation for the Stealth (a 15-5 deficit) into an even worse one (18-5).

On the bright side, it sure was nice if you were a Tusk Backer.

The final nine minutes of the contest went by quickly, aside from some late-game fisticuffs, with Teat scoring the game's last goal with just more than five minutes to play.

Gait, the obvious Game MVP selection, led all scorers with eight points, but Langtry (two goals, four assists) and Gavin Prout (six assists) weren't far behind.

Josh Sanderson topped the Stealth three points, on a goal and two assists.

Colorado has one regular-season game left, next weekend against the Anaheim Storm, while the Stealth has four more matches, including one tomorrow night, also against Anaheim.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
San Jose Stealth (7-5)                2  2  0  2  --   6
Colorado Mammoth (12-3)               3  5  4  6  --  18

SAN JOSE STEALTH              COLORADO MAMMOTH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
J Sanderson    1 - 2     3    Gait           6 - 2     8
Regan          2 - 0     2    Langtry        2 - 4     6
Teat           2 - 0     2    Prout          0 - 6     6
Moss           1 - 0     1    Jalbert        3 - 2     5
Day            0 - 1     1    B Self         0 - 5     5
Kruger         0 - 1     1    Prepchuk       1 - 2     3
Rosyski        0 - 1     1    J Wilson       1 - 2     3
Woods          0 - 1     1    Halladay       2 - 0     2
                              Sims           1 - 1     2
                              C Smith        0 - 2     2
                              Phair          1 - 0     1
                              Stapleford     1 - 0     1
                              Hanford        0 - 1     1
                              Nash           0 - 1     1
                              Reese          0 - 1     1
                              Stilley        0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           31    Shots on goal           52
Saves made by (GA)      34    Saves made by (GA)      25
   Blasdell (7)      20          Nash (6)          25
   B Miller (11)     14
Penalties               11    Penalties                8
Penalty Minutes         28    Penalty Minutes         16
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         0    Power Play Goals         3
   (None)                        Gait               2
                                 Langtry            1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        1
   Teat               1          Gait               1
Loose Balls             54    Loose Balls             69
   Woods              9          Sims              11
   Regan              8          B Self             8
   Oglesby            6          Jalbert            6
Faceoffs Won             6    Faceoffs Won            22
   Cercy        ( 6-20)          Hanford      (22- 6)
   Fry          ( 0- 2)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH COLORADO MAMMOTH ***