The start of the San Diego Gulls game against Ontario was fantastic. The finish was fantastic. The middle ... well, that part wasn't so great.
But it was good enough for a win.
The Gulls beat the Reign 5-4 in a shootout in front of a Saturday night crowd of 12,534 at Pechanga Arena. That coupled with San Jose's loss to Tucson put the Gulls in 2nd place in the Pacific Division with eight games to play in the regular season.
After Ontario scored in the first 90 seconds, San Diego got four straight goals (one each from Corey Tropp, Justin Kloos, Jack Kopacka and Chase De Leo) to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission but then the offense dried up for a while.
The Reign scored twice in the 2nd period then tied it up with 2:11 to play in regulation. A scoreless overtime led to a shootout, and that's when the Gulls finally found the net again. Kalle Kossila scored in the 2nd round and after Kevin Boyle made a pair of stops it was Kloos who finally gave the Gulls a win.
San Diego's 4-game homestand continues on Wednesday night when they host the Barracuda, the team they are very likely going to meet in the first round of the American Hockey League playoffs.
