Sometimes you need a little good karma to get you out of a funk.
The Gulls had lost five in a row heading into Saturday night's showdown with the Barracuda. San Diego had sunk to last place in the Pacific Division. San Jose had the best record in the American Hockey League.
But before the game the Gulls held their Winter Wonderland tailgate party that doubled as a teddy bear and toy drive. Fans packed the Pechanga Arena parking lot to give presents that would go to local children's hospitals.
I don't know if the good deed helped but the Gulls ended their losing streak with a 4-3, come-from-behind, shootout win in front of a packed house.
After falling behind 2-0 the Gulls got going behind forward Max Jones. The 20-year-old scored twice to tie it 2-2. Jones, a former first round pick of the Ducks, has seven goals on the year.
The Barracuda took the lead in the 3rd period but the Gulls tied it up by taking advantage of the power play. Troy Terry put a pass right on the stick of Sam Carrick and the center redirected it past Antoine Bibeau for the equalizer. Overtime yielded no goals so it went to a shootout tied 3-3.
On the 5th shootout round San Diego went to newly acquired Adam Cracknell, a 33-year-old forward who's played for six different NHL teams and was added in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs this week, and the veteran came up huge with a pretty move to slip the puck by Bibeau and send the crowd home happy.
Local
The Gulls get another shot at the Barracuda on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.
