The Gulls figured their Pacific Division finals series against the Bakersfield Condors would be tight and hard-fought, and maybe even lengthy.
But they could not have foreseen how long Game 1 took.
The Gulls needed four overtimes Friday night (and Saturday morning) to take a 3-2 victory at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield in Game 1. The game ended at 12:20 a.m. PT.
Maxime Comtois scored the winning goal at 4:20 of the fourth overtime, with assists to Kevin Roy and Simon Benoit.
The Gulls outshot the Condors 56-53, including 4-2 in the short seventh period.
The two teams will play again Saturday night in Bakersfield.
The Gulls, who had beaten the Bakersfield six times in the regular season, pressed the action in the first overtime period, getting 12 shots on Condors goalie Shane Sterrett, but he kept it tied.
San Diego goalie Jeff Glass had seven saves in the first overtime, 33 in regulation and 51 in total.
The first period was a feeling out process as the Gulls outshot Bakersfield 7-5 in a scoreless 20 minutes.
The Condors took a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal by Brad Malone at 12:09 of the second period.
At the start of the third period, the action was fast and furious.
Justin Kloos of the Gulls scored an unassisted goal 32 seconds into the period on a power play to tie the game.
Bakersfield’s Joe Gambardella then scored his own unassisted goal to take a 2-1 lead at the 4:22 mark.
However, once again, it didn’t last long. Just 11 seconds later, Sam Carrick scored his third goal of the playoffs to tie the game at 2 as Ben Street assisted on the play.
After a penalty on San Diego's Max Jones in the first overtime, no more penalties were whistled as the referees decided to let the teams decide it themselves.
Bakersfield was 0-for-2 on the power play, while San Diego was 1-for-2.
