A jazzed-up crowd inside Pechanga Arena sensed that it was going to be a Gulls-type of evening 22 seconds in when Brent Gates Jr. gathered the puck near the boards, skated in on Ontario goalie Matthew Villalta and scored his second goal of the season.
An announced crowd of 10,003 celebrating “1980’s Night” exploded and even though Ontario tied the game a little over a minute later on a penalty shot, the Gulls were off and rolling to a 6-1 victory Saturday which earned them two valuable points in the Pacific Division standings.
Troy Terry, Sam Carrick, Brendan Guhle, Justin Kloos and Antoine Morand also scored for the Gulls (14-15-2-2), goalie Kevin Boyle made 42 saves in one of his best performances of the season and San Diego evened the season series with their rivals (4-4).
The Gulls trail Ontario by four points in the Pacific Division standings and get four more cracks at the Reign this season. There is a good chance that the outcome of those games will decide whether San Diego gets into the playoffs or stays home come April.
“Anytime we play Ontario, it’s always a big game,” said Carrick, who also notched two assists. “They are above us right now in the standings and we’re chasing them from here on out. Every game is going to be huge. We’re in a playoff mindset right now and we’re looking to get every win we can.”
Carrick’s short-handed goal at 3:14 of the second period gave the Gulls a 3-1 lead, giving him a goal in six straight games as well as a team-high 16 goals for the season.
The Gulls also have received a boost from Terry, who was sent down by the Anaheim Ducks for an injury rehab assignment on Friday as he continues to recover from a leg injury suffered Dec. 17.
The 22-year-old picked up two assists in a 4-3 overtime win over Iowa on Friday night, scored a first-period goal on a beautiful move and shot Saturday night and also added an assist on Guhle’s second-period goal.
“Any time you don’t play hockey for awhile, you start to miss it,” Terry said. “This is a place I have spent a lot of time and I’m familiar with. It was fun to come down here and see these guys again. It’s going to take a little bit of work to get back into it but I felt better as the night went on. It was fun to play down here again and get a win.”
Carter is a freelance writer.
