Justin Auger scored twice and Paul LaDue broke a 1-1 tie with a goal early in the third period as the Ontario Reign staved off elimination with a 4-1 win over San Diego in Game 4 of their Pacific Division semifinal series on Monday night.
The Gulls will host the Reign in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET).
After a scoreless first period, Ontario opened the scoring at 5:16 of the second when Jonny Brodzinski fed Auger, who got behind two San Diego defenders and beat Jhonas Enroth for his first goal of the series.
The Gulls drew even at 18:47 as Keaton Thompson fired a one-timer from the right-wing circle past Jack Campbell for a power-play goal, his first playoff marker.
LaDue netted the eventual game-winner at 3:30 of the third period, sneaking down low and burying a rebound for his first postseason goal. Auger pounced on another rebound with 5:03 left and pocketed his second of the night to make it 3-1, and T.J. Hensick capped the win with an empty-netter with 1:54 to go.
Campbell (2-2) made 21 saves in the win, while Enroth (2-2) stopped 31 of 34 shots in defeat.
Pacific Division Semifinals – Series “H” (best-of-5)
P2-San Diego Gulls vs. P3-Ontario Reign
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 21 – Ontario 3, SAN DIEGO 2
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 22 – San Diego 2, ONTARIO 1
Game 3 – Fri., Apr. 28 – SAN DIEGO 3, Ontario 1
Game 4 – Mon., May 1 – ONTARIO 4, San Diego 1
Game 5 – Tue., May 2 – Ontario at San Diego, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Paul LaDue 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/kxOWbdGyoh
— AHL (@TheAHL) May 2, 2017
