Josh Currie scored 13:02 into the second overtime period to give Bakersfield a season-saving 2-1 win over San Diego in Game 5 of what is becoming a classic Pacific Division Finals series on Saturday night.
The Gulls still hold a 3-2 lead in the series, and will host Game 6 on Monday night.
Off a faceoff from the right-wing circle, Caleb Jones sent a pass down the wall to Tyler Benson, who found Currie in the slot for the winning goal.
The game ended at 11:01 p.m. PDT after three hours and 50 minutes, and was the third overtime contest (and second multi-OT game) of the series.
Bakersfield controlled the play early and took a 1-0 lead on a power play at 9:30 of the first period, as Joe Gambardella deflected home a point shot from Evan Bouchard for his fifth goal of the series and sixth of the postseason.
Kevin Roy tied the game for the Gulls at the 10:44 mark, finishing a tic-tac-toe passing play off a rush with Corey Tropp and Sam Steel. It was Roy’s second goal in the last two games.
There was no further scoring through the rest of regulation and more than 33 minutes of thrilling OT action, which saw numerous chances on both sides.
Stuart Skinner, making his first start of the postseason after coming on in relief in both Game 3 and Game 4 of the series, made 45 saves for the Condors.
Jeff Glass turned aside 42 of 44 shots for the Gulls.
Final shots on goal in the game were 46-44 in favor of San Diego, including 21-20 in sudden-death.
Pacific Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
P1-Bakersfield Condors vs. P3-San Diego Gulls
Game 1 – Fri., May 3 – San Diego 3, BAKERSFIELD 2 (4OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 2 – Sat., May 4 – San Diego 4, BAKERSFIELD 1 | Recap/Highlights
Game 3 – Wed., May 8 – Bakersfield 7, SAN DIEGO 6 (OT) | Recap/Highlights
Game 4 – Fri., May 10 – SAN DIEGO 4, Bakersfield 2 | Recap/Highlights
Game 5 – Sat., May 11 – BAKERSFIELD 2, San Diego 1 (2OT)
Game 6 – Mon., May 13 – Bakersfield at San Diego, 10:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 15 – San Diego at Bakersfield, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern