Bullfrogs Wake Up in Time : Roller hockey: With one-goal lead, they score five in eight-minute span of fourth quarter to beat the Blades, 10-6.

ANAHEIM —  For the first three quarters Monday night, it looked as if the Bullfrogs had forgotten how to score in The Pond.

But clinging to a one-goal lead with less than 12 minutes to play, Anaheim finally found its scoring form for the first time in three games. The Bullfrogs unleashed a five-goal outburst in an eight-minute stretch and went on to defeat the Blades, 10-6, in a Roller Hockey International game in front of an announced crowd of 10,619.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for the playoff-bound Bullfrogs (17-2-1), who announced Monday night that tickets for postseason play will go on sale Wednesday. They long ago clinched the Pacific Division title and now wait to see who they will meet in the playoff’s opening round, which begins Aug. 14.

That opponent could be the Blades, who are in a tight struggle with several teams for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Blade schedule, though, is anything but favorable the remainder of the season. Among other teams, Los Angeles plays host to the Bullfrogs Saturday night at the Forum. The Bullfrogs have won all three meetings this season.

It was pretty much the same story for the Blades again against the Bullfrogs, although the team played better defensively than it did in last Saturday’s 10-4 loss at the Forum. At least that drew a smile from Coach Bobby Hull Jr.

“This is the first game this season that our guys played like a team,” he said. “When you play a team as great as Anaheim, you have to have that kind of teamwork for a full 48 minutes. We only played like that for 38-40.”

Until Monday night, the Bullfrogs, the league’s highest-scoring team, had reached double figures only once since a 13-7 victory July 9 against San Diego, a span of four home games. That came July 20 in a 12-10 victory over San Jose, a game in which the Bullfrogs blew a five-goal lead and needed all the goals they could manage to win.

The Bullfrogs was more in control of the Blades than they were against San Jose, one of the front-runners in the Northwest Division. But they were unable to get much past goaltender David Littman in the first three periods.

“He played well,” Todd Wetzel, whose early hat trick, a team-record sixth of the year, gave the Bullfrogs a 3-2 halftime lead. “We got a couple of breaks in the second half and that got us going.”

Two goals by Darren Banks gave Anaheim a 5-2 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Blades got back into contention with goals by Steve Wilson and Chris Nelson.

Victor Gervais got things rolling for the Bullfrogs in the fourth quarter, taking a centering pass from Darren Perkins and beating Littman. Nelson made it 6-5, nailing a rebound off the pads of Bullfrog goaltender Chris Gordon.

Gervais answered with a short-handed goal at the 8:13 mark, then Wetzel fed Rick Judson for his 27th goal of the year and Anaheim was off on its winning run.

Anaheim Coach Grant Sonier was pleased that his team rallied. But he was concerned with 10-minute misconduct penalties to Gervais and Banks. Coupled with the loss of Joe Cook, who received a concussion from a blow by the stick of Peter Kasowski, and leg cramps to Fredrick Jax, Sonier had only eight skaters available at times.