TROTWOOD — Dan Dunn jumped the gun. After Jonathan Ornelas gave the Dayton Gems a lead with a clutch goal in the eighth round of a shootout with the Arizona Sundogs on Saturday night, Dayton’s new goalie threw his hands up thinking it was over.

But Dunn had more work left. And just like last week in his Gems debut, he poke-checked the final shooter to preserve a much-needed 3-2 win.

“I thought we won and I started skating to the bench,” said Dunn, who made 37 saves and then stopped four straight Arizona shooters with the game on the line. “Larry (Sterling, the regular goalie) was laughing.”

Sterling’s chuckle aside, the mood was serious for Dayton one night after a humbling 4-0 loss to Missouri. The Gems played hard, physical and got some big-time performances from Dunn, Ornelas (one goal and the shootout winner) and Nick Fanto (goal, assist).

“I told the guys, we can have the goal to be the best team in the CHL the last 14 games or we can look at our calendars waiting for the season to end,” said head coach Brian Gratz. “Tonight they showed what they chose.”

A Hara crowd that has experienced plenty of frustration was begging for something to celebrate and they got it within minutes of the Gems going down 1-0. A Tyler Butler power-play goal in the second opened the scoring, but Ornelas parked in front of the net and banged home a rebound, which sparked the hosts and the fans.

“The kid was Johnny-on-the-spot,” said Gratz.

Then with 28.7 seconds left before the second intermission, Fanto made it 2-1. The 25-year-old Dearborn, Mich., native, who has been snakebit lately, came down the left wing and buried a low shot past Scott Reid.

“It’s the biggest relief I’ve had in a hockey season,” said Fanto, who last scored in January.

• Tim Hartung scored in the shootout and leads all CHL defensemen with seven goals. ... Arizona’s Jean-Phillip Chabot tied the game 2-2 1:24 into the third... Robin Richards left the game late in the second period with Dayton’s head trainer Bryan Rogers. He returned. ... Fanto’s goal was his 14th of the year, Ornelas’s his 16th. ... The Gems were outshot 11-6 in the second period when they outscored the Sundogs 2-1.