Monday, April 13, 1998 | 8:59 a.m.
The Las Vegas Thunder has four days to solve the Long Beach Ice Dogs.
The Ice Dogs clinched the Western Conference title and the Huber Trophy as the IHL's regular-season champions on Sunday -- the final day of the regular season -- with a 6-1 victory over the Thunder at the Long Beach Ice Arena.
The triumph means the Thunder will serve as Long Beach's first-round opponent in the Turner Cup playoffs. Las Vegas went 2-11-1 in the season series with the Ice Dogs.
"Long Beach has cleaned our clocks for two years," Thunder head coach Clint Malarchuk said. "Now it's the mirror test. It's up to the individual to look at himself in the mirror and reflect on his worth to the organization."
Las Vegas opens the best-of-5 series at the Long Beach Ice Arena Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. Action returns to the Thomas & Mack Center for Game 3 on April 24 at 7:05 p.m.
If the Thunder can win one of the first three games, Game 4 will take place at the T&M on April 25 at 7:05 p.m. The series would return to Long Beach on April 27 if it goes the distance.
Going that far against a team as talented as the Ice Dogs (53-20-9) is unlikely if the Thunder (33-39-10) continues its erratic play. After beating archrival Utah 5-3 on Friday, Las Vegas was humbled Saturday in an 8-3 loss to San Antonio, the worst team in the league.
"It's been a long season," Thunder right wing Patrice Lefebvre said. "Once the playoffs start, everyone will bring up their 'A' games for sure.
"It's been a horrible year with players missing, players this, players that. We need change. We need to get the (regular season) over with to start the playoffs."
Malarchuk was asked if inconsistency is his team's biggest concern heading into the postseason. He stared at the carpet for 30 seconds.
"I think pride is a bigger concern," Malarchuk said. "I think we embarrassed ourselves (Saturday). But consistency certainly is an issue. We stepped up (Friday) night against a good team and then took most of the next game off."
In its last four games the Thunder has allowed 25 goals.
"I know these games, to us, didn't mean anything in the standings," Malarchuk said. "But to have pride at home, against the last-place team ... I know I got real dedicated, quality people on this team, but we've got to show up and be consistent for 60 minutes every night."
The Thunder tied Sunday's game at 1 early in the second period when Jesse Belanger netted his 32nd goal of the season.
But the Ice Dogs shifted into a higher gear the rest of the way, scoring twice in the second period and three times in the third to wrap up the Western Conference crown.
Recent Thunder addition Petr Nedved did not play Sunday. His status for the playoffs will de decided this week by an arbiter, who must rule on whether a handful of games the NHL holdout played in the Czech Republic last month made him ineligible to sign with an IHL club.
Thunderbolts
* THAT'S THE TICKET: Tickets for the Las Vegas Thunder's home games against the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the first round of the Turner Cup playoffs -- April 24th and 25th (if necessary) -- went on sale today at the Thomas & Mack Center box office, TicketMaster outlets and by calling 798-7825 or 474-4000. As with the regular season, playoff tickets are scaled at $10, $13 and $16. Senior, military and student discounts are available.
* THE EDITOR: Right wing Patrice Lefebvre rewrote the Thunder record book this season as he became the first player in team history to lead the IHL in scoring. On Friday, Lefevbre broke the team record of 114 points he set in 1995-96. He finished the season Sunday with 27 goals and a team-record 89 assists for 116 points. He is the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 516 points in five seasons.
* LOW HIGHS: While Lefebvre broke the season scoring and assist records, many of the Thunder's statistical leaders were the lowest in franchise history. Ken Quinney led the team with 34 goals, marking the first time a Thunder player did not score at least 40. ... Captain Joe Day finished with 183 penalty minutes and became the first team leader not to accumulate at least 246. ... Manny Legace became the Thunder's first No. 1 goaltender to not reach 23 victories. He finished with 18. ... Jesse Belanger had the team's top rating at plus-5, becoming the first leader not to attain at least a plus-14.
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