Game on

Nick Christensen

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003 | 10:07 a.m.

When the Las Vegas Wranglers closed out the second period Tuesday night, they had a 3-0 lead against the Bakersfield Condors. But that wasn't their biggest accomplishment.

At the end of the night, Las Vegas' 4-2 home opener victory in front of a near-sellout crowd of 7,208 was a direct result of their penalty-killing efforts.

The Wranglers, who compete in the 31-team ECHL, got themselves into a hole penaltywise, particularly in the second period, when they killed off a 5-on-3 unscathed. Less than two minutes later, Las Vegas' Doug Wright was called for boarding, a major penalty that gave Bakersfield a five-minute power play.

But Las Vegas still managed to keep Bakersfield shut out.

"When penalties start rolling, you have to suck it up," Wranglers right winger Justin Kelly said. "That's what we did, we had a job to do."

Kelly scored one of the Wranglers' two second-period goals, his first goal of the year to go with four assists.

Winger Chris Kenady had a goal and two assists Tuesday. He said the whole team gets involved in the Las Vegas penalty-killing effort.

"We had the 5-on-3, then the five-minute major," Kenady said. "That's nine minutes of the period, and they didn't get a sniff."

Both Kenady and first-year coach Glen Gulutzan said the team struggled with short-handed play in their weekend series at Idaho. But the team hadn't had practice time to work on the penalty-killing.

"Tonight our defense and forwards stepped up," Gulutzan said.

"It was good, we used a bunch of guys," Kenady said. "We were always fresh, and none of us got stuck out there. Everyone on the team gets going."

But with Wranglers serving time in the penalty box, the most pressure fell on Las Vegas goaltender Marc Magliarditi.

"Obviously, (penalty-killing) is a big part of our game," Magliarditi said. "We killed those in a row, and that really took the wind out of their sails."

And while the Condors surely were frustrated by their inability to convert their power plays, the longer the Wranglers went short-handed, the more confident they became.

"With a five-minute major, you notice when there's three minutes left," Magliarditi said. "Then there's only two minutes left, then one -- it just gives you that much more confidence."