Late penalties slow Wranglers

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

Last year, the Las Vegas Wranglers came out sluggish in the first midnight game in professional hockey history.

The second version made up for last year's sleepy performance. The Fresno Falcons edged Las Vegas 5-4 in a shootout in front of an announced crowd of 4,006.

Las Vegas came out of the gate hot, with both first-period goals scored by Dan Tudin. The Wranglers had a team-record 25 shots in the first period. They also played strong team defense, but allowed Fresno two first-period goals, both coming on shots rebounded off Las Vegas goaltender Sebastien Centomo.

But after the initial volley, the Wranglers cooled, taking just 21 shots in the final 45 minutes of play.

"Typical. It's becoming a Vegas tradition to lose hockey games we should win," Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan said after 45 minutes of one-on-one meetings with players. "We have to be more disciplined as a team."

Tudin, whose shootout attempt bounced off the right goalpost, sealing the win for Fresno, said he felt the late start had some impact on the Wranglers' late-game misfortune.

"When you're playing, and I'm not trying to make excuses, but when you play at a time like this, things can unexpectedly go in the opposite direction," Tudin said. "Personally I felt pretty good, but the guys aren't used to it, and a lot of guys are superstitious and like to stick to a routine."

Las Vegas defenseman Jason McBain had another reason for the defeat -- the 20 penalty minutes called on the Wranglers by referee Chris Ciamaga in the final 13 minutes of the game, including a 5-on-3 with less than five minutes to go in the third period.

"It's hard to get anything done when you're in the box all the time," McBain said. "I try to stay on the referees' good side, but something's got to be said. The calls, in my mind, were terrible."

Just 14 seconds after Dustin Johner was called for slashing and Billy Tibbetts was called for roughing, Fresno's Sam Ftorek put Fresno ahead 4-3. Even after Johner made up for it with a goal with 1:04 remaining, Mike McBain was whistled for elbowing with 35 seconds left and Ryan Gaucher was called for roughing shortly after McBain's penalty ended.

When asked about the penalties, though, Gulutzan had a one-word answer.

"Discipline," he said.

The loss left Las Vegas two points ahead of Fresno in the ECHL West Division, still in sixth place but now eight behind first-place Bakersfield. With the season more than a third finished, Gulutzan seems closer to making a shift in the makeup of the Wranglers.

"I'll make changes at any part of the season if I think it's going to help the team," he said, adding that he was "very close" to the point where he'd make said changes.

Jason McBain said he feels something is lacking on this year's squad, compared to last year's team that played solid and was nearly unbeatable at home.

"I don't really know what Glen has in mind," he said. "When there's a lot of expectations of a team and we're underachieving, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out things probably need to be done. You can't really feel safe or secure."