Big penalty kills Wranglers, 1-0

Nick Christensen

Monday, Dec. 27, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

Another night, another one-goal defeat for the Las Vegas Wranglers -- and as the losses mount, Wranglers players and coaches continue to wonder what's behind the recent slump that has seen Las Vegas slip to second-to-last in the ECHL's eight-team West Division.

Sunday brought the San Diego Gulls to the Orleans Arena, and a crowd of 4,961 watched the Wranglers lose their fourth 1-0 game of the season. In a recent 12-game slump in which Las Vegas has gone 3-6-3, the Wranglers are 1-8 in one-goal games, and of the team's 26 contests, 20 have been decided by one goal.

"I've never even seen this before," said defenseman Regan Darby, a five-year veteran of the minor leagues. "It's really frustrating, and it's hard to describe."

Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan sounded weary following Sunday's affair.

"It's frustrating to a point; we're definitely looking for some spark up front and not getting it," he said. "We get off and can't finish on a consistent basis. We need big goals, tight-game goals. Anybody can score when it's 5-2."

San Diego's goal came on a power play early in the second period, when the Wranglers' Billy Tibbetts was called for roughing. Tibbetts, who was released by San Diego in November and was subsequently picked up by Las Vegas, had several encounters with Gulls players Sunday. The roughing call came for a check of Gulls right winger Sean O'Connor.

"He has a bull's-eye on his back, he's not going to get the same calls as anybody else, but by the same token he chirps at the referees all nights, so why should he?" Gulutzan said.

Long after Sunday's game ended, Tibbetts sat alone in his locker, still in uniform with an ice bag on his neck and another on his wrist. He said he too didn't understand his team's recent slump, but added that he might be part of the problem.

Since joining the Wranglers on Nov. 18, Tibbetts has no goals and two assists with a minus-5 plus-minus rating and 86 penalty minutes. Las Vegas is 1-5-2 with their 30-year-old right winger in the lineup, and simply hasn't seen the production that San Diego got from him earlier in the season. In 14 games with the Gulls, Tibbetts had four goals, seven assists and 56 penalty minutes.

"We're not getting the bounces right now, but I'm taking bad penalties, and I'm letting the team down by doing that," Tibbetts said. "Taking that penalty cost us the goal, and I let us down."

Tibbetts had a golden opportunity to even the game late in the third period, but missed Dustin Johner's pass in front of the net and out-of-place Gulls goaltender Mathieu Chouinard.

A veteran of parts of three NHL seasons, Tibbetts said one area where his team can improve is getting traffic in front of the net.

"We're letting the goalie see the shots; they're trapping rebounds and crashing the net," he said. "It's all about grinding it out, especially in this league."

The Wranglers will get their shots at redemption when they play three games at first-place Bakersfield. With a 6-4-3 road record, there's optimism that a week in the Central Valley could help the team find that spark and get over the one-goal hump.

"Right now, everyone knows this is a must-win situation," Darby said. "We have to approach every game like it's the one game that's going to keep us out of the playoffs. We've obviously got to change what we're doing."