Schedule eases for Las Vegas

Nick Christensen

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

The Las Vegas Wranglers have been hampered by injuries, have lost seven of their last 14 games, and were defeated 5-2 Tuesday night in a first-place matchup with San Diego.

But until the team gets past the injury bug, don't look for Wranglers head coach Glen Gulutzan to be too concerned.

"We're pretty banged up," he said. "If we can play .500 hockey through February, I'll be happy with that."

If Gulutzan were looking for a jump-start, the next three games might be just what the Wranglers need to get back on track.

Their next home opponents -- Long Beach, Fresno, and Trenton -- have combined for a 42-64-10 record this season. The rest of their 30 games play to the Wranglers' favor, with 18 of them against teams that are well out of playoff contention, and half of the remaining 12 games at the Orleans Arena.

But Gulutzan said the team's mission now is regaining focus after Tuesday night's loss.

"We're doing fine," he said. "It's just a lost hockey game, and we didn't play our best hockey. It was back to work on Wednesday and Thursday."

At least, most of the team was. The Wranglers are still plagued by injuries, especially on offense. Gulutzan's team is playing with only seven healthy forwards, and defenseman Dave Cousineau is making the adjustment to forward as a short-term fix for the team.

While Long Beach has struggled along this season, the Wranglers' coach is wary of their recent upward swing. The Ice Dogs have won four of their last six games, including a two-game sweep at Idaho.

"They beat Idaho twice in Idaho, that hasn't been done in four years," Gulutzan said.