Could hot streak melt arena ice?

Friday, Dec. 30, 2005 | 8:31 a.m.

The moment Las Vegas Wranglers coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan began surveying his Orleans Arena locker room late Tuesday night, he liked what he saw and heard.

Gulutzan's players had just thrashed the San Diego Gulls 7-2, their biggest goal tally of the season, to extend their winning streak to 11 games.

Yet the team was neither gratified nor satisfied.

"We didn't play that great," Gulutzan said. "We got some lucky bounces. I guarantee there isn't one guy in there who is proud of the win. I can tell you which ones they're proud of. They can't all be Picassos, right?"

Las Vegas, a third-season ECHL franchise that serves as the Double-A affiliate of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames, is currently working on a masterpiece.

The team, which added its 12th win Wednesday, goes into this weekend trying to break the ECHL record for consecutive wins.

Louisiana (2001-02) and Knoxville (1993-94) hold the ECHL record with 14 consecutive wins.

Las Vegas hosts Utah tonight at 7:05 at the Orleans, then plays the Grizzlies in Utah on Saturday and Sunday.

So the Wranglers could begin the new year in a winning-streak league of their own.

The Wranglers last lost on Dec. 2, falling 2-1 in overtime to Idaho. The team has won 17 of its last 18 games and with a 3-2 victory in Long Beach, Calif., on Wednesday, tied the ECHL record for consecutive road wins at 10.

They've forged the league's best record (23-4-2, 48 points) with defense.

No Wrangler is among the ECHL's top 20 in scoring, but starting goalie Marc Magliarditi and reserve Mike McKenna have allowed a combined 2.17 goals a game. Only Alaska, with an average yield of 1.88 goals, has been stingier in the 25-team league.

McKenna, a rookie, is second in the ECHL with a .929 save percentage, and Magliarditi is fourth at .917.

"Guys are accountable," Gulutzan, 34, said. "They know what our identity is; they're hard-working and defense-minded. We want to be hard to play against."

An exuberant crowd of 6,336 filled the Orleans Arena to near capacity for the blowout victory over San Diego, boosting this season's attendance average to 5,253, seventh in the ECHL. The Wranglers averaged 5,193 last season.

Gulutzan didn't reveal too much about how he has tweaked his team's defensive strategies. The Wranglers have shaved .58 goals off their 2004-05 allowance by borrowing a few tricks from their parent franchise in Calgary, which has the third-lowest goals-allowed total in the 30-team National Hockey League.

Defensemen Mike McBain (the team captain), Tim Hambly, Christian Chartier, Scott Schoneck and Lee Green have played vital roles on and inside the blue line.

"It's based on a theory that you can only score goals from certain areas, and we just want to protect those areas," Gulutzan said. "It's not rocket science. It's nothing that other teams probably haven't done. Our guys just really believe in it.

"Being with some elite coaches in Calgary, they've certainly helped our staff. We've kind of adopted a lot of their principles."

Gulutzan is contracted to take up to five players from Calgary. Currently there are three players from the Flames' system on the Wranglers' roster.

The rest of the chemistry that has been so vital to the team's success is up to Gulutzan, who local diehards may recall from his days with the Las Vegas Thunder of the defunct International Hockey League.

About half of this season's Wranglers played on last year's team, which went 31-33-8 and missed the playoffs.

In the off-season, Gulutzan vowed that he would guide Las Vegas to the playoffs this year.

So far, so good. So really, really good.

"We're not there yet, but we're certainly going strong," Gulutzan said.

"I think the guys who returned came back with a little fire in their bellies. The guys who we took back didn't like (missing the playoffs), and they're doing something about it."

---------------

THE ANATOMY OF A WINNING STREAK

Coach/general manager Glen Gulutzan looks back at the Las Vegas Wranglers' current 12-game winning streak, which is two shy of the ECHL record:

12. 3-2, at Long Beach, Calif., Wednesday

"Our third game in three nights, and (Long Beach's) first since Christmas. So we wanted to see if we could outwork them in the first period, and we did. Our start was critical, and our guys started real hard."

11. 7-2, San Diego, Tuesday

"The fans pretty much saw everything. Seven goals (by Las Vegas), a couple of fights, the goalies fought (at center ice), we killed a 5-on-3 (power play). I don't know what else there is. They just didn't see an overtime or shootout."

10. 3-1, at Bakersfield, Calif., Monday

"We stuck to our identity against a very good hockey team. We were solid."

9. 2-1, at Long Beach, Dec. 21

"We started strong and played as a team. Everything we worked on came to fruition."

8. * 5-4, Long Beach, Dec. 19

"A good character win. We trailed the whole game, but we got better as it went on and outshot them 24-6 in the third period. We really finished strong."

7. 3-2, at Stockton, Calif., Dec. 17

(Laughs.) "Lucky. We got a little lucky. We got outworked but got a little lucky."

6. 5-3, at Stockton, Dec. 16

"We capitalized on our opportunities. We didn't get many, but when we got them we buried them. My guys I count on to score, scored. Big players made big plays."

5. *4-3, at Wheeling, W.Va., Dec. 11

"We came on in the end. Should have won in regulation, but it was a big bonding game. Our third game in three nights. The guys came through."

4. 3-2, at Toledo, Ohio, Dec. 10

"We had enough in our tanks to get it done, and we hung on to win."

3. 5-2, at Toledo, Dec. 9

"We were true to our identity. Didn't give them anything, and they took a team-low 15 shots on goal. We caught them a little shorthanded and played a strong defensive game."

2. 4-0, Johnstown, Pa., Dec. 6

"Johnstown was a tired team, and we just kind of strangled them. They were at the end of a road swing."

1. 5-3, Idaho, Dec. 3

"Our third game in three nights. We were up, let them tie it and then scored twice. Another character win in which we showed resilience."

* shootout victories.

Rob Miech can be reached at 259-4087 or at miech@lasvegassun.com.

archive