Early penalty opens floodgates for Gulls

Nick Christensen

Friday, Jan. 14, 2005 | 10:03 a.m.

On Monday, the Las Vegas Wranglers lost to Fresno in the first 10 minutes. On Thursday night at the Orleans Arena, it took San Diego barely more than a minute to put away Las Vegas.

Andrew Canzanello's goal -- the first of three in a span of 64 seconds starting at 17:43 in the first -- a slapshot from the center blue line while the Gulls had a 5-on-3 advantage, sailed past Marc Magliarditi to put San Diego ahead 1-0. Less than a minute later, Darren Clark sent a wrist shot by Magliarditi to put his team -- still on a man-advantage -- ahead 2-0.

And 15 seconds after that, even at 5-on-5, Magliarditi and the defense couldn't stop Chris Lynch as he sent a rebound by Magliarditi for a 3-0 lead.

The Gulls cushioned their lead in the third period to hold off a Wranglers comeback attempt, sealing a 4-3 win.

"We just got in a hole at the beginning of the game after that 5-on-3," Wranglers captain Jason McBain said. "We had hard charges to try to make it 3-3. There's not really much you can say. It's very frustrating."

The first period onslaught kicked off when Las Vegas' Deryk Engelland was called for hooking while the teams played 4-on-4 hockey. Engelland hooked a San Diego player on a breakaway, a risk that saved a clear shot but wound up costing Las Vegas considerably.

"I was going down, trying to catch up," Engelland said. "It was bad to take the penalty, I guess. It happens. We played good other than that three minutes."

San Diego scored 20 seconds into the 5-on-3.

Engelland said it was a wash whether or not he made the right call.

"If he gets the puck before Mags does and scores, then it's a good penalty to take," Engelland said. "It happens. You can't do much about it now."

Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan didn't see the hooking, but assistant coach Drew Schoneck mentioned that the ECHL has been cracking down on that call the past few weeks.

The loss was the second consecutive four-goal game for Magliarditi, who until Monday had been putting up great numbers this season. Even after Monday's loss, Magliarditi ranked seventh in the ECHL in goals-against average, and fourth among active players in save percentage.

His GAA went from 2.18 to 2.28 on Thursday.

"I think they were just a couple good shots," Gulutzan said. "I can't recall one that I thought Mags should have had."

Not only did the loss leave Las Vegas back in second-to-last place in the ECHL West Division and 16 points behind first-place Bakersfield, it also effectively killed any momentum the team had built in its five-game winning streak that began Dec. 31.

"These two losses have been tough to take," Engelland said. "We've got to play 60 minutes. We can't win a game in 10 minutes, but we can lose it."

Las Vegas, already playing with a depleted roster, lost Billy Tibbetts at 6:42 in the second period after he jumped San Diego winger Scott Borders. Tibbetts pummeled the 23-year-old Gulls winger, then jumped on him and a linesman as he yelled at Borders.

The crowd of 3,507 roared in delight as Tibbetts went to the penalty box for a five-minute fighting penalty and two more for instigating. Shortly thereafter, though, Tibbetts was given a game misconduct because he assaulted Borders, who appeared to have no interest in fighting back.

That left Las Vegas to play the remainder of the game with 13 position players. Mike McBain and Dan Tudin were sidelined with injuries, Ryan Gaucher was picked up by Triple-A Manitoba and Patrick Nilson was sent to another ECHL team by the Wranglers' AHL affiliate.

The depleted roster mounted a charge late in the second period, scoring two goals in a 33-second stretch, but was unable to get any clear shots off after Jason Spence's goal at 16:42 in the third.

The Wranglers host Victoria tonight, then go on a six-game road swing against California teams. Las Vegas' next home game after that trip is Jan. 29, also against Victoria.