Wranglers rally to force Game 7

By Steve Silver

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 | 1 a.m.

The Las Vegas Wranglers stared down elimination Tuesday night and apparently didn't like what they saw.

With their season on the line in Game 6 of the Pacific Division semifinals, the Wranglers dug themselves out of a one-goal hole to bury the Bakersfield Condors 3-1 in front of 3,118 fans at the Orleans Arena and force an all-or-nothing Game 7 on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

"We were in a corner, we had no choice but to win tonight," said Wranglers goalie Glenn Fisher, who stopped 30 shots in the victory. "Tonight is over, though. It's all about tomorrow now. Game Six is meaningless if you don't win Game 7."

There almost was no tomorrow for the Wranglers, however.

After a scoreless first period in which both squads struggled to generate much offensive pressure, the Condors opened the second period with a Dave Bonk goal for the 1-0 lead less than six minutes into the period.

"The start of our game was not what we wanted," forward J.D. Watt said. "We didn't come out like we should have. We weren't hitting as much. We weren't skating as much. (Gulutzan) came in and kind of tore a strip out of all of us."

The Wranglers eventually shook off their sluggish start and answered Bonk's goal late in the second period.

Defenseman Dan Spang led a three-on-one fastbreak during a Wranglers power play and decided to keep the puck as he fired a wrist shot past Bakersfield goalie Yutaka Fukufuji to tie the game 1-1 with 1:56 remaining in the period. Spang now has five points in his last four games.

"Spang's goal was an NHL goal," Las Vegas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "There are not many guys that can score like the way he did there. If you don't know what I mean, he just had no space. He had no time. He just snapped the puck like an NHLer would and caught the goalie just not ready for that type of shot. It's an NHL release. I don't know if anyone else is going to score that goal."

With momentum shifted back in their favor, the Wranglers carried their offensive surge into the third period.

Watt put Las Vegas on top 2-1 while on a power play when he deflected a Sean Owens slap shot from the point just 2:04 into the final period.

Less than four minutes later, Dan Riedel buried a crossing feed from Kelly Czuy for the 3-1 lead.

"Yeah, that one felt good," Riedel said. "I spent the last two days puking in bed with food poisoning, so it felt good to get out there and with guys like Czuy and (Adam) Miller, it makes things easy."

Bakersfield was unable to slip anything past Fisher for the rest of the night as the Wranglers extended their season at least one more night.

Las Vegas has played in only one prior Game 7, which they won on April 19, 2006, when they beat Idaho 6-2 in the division semifinals.

"It's going to come down to who wants it more -– who wants to keep playing more," Gulutzan said.

Stars of the game: Glenn Fisher (30 saves); 2. Dan Riedel (1 goal); 3. J.D. Watt (1 goal)

Fish is it: After a 1-1 start to the series, Gulutzan benched Fisher in favor of John DeCaro, for the road portion in Bakersfield.

But after Fisher's 30-save outing Tuesday, Gultuzan said he is sticking with Fisher for Game 7.

"I thought Fisher played well," Gulutzan said. "I thought he could play the puck a bit better, but he made really big saves when we needed them at crucial points in the game. That's the kind of goaltending you need to win in the playoffs. You don't need to stand on your head. You need to make good saves at critical times and he did that."

Defensive swap: Gulutzan reinserted defensemen Mike Madill and Jason Dest into Tuesday night's lineup while scratching defensemen Bret Tyler and Brandon Straub. Tyler and Straub had played in games four and five while Madill and Dest were scratched. Gulutzan said he will decide the lineup for Game 7 on Wednesday morning.

Mosienko returns: The feisty and offensively potent center Tyler Mosienko is on his way to Las Vegas. Mosienko, who has spent the last 19 games with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League, should suit up for the Wranglers' Game 7 after the Milwaukee Admirals completed a sweep of the IceHogs Tuesday night.

Mosienko notched 13 points in his stint with Rockford. In 50 games with the Wranglers this season, Mosienko scored 18 goals and tallied 30 assists.

Forward Matt Beaudoin is the last Las Vegas player in the AHL. He is currently with the Houston Aeros, who are locked in a 2-2 tie in the West Division semifinals with the Peoria Rivermen.

Lucky No. 7: Las Vegas will host the 17th Game 7 in ECHL history Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. as the Ontario Reign and Stockton Thunder clash in the 16th Game 7 at 7 p.m.

The home team has won 11-of-15 times (73.3 percent) in Game 7. Bakersfield was actually the first team to play in two game sevens in a single postseason when they did so in 2006. The Condors beat Long Beach in the division semifinals that year before losing to Fresno in the division finals.

Payback deliverance: The Wranglers' staff did not take too kindly to the playing of "Rhinestone Cowboy" when the Wranglers were introduced at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. In response, the infamous dueling banjos scene from "Deliverance" played while the Condors took the ice Tuesday. I love it. However, although this was hilarious, it was also terrifying. If anyone else has made the drive to and from Bakersfield, they know exactly what I'm talking about. Oil pumps and cotton fields -- better keep the doors locked.

Final word: "To be honest I was pissed off in between the first and second periods," Gulutzan said. "I didn't call guys out, but I questioned what kind of desire level we had to keep the series going. They responded so there must be something there. You might just have to light it every now and then. We've got to be better tomorrow if we want to win."

Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or [email protected].