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twitterECHL PLAYOFFS:
Wranglers cruise into conference finals
Las Vegas set to meet Alaska for National Conference title
Stephen R. Sylvanie / Special to the Las Vegas Sun
Wranglers defenseman Sean Owens gives his goaltender Glenn Fisher a playful hug after scoring an open-net goal late in the third period against the Thunder at the Orleans on Wednesday night. Fisher made 41 saves to lift the Wranglers to a 5-1 victory in game 7 of the Pacific Division finals.
Thursday, May 7, 2009 | 12:30 a.m.
Playoff Schedule for Pacific Division finals
- Game 1: Las Vegas at Stockton on Friday, April 24 (L: 4-3)
- Game 2: Stockton at Las Vegas on Monday, April 27 (W: 4-2)
- Game 3: Las Vegas at Stockton on Thursday, April 30 (L: 5-1)
- Game 4: Las Vegas at Stockton on Saturday, May 2 (W: 3-2 (OT)
- Game 5: Stockton at Las Vegas on Monday, May 4 (W: 4-2)
- Game 6: Stockton at Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 5 (L: 3-1)
- Game 7: Stockton at Las Vegas on Wednesday, May 6 (W: 5-1)
Playoff Schedule for National Conference finals
- Game 1: Las Vegas at Alaska on Saturday, May 9 at 8:15 p.m.
- Game 2: Las Vegas at Alaska on Sunday, May 10 at 8:15 p.m.
- Game 3: Alaska at Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m.
- Game 4: Alaska at Las Vegas on Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m.
- Game 5: Alaska at Las Vegas on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
- Game 6: Las Vegas at Alaska on Tuesday, May 19 at 8:15 p.m. (if necessary)
- Game 7: Las Vegas at Alaska on Wednesday, May 20 at 8:15 p.m. (if necessary)
Related stories
- Stockton slams sluggish Wranglers (5-6-09)
- Wranglers maintain dominance at home (5-5-09)
- Wranglers even series in overtime thriller (5-3-09)
- Stockton storms past Wranglers (5-1-09)
- Wranglers blast Thunder to even series (4-28-09)
- Wranglers open division finals in disappointing fashion (4-24-09)
- Wranglers dominate Condors to advance to division finals (4-23-09)
- Wranglers rally to force Game 7 (4-22-09)
- Condors rip Wranglers in overtime (4-19-09)
- Wranglers blank Condors to even series (4-18-09)
- Wranglers squander lead, fall in overtime (4-16-09)
- Condors shock Wranglers with late rally (4-12-09)
- Wranglers grab early lead in playoffs (4-11-09)
Expanded hockey coverage
The Las Vegas Wranglers should write a book about how to dominate game 7s, because they certainly looked like experts in that field Wednesday night.
For the second consecutive series this postseason, the Wranglers prevailed 5-1 in the decisive contest –- this time it was over the Stockton Thunder in front of 3,282 fans at the Orleans Arena.
Las Vegas will now have a chance to defend its National Conference title against the Alaska Aces in the conference finals, which begin Saturday night in Anchorage.
"You don't want to be in a game 7, but sometimes you need to have your back against the wall to bring out the best in you," said Wranglers goalie Glenn Fisher, who made 41 saves in Wednesday's thrashing.
After a rude awakening in game 6 in which Stockton thoroughly outplayed Las Vegas to tie the Pacific Division finals 3-3, the Wranglers took control of game 7 early and never eased up.
Forward Mick Lawrence gave the Wranglers a 1-0 lead just 4:04 into the game when he launched a slap shot from the left circle past Thunder goaltender Parker Van Buskirk during the Wranglers' first power play of the night.
The Wranglers' ECHL-leading power play unit struck again when Tyler Mosienko capitalized on a difficult feed from Shawn Limpright for the 2-0 lead with 8:34 remaining in the first period.
Las Vegas out-shot Stockton 15-5 in the opening period.
"No question, I think the guys were a little sour with their performance (Tuesday)," said Las Vegas coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan. "They all agreed that it was terrible. For whatever reason those games happen. These are long series, it's tough sledding and that's why they make them seven games. It's a hard thing to win and they responded well tonight. It's all about how you respond and bounce back from losses."
Rookie Scott McCulloch extended the Wranglers lead to 3-0 late in the second period when he stole the puck from Stockton defenseman Kenny MacAulay and sprinted down the ice to bury his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Prior to McCulloch's goal, the Wranglers managed to kill five penalties in the second period. Overall, Las Vegas held Stockton scoreless on nine power play chances, due in large part to the stellar play of Fisher in between the pipes.
"Your best penalty killer is your goalie and if you look at the stats tonight that was strictly the case," Mosienko said.
With momentum already on their side, the Wranglers widened their lead even further when Chris Neiszner knocked in a weird bounce off of Van Buskirk for the 4-0 advantage less than three minutes into the third period.
Stockton center Cory Urquhart scored the lone Thunder goal at the 5:48 mark, but that was as close as the Thunder would get before Sean Owens scored an empty netter to seal the 5-1 victory.
"It feels good," Gulutzan said. "These guys have worked hard. I felt like we deserved both series. They were close, but we deserved them. Now they get a chance to face one of the giants in the league."
That looming monster is Alaska. The Aces have steamrolled through the playoffs so far, dropping both Utah and Victoria in five games.
The Wranglers went 3-6-1 against the Aces in the regular season with a 1-3-1 mark on the road and a 2-3 record at home.
"There are quotes by Victoria's coach as saying (Alaska) can't be beat, so it's going to be interesting," Gulutzan said. "They are a very good hockey club and they are well coached."
Stars of the game: 1. Glenn Fisher (41 saves); 2. Tyler Mosienko (1 goal, 1 assist); 3. Scott McCulloch (1 goal).
Goalies are nuts: Fisher's 41-save performance netted him his sixth victory of the postseason. He is now 6-2 with a 1.96 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.
"He was incredible again tonight," McCulloch said. "And if you're going to be successful in the playoffs, you need your goaltending and we definitely got that."
But Fisher's success came with a costly price Wednesday when he collapsed on the ice in the third period after taking a shot to a rather sensitive area.
"I took it where you don't want to take it," Fisher said. "I was coming across and it was kind of a screen pass and I saw it at the last second. My legs were open and I brought it in. Fortunately or unfortunately I made the save."
Someone should buy him a bottle of champagne and a bucket of ice.
Super Spang: Defenseman Dan Spang, who is largely responsible for the epic transformation of the Wranglers' power play from worst to first, is now tied for the most points in the playoffs among all ECHL defenders. Spang's two assists Wednesday brought his postseason total to 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists).
Crushing on Miller: One young female fan held a sign asking Adam Miller to go to prom with her. The sign was complete with red, sparkly letters. Miller, if you actually go to prom with this girl, I will pay for your tuxedo rental. I just ask for an invitation to the wedding in return.
Next up: Break out the popcorn because the Wranglers are hitting the road for the first game of the National Conference finals at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Saturday at 8:15 p.m.
Final word: "I think this next series is going to be a real test to see what kind of team we've got," Mosienko said.
Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or steve.silver@lasvegassun.com.
Discussion: 20 comments so far…
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Congrats Vegas, some of us Aces fans were wondering if the Wranglers were going to get past a tenacious Stockton team. Your team showed its resilency, which should make for a great series against us.
Correction Steve, we beat Utah, not Idaho, in the first round. Victoria swept the Steelheads. Also, funny Morrison should say that we can`t be beat after previously stating his team "could beat us four straight" and they "made JP look better than he really is." Mac knows Vegas dispatched the two teams we had losing records against and recognizes a formidable opponent.
Good catch elfudd...sorry about that, it has been changed.
WOOOHOOO!!!! WAY TO GO!!!! WOOT WOOT WOOT !!!!!!!
I knew they could do it. Next stop Alaska. Even though it will be tough The Wranglers have a good chance. Just wish I could join them up there and give support where and when they need it the most.
The Aces have been off for a week by the time they play on Saturday we can hope that will play the Wranglers advantage.
I have a cousin and her family who live in Anchorage, they are still Wrangler fans. So Wranglers know you have support up there even though the bulk of your fans will be here in Vegas, play like you know you can play and we will see you in Vegas Tuesday.
I money is on Duke if they let him go with the team.
STELLAR performance boys!!!
Thanks for the dollar Randolph.
Anyone going to Alaska bring us back a win or two. Hope you have a good time but I spent a week in Anchorage one night.
Lets hope we can draw more than 3,200 per game next week. If fans can not come out to support the team now, then they never will. Lets hope everyone brings popcorn too!
Your are quite welcome Winthorpe. I still say you would have owed me that dollar if the brothers were still around :-)
Way to go Wranglers!!! Next stop Alaska. Better bring your A GAME for them! This will be a tough series. Can't wait for next Tues.
Wonder if we will have another POPCORNGATE scandal???
Can't wait till game 3 Tuesday. I hope Those stupid Alaska fans that get upset at popcorn are there so we can pick on them again. And yes The Duke dumps popcorn on Wranglers fans too so get over it! I just hope the Wranglers do some advertising so people know to show up. It's the conference finals, but people won't show if they don't know! As of now we have 6 days to get the word out so let's get to it. Our home games will be Tues, Thurs. and if needed Fri of next week.
Ganga, didn`t that popcorn incident occur during an Aces win? If that`s the case, we`re "over it" and we`ll take popcorn every game, bwahahaha!
Btw, we`ll have plenty of frozen salmon heads to greet the Wranglers at the Sully (grin). Bring it on!!
For those of you not at the "popcorn game," you must remember that Alaska had a 5-on-3 for a full five minutes. The Aces scored three times during that extended power play.
Also, here is a link to that infamous night's story, complete with photos of the Duke avoiding thrown beer and middle fingers from baby-wielding moms:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/mar...
This series is sure going to be fun, isn't it?
I like to think that the Alaska fan giving the Duke the finger during that infamous game was only doing it in the spirit of "over 18 night", and nothing else. Those Aces fans have a great sense of humor. The popcorn flying around was just coincidence.
Well, well, well...
Aces vs. Wranglers
We're waiting for you guys.. Bring it on..
Stupid Aces Fans????? Excuse me Ganga... you're the one who sounds "STUPID" LOLOLOL
Like I said earlier.. "Bring it On!"
What a great rivalry with passionate and vocal fans on both sides. This is what both teams and fan bases have been waiting all year for. The chance, either way, to beat your fiercest rival to make the finals. This will be an epic series!!!
Well said Winthorpe. Stay tuned for a new podcast and a series preview going live Friday.
I agree Winthorpe, this has been fun to watch over the last 4-5 years and it was a little disappointing to see some of the regular season games deteriorate into the "goon-fests" that they did (both benches are equally to blame for that). Hopefully these two teams can get back to the great playoff hockey they have treated their fan bases to in recent years. If they do it should be another classic playoff series. It should be fun.
Go ACES!!!
Steve - Are you going to be able to travel to the games in Alaska?
Section - I agree that we don't need any "goon-fests". Perhaps with the Ferraro's gone Stefanision will play hockey instead of chasing them around trying to hit them whether it be with a clean hit or a dirty hit.
Winthorpe - Will this be an epic or "stellar" series?
Randolf, unfortunately I will not get to travel to Alaska. (I'm not being sarcastic, I actually wanted to go.)
I think you and Winthorpe should start bombarding my bosses with emails and phone calls to get me on the road with the team again.
You know how it is, I guess budgets are tight.
But I'll still have full coverage of each road game with locker room interviews, so keep checking www.lasvegassun.com.
Not sure what the deal was with Matt and the Ferraros...I'm still dealing with the fact that Galbraith is with the "good guys" now and haven't had the time to research the backstory. I just know that when these two teams are playing hockey and not worrying about all the other garbage it is very fun to watch. Here's hoping that the series is epic, stellar and very memorable...and of course that the Aces come out on top. Steve, you and any Vegas fan are welcome any time at the Sully. I will even buy you a beer to throw at Boomer if he gets out of hand.
Nice to see the popcorn-beer toss is still a topic. That was one great game that added butter and salt to the rivalry! Great photos, too. Probably the only time I will be in a picture on the Las Vegas Sun!
This series is gonna be a battle from the first puck drop. I can hardly wait. Hopefully a few hundred of you Wrangler fans are coming up for the weekend- it's gonna be a blast at the Sully. I pick the Aces to win in 6. GO ACES!!
My hope is that we play clean hockey. No cheap shots on each others players like Stockton"s Hunt did with Spang. I love this rivalry. I sincerely hope also that the officiating is good also. That the Refs let the players play and not become a bigger part of the game than the game itself. Its playoff hockey, there will be harder checks and more aggressive play. I hope the games are called fair both ways. I wish our fans were as passionate about our team as Alaska is, its great to see. Game on and good luck to both teams.