Aces blank Wranglers in series opener

By Steve Silver

Sunday, May 10, 2009 | 12:25 a.m.

Despite lingering in Anchorage for a full week without a game, the Alaska Aces showed no signs of rust Saturday night.

The Aces, who have yet to lose at home in the postseason, picked up right where they left off as they shut out the Las Vegas Wranglers 2-0 in front of 5,757 at Sullivan Arena to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven National Conference finals.

"We came out a little flat and we couldn't match their intensity early, but I thought we played well in the third," said Las Vegas captain Shawn Limpright. "It's a little too late to rely on one period of a hockey game. We just couldn't muster a goal tonight. We played well, but it wasn't our A-game."

Even though both squads held each other scoreless in the first period, the Wranglers struggled to create any offensive chances with just four shots on goal to Alaska's 11.

The second period proved to be more of the same for the Wranglers as the Aces controlled the flow of the game and once again won the shots battle, 11-4.

Despite the lopsided shots advantage, Las Vegas center Tyler Mosienko appeared to score a goal early in the second period, but the referees waived it off due to a high stick.

"Yeah, he played it with a high stick," said Wranglers coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan.

Following that brief scare, Alaska officially lit up the scoreboard first during a power play when Lance Galbraith buried a feed from Alexandre Imbeault to take a 1-0 lead with 5:14 remaining in the second period.

That goal was the only one that Las Vegas netminder Glenn Fisher allowed on 31 shots, but the Wranglers were never able to slip a puck past Alaska's Jean-Philippe Lamoureux.

"Fisher played very solid," Gulutzan said. "He gave us a chance to win… (Lamoureux) didn't face a lot of shots, so it's hard to judge, but he made some nice saves. He did his job."

Although Las Vegas unleashed a flurry of offensive firepower in the third period, Lamoureux held strong for his fourth shutout of the postseason while improving to 9-1-1 in the playoffs.

Matt Stefanishion tallied the Aces' final goal of the night on an empty net with 18 seconds remaining in the contest.

"It was a really good hockey game," Gulutzan said. "I thought that they controlled the pace and the play for the first 40 minutes, but I thought in the last 20 we really pushed and we had some great chances to tie it up. We missed the net on a couple and their goalie made a couple nice saves and that was the difference."

Stars of the game: 1. Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (18 saves); 2. Josh Soares (2 assists); 3. Glenn Fisher (30 saves)

Extra ice: Alaska's Sullivan Arena uses an Olympic-size ice sheet, which is longer and wider than the ice at the Orleans Arena. This is nothing new to many Wranglers, but it can still play a role in how teams perform.

"It changes the dynamics of the game for sure," Gulutzan said. "It's a lot more skating and I thought we responded well to it."

Let's get physical: There is certainly no shortage of bad blood between the Wranglers and the Aces, but the hard-hitting first game turned ugly after the final buzzer when Aces chief agitator Stefanishion took a run at Las Vegas rookie Scott McCulloch.

McCulloch responded by immediately throwing punches although Stefanishion appeared unwilling to fight. McCulloch received a fighting major and a roughing minor while Stefanishion earned just a fighting major.

Both squads drew an equal number of penalties (seven) and minutes (17) Saturday. Stefanishion, however, earned nine of Alaska's 17 penalty minutes.

American Conference watch: The South Carolina Stingrays blasted the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones 7-4 Saturday night to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Michael Dubuc and Matt Scherer each scored two goals for the Stingrays.

Next up: The Wranglers spend one more night in Anchorage for game No. 2 of the National Conference finals at 8:15 p.m.

Final word: "We have to play the way we did in the third period," Limpright said. "We had opportunities. We worked hard. We got pucks deep when we should have. If we just play the way we played the last two rounds, we should be in good shape. Obviously, we need to get some more traffic in front of (Lamoureux). If he sees it he'll save it."

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