HOCKEY:

Wranglers pull out narrow victory

Special to the Sun / Stephen R. Sylvanie

Seemingly beaten on the play, Wranglers goaltender Michael Ouzas flashes the leather to rip the puck right off the blade of the stick of Condors winger Stephane Goulet to preserve a 2-1 lead in the third period at the Orleans Arena on Friday night. Ouzas made 37 saves to improve his personal record to 5-2.

By Steve Silver (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 | 12:30 a.m.

Wranglers edge Condors 2-1

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With His Heart on His Sleeve

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In his third season with the Wranglers, defenseman Jason Krischuk proves that at 29 years old, he still finds joy in the game.

At least the Las Vegas Wranglers are consistent -- consistently inconsistent that is.

For the third consecutive weekend, the Wranglers answered a Thursday night loss with a Friday night victory as Las Vegas narrowly edged the Bakersfield Condors 2-1 in front of 4,062 fans at the Orleans Arena.

Matt Watkins and Andrew Orpik each tallied their third goals of the season to lift the Wranglers to 5-4 overall, while the Condors dropped to 5-5.

"We didn't play as well as we wanted to (Thursday) night," Orpik said. "We've done that a few weekends in a row now so we have to figure that out. But certainly responding this way is a positive. If we can get that first game of the weekend it would be better. There is no reason why we shouldn't be sweeping teams."

The Wranglers lit up the scoreboard first when Jason Krischuk set up Orpik for the 1-0 lead with 3:01 remaining in the opening period.

Watkins extended that lead to 2-0 just 3:50 into the second period when he snuck the puck past Condors goalie Timo Pielmeier on the side of the net during a power play.

"We are growing and these are the types of wins I love," Mougenel said. "I thought we did a real good job of getting to the tough areas. We worked hard and Bakersfield is a very good hockey team."

Bakersfield pulled within one late in the second period on a power play when Dan Sexton buried a wrist shot from the right circle for his team-leading sixth goal of the season at the 16:36 mark.

But that was as close as Bakersfield would come due largely to the stellar play of Las Vegas goalie Michael Ouzas.

Ouzas made 37 saves to improve to 5-2 with a 2.88 goals against average and a .900 save percentage.

"Ouzas gives us a chance to win every night," Mougenel said. "He is playing that well… I think the guys rally around him. Right now he is the pulse of our team and he is embracing what we want. He is a competitor and he has willed us to win."

Although the Condors out-shot the Wranglers 38-25, Las Vegas' maligned penalty-killing unit held Bakersfield to one goal on six power play chances.

"I thought we played pretty well as a team," Ouzas said. "At times we let up, but when we were going we were really able to do some good things… (Bakersfield) generates some good chances. I don't mind it. I like the shots. I thought our defense did a good job of blocking shots too. We controlled them pretty well."

Stars of the game: 1. Michael Ouzas (37 saves); 2. Matt Watkins (1 goal); 3. Andrew Orpik (1 goal)

Triple threat: The top offensive line of Orpik, Watkins and Adam Miller struck twice Friday night.

Now, all three players on that line each have three goals and three assists so far this year.

"It's kind of rare that guys get to stay together as long as we have and I think we are really feeding off of each other," Orpik said. "The more you play with guys the more you just know where they will be without even looking and that has benefited us."

Roster report: The San Antonio Rampage called up defenseman Nick Ross to the AHL shortly before Friday's game. John Schwarz suited up in Ross' place.

Also, with Kyle Hagel out due to an eye injury he suffered in Thursday night's fight against Erick Lizon, forward Matt Kang was reinserted into the lineup.

Next up: The Wranglers hit the road to face the Condors in Bakersfield at Rabobank Arena Saturday at 7 p.m.

"It's going to be tough up there," Orpik said. "Third game in three nights will be tough for both teams so we have to dig deep and find a high level of compete to come out with a win."

Final word: "We still have to be better," Mougenel said. "The guys know that. We have to tighten up. That's what my job is all about so I've got a long night of watching video. We have to will ourselves on them and win battles because they are a real tough team."

Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or steve.silver@lasvegassun.com.

Discussion: 12 comments so far…

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By winthorpe

Nov. 7, 2009

12:45 a.m.

Suggest removal

It could be the Thirsty Thursdays. Seriously, the team was strong and you have to love what Ouzas brings to the table. I like his style, a real gamer. And Mike Madill, another stellar performance.

Steve, another great night on the mic and your cult like following grows by the moment. Todd who? It was also great to finally meet Vagman, The Duke, Colby and Stacey. Officially.

I don't care what the record is, this is a good team and I for one see good things in this long, long season. Patience folks/ Enjoy the season and it's ups and downs (It happens). This is a very good team.
By vagman

Nov. 7, 2009

6:40 a.m.

Suggest removal

Still spotty in some areas but overall a good effort. Hopefully they will continue to improve as we go along, by the playoffs they would be "steller".

Winthrope, nicely played getting everyone together. Also nice to meet Randolph and the infamous Silver.
By lvatty

Nov. 7, 2009

6:44 a.m.

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Patience....haha...tell that to the people who yell to "SHOOT!!" nevermind that the player is either behind the net or at the point with three defenders between him and even a sniff of the net.
By vegas_baby_vegas

Nov. 7, 2009

7:20 a.m.

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Wish I had been able to be at the game last night. I'm glad to here that they were able to get it together to get the win. It does sound like they're improving still and I imagine they will continue to improve as time goes on. As for tonight's game it's.....

GO WRANGLERS!!!!!
By TheDuke

Nov. 7, 2009

8:14 a.m.

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Nice to finally meet you too, winthorpe. We'll have to do it again. As you all may or may not know, there were two victories last night, the Wranglers & the Three Square food bank. The tally was over 4000 lbs of food and over $1000.00 in cash donation. Way to go!
By winthorpe

Nov. 7, 2009

9:07 a.m.

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That's me vagman - social butterfly that I am. I'm going to continue to try and get more people from here together. I knew I was going to know who you were and I am also sure I would recognize most of these posters as well as they slowly start to come around. Yes you are right with the spotty in areas. The defense and power play seem to be having some problems for one. Stellar would be the word of the day as they improve. I will never live down the infamous "steller" comment and my first debate with Steve.

Glad to see lvatty on board as well as Steve's cult like following continues to gain momentum. Oh yeah, love those SHOOOOOOT comments. Makes me want to jam ice picks into my ears. Maybe that's part of the PP problem, listening to the fans yelling SHOOT and watching the puck fly right out of the zone or off of a DMan 6 inches in front of them. Now all I hear in the section I'm in on week night games at least is the sound of crickets, which is actually a nice break sometimes.

Nice to meet you Duke. I will keep an eye out for those size 136 adidas for you. I was happy to wipe out half of my tuna supply for the food drive.

Looking forward to hearing Steve again tonight and maybe Sunday night on 920 AM? Steve you are going to have to start making more personal appearances for your fans.

Patience... that's still pretty funny to think of as I sign out here. Actually kind of weird since the only patience I seem to have is with my favorite sports teams.
By SteveSilver

Nov. 7, 2009

10:31 a.m.

Suggest removal

Yes, I'll be broadcasting tonight from Bakersfield. If you have B2 you should get the video feed or otherwise you can listen to the audio off of ECHL.com or lasvegaswranglers.com.

Sunday night at 11 p.m. I'll be on Heatwave Sports, Fox 920AM.

Notice how I used "stellar" in the article for you Winthorpe?
By winthorpe

Nov. 7, 2009

12:50 p.m.

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The long awaited return of "stellar" and the shiny new "consistently inconsistent". I had to actually google shiny to not call it shiney.

Steve, do you have time to attend the Holiday Craftacular this afternoon?

http://people.bakersfield.com/home/ViewI...
By rushzone94

Nov. 7, 2009

5:03 p.m.

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Last nights game was phenomenal by our defense and especially by Ouzas. Some of those saves looked like NHL caliber saves. Whoever took that picture, wow, nice camera work.

To me, it looks like the team is building some chemistry out there on the ice. btw, Steve, I love all of the coverage. Just because of all of the coverage, I hope you win the media award for echl, if there is one. Cause you should.

Go WRANGLERS!!!
By winthorpe

Nov. 7, 2009

5:35 p.m.

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From ECHL.Com:

The Outstanding Media Award is determined in a vote of the ECHL media members, broadcasters, and media relations directors.

Yes, Steve should get consideration for his tireless efforts in getting the word out for Wranglers hockey.

I think DMoney said it best. Asking if Steve is the new King Of All Media.
By SteveSilver

Nov. 7, 2009

6:10 p.m.

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There is a media award rushzone94 and I was not happy I didn't win last year. I'm gunning for it this year, though.

I really appreciate all of you fans posting on this board and sending me emails. It makes my job that much more enjoyable.

Time to try to memorize the Bakersfield roster so I don't sound like an idiot on the air.

I'll check in post-game.
By Brawler_Woodsy

Nov. 7, 2009

8:08 p.m.

Suggest removal

So steve not only do you get the best ride to the away games But they let you have you're own booth too ? What happened that schwarz isn't playing?