Wranglers fall to Grizzlies 5-3 in home opener

By Steve Silver

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

Ryan Mougenel's debut as an ECHL head coach was supposed to be a memorable night.

But it turned out to be a game the young coach would rather forget.

Las Vegas blew an early two-goal lead Friday as the Utah Grizzlies utilized a potent power play to harness the Wranglers 5-3 in front of an opening night crowd of 6,383 fans at the Orleans Arena.

"I thought the effort was there, but we just weren't executing," Mougenel said. "I think obviously our penalty kill let us down. We have to figure this out in a hurry. We have to come back ready to work next week."

Utah (1-0) notched three power play goals, including two in the third period, on seven opportunities.

The Wranglers' special teams stalled after the first period as Las Vegas went 1-for-6 on the power play.

"It's our first game and special teams are something you have to work on throughout the year," said Wranglers center Chris Neiszner. "I think our (penalty killing) came out and controlled the momentum early in the game and gave ourselves the opportunity to create stuff. As the game went on our special teams slowed up and that's something we have to keep up for 60 minutes."

Las Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period as Matt Watkins and Ned Lukacevic scored within 30 seconds of each other.

But the Grizzlies answered during a 5-on-3 power play when Shea Guthrie buried a feed across the crease from Vlady Nikiforov to cut the deficit in half 2-1.

Early in the second period, the Wranglers once again posted a two-goal lead as Kyle Hagel one-timed a pass from Andrew Orpik just 5:35 into the period to go on top 3-1.

Despite appearing to be in control of the game, the Wranglers then allowed four unanswered goals.

"Our defense had a bad night," Mougenel said. "I don't what else to say. They weren't good off the line."

Grizzlies captain Ryan Kinasewich started his hat-trick effort at the 8:41 mark in the second period to pull within one at 3-2.

After Tom May tied the game 3-3 less than two minutes later, Kinasewich netted two power play goals in the third period to seal the victory.

"We have to learn to kill penalties within the rules," Mougenel said. "We weren't good off the line and that is understandable, we're a young team and we are going to get better. Guys are going to learn from it and that's kind of the most important thing right now."

Utah goalie Parker Van Buskirk picked up the victory with 19 saves, while Wranglers net minder Michael Ouzas turned away 24 shots.

"Ouzas wasn't great," Mougenel said. "He knows it. I don't have to say it to him. He definitely struggled at times, but at other times we didn't give him any help. They have a great team over there. They have a lot of power play specialists. We didn't do a good job taking away their time and space, and when you give skilled players that amount of time, they are going to make plays and burn you."

Stars of the game: 1. Ryan Kinasewich (3 goals, 1 assist); 2. Vlady Nikiforov (2 assists); 3. Matt Watkins (1 goal)

The call: Neiszner got the phone call every ECHL players works for following the game Friday night. The 25-year-old center is heading to Austin on Saturday to play for Glen Gulutzan and the Texas Stars in the American Hockey League.

"It's an opportunity for me," Neiszner said. "I'm going to go up there and see what happens and hopefully things work out. But this team here is going to be an awesome team. We have a lot of skilled guys. We have a lot of guys who will go to work for each other every night and things are going to come together here."

Heavy hitter: Forward Kyle Hagel welcomed former Wrangler J.D. Watt back to Las Vegas with two loving fists. The two heavyweights squared off at center ice early in the second period. Both fighters landed some solid blows, but it was Watt who came up with a bloody face. Judges ruled a unanimous decision in favor of Hagel.

Gun show: Each Wranglers player films a short introduction video for the pre-game lineup announcements. Most are fairly mundane, but 20-year-old defenseman Nick Ross decided to mix it up by removing his pads and flexing with a cut-off shirt. Two tickets to the gun show anyone?

Next up: The Wranglers host the Alaska Aces at 7:05 p.m. Thursday at the Orleans Arena for Lasvegasweekly.com's Thirsty Thursday $1 beer night.

Final word: "It was just special teams, they let us down," Mougenel said.