Wranglers split home series against Alaska

LAS VEGAS, NV- Coming off a heartbreaking defeat the previous night at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, the Wranglers rebounded in a big way on Friday evening. Winning 3-0, Las Vegas evens up the ECHL Western Conference Finals tally at 1 all.
 
A huge night by the Wranglers saw the return of Alaska goaltender James Reid, who had not previously played during these playoffs, after starting keeper Gerald Coleman was pulled by Coach Rob Murray after the first frame.
 
Las Vegas started the scoring off at just 1:28 of the opening frame when Josh Lunden, from Ash Goldie and Peter MacArthur slid the puck past a helpless Coleman.
 
The score would only open from then on in the Wranglers favor as Scott Campbell, from Lunden and Captain Mike Madill, tallied another score just 2:30 later in the period.
 
The home squad would get many close scoring chances during the first period, with Coleman putting up a lion’s share of the effort in stopping the onslaught.
 
The final score of the evening would come with just 42 seconds left in the first period, as Campbell notched his second of the contest. Helping him put the final nail in the Aces’ coffin was Macarthur and Lunden.
 
That would prove to be the final score of the evening as both teams were held scoreless, but not chanceless in the final two periods. Alaska, throughout the entire match, would see themselves being outshot a total of 28-23, including 7-2 in the final frame.
 
With the win, Wranglers goalie Joe Fallon, improves to 3-1 in the postseason and avenges his lone loss the previous night. Also, Las Vegas improves to a playoff record of 7-2-0 while Alaska takes their first regulation loss of the playoffs and goes to 5-1-1.
 
Alaska enjoyed one more power play in the game, including a 1:50 long two man advantage mid-way through the middle period. The Aces were unable to capitalize on any of their three man advantage chances and the Wranglers were also able to convert either of their two chances.
 
The best-of-seven series now heads up to Anchorage, Alaska and the Sullivan Arena, the magic number for both teams falls to three. The winner of the series faces the Kalamazoo Wings-Florida Everblades series winner, which Florida currently leads at 1-0. The four game stand on Alaska’s Olympic sized home ice begins Sunday, April 29 and continues on Tuesday, May 1. If necessary, there will be two additional games played in Alaska, on Wednesday, May 2 and Friday, May 4 before possibly returning to Las Vegas for a pivotal Game seven on Wednesday, May 9.
 
Contact Joel.Hoopaugh@prohockeynews.com
All photos by Glenn Harvey