ESTERO, FL- In a must win game for the visiting Las Vegas Wranglers Tuesday night, they didn’t. Coming up two goals short in a pivotal game four of the ECHL Finals, Las Vegas now faces an official runner-up placing tonight.
Led by outstanding goaltender John Muse, Florida dominated only the scoreboard, never relinquishing their lead and now look to put away the Vegas club once and for all at home.
The Florida offense started with just 2:05 remaining in the opening frame, when Brandon MacLean, snuck a wrister past Vegas goalie Joe Fallon. The goal, with a helper by David Rutherford, sent the home club into the locker room feeling confident.
Coming out strong after the first intermission, Florida needed just 5:15 to get the eventual game winner. Coming off the stick of Matt Marquardt, from Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll and Justin Shugg, the score would give the Everblades a touch of momentum that they would very rarely relinquish until the end of the game.
Just 1:27 later, however, Wrangler Peter MacArthur would give the Wranglers hopeful a reason to believe. Coming on an Eric Lampe assist, MacArthur was able to shoot the puck at a nearly impossible angle, blocker side, past Muse. This however, would be the only spark for the Wranglers offense, despite many close calls throughout the game.
The final score of the evening, mercifully for the Wranglers and their fans, came at 15:37 of the final frame, when Shugg, from Lalonde-McNicoll and Sebastian Piche, got a slapshot past an unsuspecting Fallon.
Even with that being the final goal of the evening, both clubs weren’t done yet. Tensions boiled over with just 1 minute remaining in the game, when Wranglers star Lampe was hip checked hard in the neutral zone. While legal, the hard check sent Lampe sprawling to the ice in agony while Wranglers defenseman Michael Busto went after the offending Everblade player, Ryan Donald. Both Busto and Donald dropped the gloves for a brief but interesting tussle before Busto fell to the ice. Lampe ended up getting up from the ice right after Busto’s fight and immediately skated off to the locker room, throwing a glove across the ice in frustration.
Throughout the game, both goalies faced 30 shots, including a 15-6 total in favor of Florida during the final frame. Florida also enjoyed one more power play than Las Vegas throughout, unable to convert on any of them.
Wednesday evenings match, also in Florida, sees the Everblades with a chance to win the prized Kelly Cup at home, having lost its previous two chances. However, Las Vegas will be looking to spoil the Everblades home parade by winning and sending the series back to Las Vegas. With their backs up against the wall, expect Las Vegas to come out fighting.
Contact Joel.Hoopaugh@prohockeynews.com
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