BAKERSFIELD, Ca.- In all three games so far the team that scored first had eventually lost the game. The Las Vegas Wranglers broke that streak by not only scoring first but then playing solid defense the rest of the way to post a 4-0 victory.
Right off the opening face-off the Wranglers drove down the left wing and beat Yutaka Fukufuji (33 saves on 37 shots) with a rebound shot but it was waived off due to a dislodged net (their third goal waived off in the series).
Las Vegas kept up the pressure and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a pair of power play goals within 29 seconds of each other early in the first period. The first was from the stick of Kelly Czuy (his 4th of the series) with assists to Justin Taylor and Chris Neiszner. The second was the first of the playoffs for J.D. Watt with assists to Shawn Limpwright and Adam Miller. A huge brawl erupted after the buzzer to end the period involving all players on the ice (the Condors were on the power play for a five-on-four advantage in the scrum). The main event ended up being between Limpwright and Condors sniper Chad Painchaud who threw a hail of punches at each other in the center ice circle. As a result Painchaud was ejected due to a secondary altercation as was Limpwright. Bakersfield effectively killed off their own powerplay as Bruce Graham received an extra roughing penalty out of the melee. Shots on goal in the period were 13-11 in the Condors favor.
The Wranglers controlled much of the second period out-shooting the Condors 20-7. Both teams had scoring chances and the Wranglers rang a pair of shots off the post, but were encouraged heading into the final frame ahead by a 2-0 margin as John DeCaro (34 saves on 34 shots) was holding steady in goal behind a solid defense.
The Wranglers moved into the first three goal lead of the series as Justin Taylor fed Nick Lawrence alone in the slot and Lawrence fired it over the glove of Fukufuji at 3:54 with an assist also to Mike Hamilton. Vegas took a commanding 4-0 lead after Czuy wristed a shot at the net that hit a defender and deflected over Fukufuji and off the bar where Dan Reidel corralled the puck before tucking it in at the near post at 11:37. The Wranglers, from there on out, were just looking to preserve the shutout for DeCaro as the crowd of 5,592 slowly began to file out of Rabobank Arena. DeCaro had to make a few tough saves over the final minutes to hold on to the shutout. Bakersfield fired 14 shots on goal in the final period to only six for the Wranglers. Shots on goal in the game were in favor of the Wrangler 37-34.
Las Vegas was two for seven on the powerplay while Bakersfield was scoreless in seven chances.
Game five will be in Bakersfield on Saturday, April 18 at 7:00PM.
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