STOCKTON, Ca – The Las Vegas Wranglers have something to help them get through the eight plus hour bus ride home, their first win this season at the Stockton Arena. The Wranglers won Game 4 of the Pacific Division championship evening the series at two, with a goal in overtime.
Naurato goal. Photo by Jack Lima
The first period, was filled with intense physical action and end-to-end play. Stockton’s Garet Hunt opened the scoring with a goal at 2:10 into the period. Hunt managed to poke the puck past Las Vegas goaltender John DeCaro, after a series of blocked shots. Tyler Kindle and David Rohlfs were credited with assists. The period ended with Stockton leading 1-0. Stockton had been 5-0 in the playoffs when they scored first, but tonight would later prove to be a night of change.
In the second period, Las Vegas came out with chips on their shoulders, out shooting Stockton 17-9 for the period. Las Vegas scored the tying goal at 10:11, with a wrist shot by Tyler Mosienko that passed Parker Van Buskirk, assisted by Scott McCulloch and Chris Neiszner. Van Buskirk deflected a penalty shot by Dan Riedel, at 14:11, keeping the score tied at one.
In the third period, Stockton put the go-ahead shot in with a goal by Brandon Naurato, assisted by Ryan Huddy and Jason Bates at 6:54. Naurato found a loose puck in front of the net and flicked it past DeCaro. There were a number of great saves made by Van Buskirk that had almost all 6,596 Stockton fans on their feet.
By the middle of the third period, the ice surface become a problem. The problem was noticeable to the players who thought the ice was melting.
The game was sent into extra time when Riedel scored his sixth goal of the series, with a wrist shot that went into the back of the net, assisted by Mike Madill and Adam Miller, at 9:39. Heavy fore-checking and end-to-end defense held the teams from scoring again.
At the end of regulation time, Van Buskirk had 40 saves and DeCaro had 24. Las Vegas had dominated the puck for most of the second and third periods, but were unable to win in regulation. Both teams were scoreless on any power play opportunities with Stockton having four chances to two for the visiting Wranglers.
Save on penalty shot. Photo by Jack Lima
The Wranglers Mick Lawrence scored the winning goal in the first 28 seconds of overtime.
“They turned the puck over in the neutral zone and I stepped over the blue line, with their defense in front of me, screening the goalie,” Lawrence said. “I wound up and put it in the bottom corner, low past his blocker into the net.”
Lawrence’s goal gave the Wranglers a 3-2 win to even the series.
“That was a big play for our team. We definitely didn’t want to be down 3-1,” said Lawrence. “This was the biggest game of the series for us.”
“That was a tough overtime. It comes down to the fact we didn’t play a full enough game,” said Stockton’s Craig Valette. “(Van Buskirk) blocked a lot of shots. He makes a lot of the unstoppable shots and then some. That’s all we can ask for from a goalie. He’s done so much for us the last few games of the series. He’s good for us.”
The remaining three games, the last one isn’t necessary yet, are scheduled to be played in three successive days, beginning on Monday.
The Thunder is looking forward to going to Las Vegas and not too worried about the travel. “We get to fly now, which helps us out. We need to be prepared and play the system the coaches put out,” said Garet Hunt on preparation for the next game.
Scramble in Thunder net. Photo by Jack Lima
Lawrence said, “Three games in three nights will be tough. We need to take care of our bodies out there.”
The Wranglers will have an added advantage when they return home for the next three games. The Thunder have never won in Orleans Arena this season.
“We hadn’t won a game here all season either; we definitely have the home ice advantage,” said Lawrence. “They are good team. They are do-or-die, just like us. We have to keep the pressure on them just like tonight.”
Contact the writer at: shellie.lima@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at: jack.lima@prohockeynews.com Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
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