LAS VEGAS, NV-
Game one of the ECHL Western Conference Semi-Finals between the home Las Vegas Wranglers and the visiting Idaho Steelheads was exciting, sometimes for all the wrong reasons. A couple of very questionable calls by the referee in charge, Nick Leduc, overshadowed what should have been remembered as a fantastic Wranglers domination of a very talented Steelheads squad.
It all began at 5:38 of the first period when Idaho got on the board first on a mini-breakaway from Michael Neal by Jacob Cepis and Joe Pereira. In the Wranglers offensive zone, Neal was able to take a pass from Cepis and put the puck high past Wranglers keeper Mitch O’Keefe.
However, in the second period, everything came unraveled for the away team. It all started at 11:30 of the frame when Wrangler forward Adam Miller took a shot toward Idaho goalie Jerry Kuhn that seemed to go into the net and straight back out. Referee Leduc called it a “no goal” though and even during the ensuing TV timeout, with the entire Wranglers bench protesting the non-call and even Kuhn turned around in his net to watch the upcoming replay on the big screen, the call was not reversed. Just a couple of minutes later, in the same period, Wranglers forward Eric Lampe was pushed into Kuhn, leading to a Idaho power play and Kuhn writing in pain on the ice for a few moments, before rising and celebrating the fact that he drew a penalty.
On the ensuing Las Vegas penalty kill and with the Wranglers fired up over the two previous incidents, Wrangler Scott Campbell was able to put the puck past Kuhn, from Peter MacArthur with just 0:02 seconds remaining on the power play.
That Campbell goal, combined with the continued enthusiasm from earlier, was all that Las Vegas needed to finally get the shots that they needed to figure out a way to put the puck past the brick wall in Kuhn.
Just 1:32 after the initial Campbell tally, defenseman and team Captain Mike Madill, from Judd Blackwater and Miller, found the back of the Idaho net through a scrum in the blue paint. The Wranglers wouldn’t give up their lead after this and eventually added an empty netter, courtesy of Campbell with 0:48 seconds left in the match.
Even with the loss, Kuhn continues to stymie the Wranglers offensive, eventually stopping a combined 46 shots throughout the match. Compared to this, O’Keefe only had to stop 18 Idaho shots throughout the same time period. Also, Idaho and Las Vegas both shared the same number of penalties with two each. However, Idaho racked up more penalty minutes after Idaho’s Steven Tarasuk earned a double minor after high sticking Campbell at 2:41 of the final frame.
Monday’ nights win versus Idaho also saw the triumphant return of standout Wranglers defenseman Barry Goers and forward MacArthur, having been returned that morning from Lake Erie of the AHL. Also, Josh Lunden (St. John’s) and goaltender Joe Fallon (Houston) also returned to the Vegas lineup following extensive time in the AHL. The only Wranglers player that remains called up is defenseman Jaime Fritsch with the playoff bound Houston Aeros.
With the win, Las Vegas takes the early series lead in the best of seven versus Idaho and looks to continue their current four game winning streak Tuesday night, still in Las Vegas. Wrangler’s keeper O’Keefe keeps his personal win streak alive and increases his ECHL league wide lead in SV% and GAA.
