Cleveland drops short-handed Thunder

      The Thunder outshot the Cleveland Lumberjacks 50-32, but also had more mistakes. And with a depleted lineup, that was a major mistake.
      The Thunder dropped a 5-2 decision Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in a game that, despite all the obstacles, clearly was winnable.
      Las Vegas had to play without one of its best forwards, right wing Andrei Bashkirov, who broke a bone in his wrist Friday and will be out at least a week. Captain Kevin Dahl, the team's top defenseman, was forced to play center.
      Also, goaltender Andre Racicot was hobbled by groin and knee injuries he suffered Friday against Long Beach. That put the game into the hands of 36-year-old Clint Malarchuk, who had not started in two years.
      "Clint definitely played well enough for us to win, but the team appeared a little out of focus," said Thunder coach Chris McSorley. "You can't expect to have just 10 or 12 guys show up and expect to win. We didn't have all hands on deck, and we made too many mistakes."
      Still, with a break at the right time, the Thunder could have won. But the first major break went against Las Vegas.
      Thunder defenseman Sergei Yerkovich had an apparent first-period goal -- which would have put Las Vegas ahead 1-0 -- disallowed when referee Brad Davis ruled the puck did not cross the goal line. Yerkovich had just come out of the penalty box and was skating as a forward when he took a nifty pass from Egor Bashkatov.
      Cleveland goaltender Derek Wilkinson stopped the first shot, but as defenseman Jim Paek skidded into the net and knocked it off the moorings, Yerkovich shot the puck a second time and thought he had scored.
      Televised replays were inconclusive and Davis, who was standing six feet away, ruled the puck did not go completely across the line.
      "The referee clearly missed the call," McSorley said. "Wilkinson's glove was easily a foot behind the (goal) line. It was poor positioning by the referee and a goal judge who had his head in a pillow."
      Las Vegas defenseman Kerry Huffman agreed.
      "From where I stood, it sure looked like it was in," Huffman said.
      Paek, though, couldn't understand the fuss.
      "No way was it in," Paek said. "Wilkie had his glove on it a long time before it got near the line. I have no idea why they were celebrating. I could understand it if it was close, but it wasn't close."
      Huffman admitted the call wasn't the reason the Thunder lost. Instead, it was mistakes, such as the one Darin Smith made, throwing a clearing pass directly on Jeff Christian's stick. The big veteran buried it for the Lumberjacks' second goal.
      Or mistakes such as on the first goal, when Dave McLlwain skated in on a breakaway after coming out of the penalty box and got two whacks at the puck before a Thunder player arrived on the scene.
      "We had some guys jumping behind the wheel and driving the bus and other guys falling asleep at the wheel," McSorley said.
      -- THUNDER NOTE -- Parris Duffus might not start for the Thunder as expected today in Phoenix because the Coyotes' other goaltending prospect, Scott Langkow, was injured Saturday in an American Hockey League game and the Coyotes are leery of risking Duffus and winding up a goaltender short.