Vegas wing’s game on rise

Off the ice, Wranglers left wing Ryan Donally is a self-described "laid-back dude" who loves to have fun and will pull a prank on a teammate at any time.

On the ice, though, the 6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound Donally fills the role of enforcer for Las Vegas but needs to play with more of a mean streak if he is to realize his dream of playing in the NHL.

"It's something I'm working on, but it's not necessarily a natural thing for me," said Donally, 22, a 2003 third-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames who leads the Wranglers with 100 penalty minutes. "I have to park my personality off the ice and play with a different personality on the ice.

"I have to play with more of an edge and be more physical and more intense."

Donally also needs to improve his offensive game, and he has done that so far in his second season with the Wranglers. He leads the team with five power-play goals, scoring 10 points in 21 games. Last season, he scored just eight points in 33 games with Las Vegas, spending most of the season playing sparingly for Omaha of the American Hockey League.

"He's made big improvements," Las Vegas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "He's always been a character guy, willing to fight and protect his teammates, but his offensive game is really starting to come along.''

Donally has gained valuable experience playing on a line with the Ferraro brothers, Peter and Chris, who lead Las Vegas with 24 and 22 points, respectively.

"He creates a lot of space out there for us and he's our protector, that's the bottom line," Chris Ferraro said. "He continues to get better and impress, and I think it's just a matter of time before things open up for him."

Gulutzan said Donally has a legitimate chance to make it to the NHL.

"He's still got to make some strides, but he's definitely one of the players here I consider an NHL prospect," the coach said.

• NOTES -- The Wranglers, who have started five different goaltenders this season, continue to shuffle players at the position. Daniel Manzato returned to the team Tuesday from Albany of the AHL to replace Kevin Lalande, who was recalled to the AHL's Quad City Flames on Dec. 7.

Manzato, who gave up five goals in his only appearance with Albany, improved to 8-0-0 in the ECHL, including 6-0-0 with a 1.64 goals-against average for Las Vegas, with Wednesday's 6-2 win at Utah.

John Ceci started the first two games of the five-game road trip, going 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA. ...

The Wranglers (17-2-2, 36 points), unbeaten in regulation in their last 15 games (13-0-2), will play at Utah (11-10-2) at 6 p.m. today and Saturday before returning home to face Phoenix on Monday night in their fifth annual midnight game.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0354.