Las Vegas and Stockton meet for Game 7

Las Vegas and Stockton will meet for Game 7 of their best of seven series. The series is tied 3-3 after Stockton won Game 6 3-1 at the Orleans Arena on Tuesday night. Las Vegas is 5-2 at home during the playoffs, while Stockton is 3-4 on the road in the playoffs.

Las Vegas leads the all-time regular season series with an 18-5-1 mark. The Wranglers defeated the Thunder in six games in the first round of the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Only six players from Las Vegas remain from the team that made a Kelly Cup Finals appearance. The Thunder returns four players from last year’s team. Stockton is in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in team history, while the Wranglers are in the second round for the fourth straight year.

The winner of this series will face the Alaska Aces, who beat Victoria in five games for the West Division crown. Alaska has home-ice advantage after finishing with the best record in the National Conference. The Aces are in the Conference Finals for the fourth time in the last five years. The National Conference Finals are expected to start in Anchorage, AK this Saturday and Sunday.

Last Time Out
Las Vegas, NV - The Las Vegas Wranglers were defeated by the Stockton Thunder 3-1 in Game 6 of the Pacific Division Finals in front of 3,136 fans at the Orleans Arena on Tuesday night. With the win, Stockton ties the series 3-3 and forces Game 7 on Wednesday. Forward Kelly Czuy scored the lone Las Vegas goal. Craig Valette, Kenny MacAulay, and Cory Urquhart each scored for Stockton in the win. Wranglers’ goalie Glenn Fisher made 34 saves in his second loss of the playoffs. Thunder goalie Parker Van Buskirk stopped 22 of 23 shots in his sixth win.

Roster Report
Winger Matt Beaudoin is the last Wrangler on the playoff roster that remains in the AHL. Houston leads Milwaukee 2-1 in their best of seven series. Game 4 is Thursday night in Houston. In ten Calder Cup playoff games with Houston, Beaudoin has six assists and nine points. Beaudoin scored the game-winning goal in last night’s 3-1 Aeros win.

Defensemen Brandon Straub and Bret Tyler are both eligible to come off the injured reserve list. Forward Hugo Carpentier was activated from the IR on Saturday in Stockton. Defenseman Chris St. Croix was placed on the three-day injured reserve on Saturday.

Seventh Heaven
Tonight Las Vegas will play in a Game 7 for the third time in team history. Both of their previous Game 7 victories have come at the Orleans Arena. Stockton is 1-0 in Game 7s. Both teams played seven games in the first round. Las Vegas beat Bakersfield 5-1 in Game 7 to advance to the second round, while Stockton won Game 7 in Ontario 5-4 in the opening round.

The ECHL has seen 17 Game 7s in league history, including four in the first round of the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs. This year, the road team is 2-2, but the home team owns the overall edge in history going 12-5.
Pacific Division Finals - Las Vegas vs. Stockton

Game 1: Las Vegas 3 at Stockton 4
Game 2: Stockton 2 at Las Vegas 4
Game 3: Las Vegas 1 at Stockton 5
Game 4: Las Vegas 3 at Stockton 2 OT
Game 5: Stockton 2 at Las Vegas 4
Game 6: Stockton 3 at Las Vegas 1 (Series Tied 3-3)
Game 7: Stockton at Las Vegas on Wednesday, May 6th at 7:30 PM at the Orleans Arena

ThunderStruck
Former Fresno Head Coach Matt Thomas took over on December 29th after the team fired the Head Coach Chris Cichocki. The team posted a 22-16-3 record the remainder of the season and advanced to their third straight playoff appearance. Thomas is 22-23 in 45 playoff appearances. He guided the 2005-06 Fresno Falcons to the semi-finals. Four players from Fresno joined him in Stockton including All-Stars Kenny MacAulay and Igor Gongalsky. Forward Judd Blackwater and defenseman Matt O’Dette also followed Thomas.

Stockton rookie, All-Star center Ryan Huddy led the Thunder in scoring during the regular season with a team-record 35 goals and a team-high 73 points in 69 games played. Huddy was named to the ECHL All-Rookie Team. Forward Cory Urquhart was second in team scoring with 28 goals and 60 points in 57 games played. Urquhart was with the Calder Cup Champion Hamilton Bulldogs in 2006-07 and with the CHL Champion Arizona Sun Dogs in 2007-08. Former Wrangler, Mike Lalonde rounds out the top three in scoring with 20 goals and 51 points in 62 games played. Defenseman Kenny MacAulay a +10 and 23 points in 38 games played this season.

The Thunder added goalie Parker Van Buskirk after Andrew Perugini suffered a lower-body injury in Game 1 against Ontario. Van Buskirk has won six of his first ten playoff starts.