Aces’ last-minute goal stifles Wranglers’ rally

For the second straight night, the Wranglers rallied to tie Alaska late in the third period and appeared headed for overtime Friday at the Orleans Arena.

But the Aces, who squandered a three-goal lead in Thursday's loss to Las Vegas, weren't about to give away their second consecutive game. Alaska defenseman Bryan Miller made sure of that.

Miller, who had a hat trick and an assist Thursday, scored with 48 seconds left to lift the Aces to a 3-2 victory over the Wranglers in front of a crowd of 5,057.

Miller, who was left alone in the high slot, beat Las Vegas goalie Joel Gistedt, who stopped 21 of 24 shots.

"We've got some veteran players out there who missed assignments, and it's unacceptable," Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel said. "I've got an expression, 'Sweep your own doorstep.' Do your own job. We had some miscommunication in our defensive zone, and it cost us."

Trailing 2-0 midway through the third period, Las Vegas scored two goals in a little more than four minutes to tie it 2-2.

Alex Bourret scored on a shot from the slot to make it 2-1 with 8:56 remaining. Defenseman Mike Madill tied it on a blast from just inside the blue line, on the power play, with 4:48 left.

The Wranglers (31-27-7), who outshot Alaska 35-24, went 1-for-6 on the power play and saw their five-game win streak end. Aces goalie Scott Reid had 33 saves.

"When we're that close, we've got to squeeze, because every point is big," Madill said. "It was good to get back in and tie that up late, but we have to learn to hang on, especially in games like that."

Jarrett Konkle scored 66 seconds into the game to give Alaska (30-26-8) a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the third period, when defenseman Tyson Marsh scored at 6:04 to make it 2-0.

Adam Miller had two assists for Las Vegas to extend his franchise-record point streak to 13 games.

Jerry Pollastrone appeared to tie the score at 1 early in the second period, but the goal was waved off, apparently because Reid was tangled on the ice with Las Vegas forward Josh Prudden during the play.

"It's a judgment call by the referee," Mougenel said. "If it's a penalty or goaltender interference, it should've been whistled dead right away, but we made two or three plays before he even shot it."

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