Aces pad conference lead over Wranglers

In a matchup of the top two teams in the ECHL's Western Conference, the Alaska Aces hit the Wranglers with a backhander Tuesday night at the Orleans Arena, and Las Vegas never recovered.

With his back to the net in a tie game, Aces left wing Scott Howes glanced over his left shoulder to measure his shot, then slipped a backhander past Wranglers goalie Michael Ouzas to give Alaska a 2-1 lead at 11:53 of the second period.

Wes Goldie added an empty-net goal, his league-leading 38th, with 10 seconds left to seal the Aces' 3-1 victory over Las Vegas in front of 2,939.

"We're soft as puppy (expletive) in front of the net," a frustrated Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel said. "You've got to put guys on their (butts) in front of the net.

"Your goaltender stands on his head for you all year, and you don't want to put work in in the ugly areas. That's what I'm disappointed in. We've got to compete harder."

Mountain Division-leading Alaska (39-20-3, 81 points) has a six-point edge on Pacific Division-leading Las Vegas (35-21-5, 75) with 11 games left in the regular season.

The division winner with the best record receives a first-round bye in the ECHL playoffs.

"That would be nice to have that bye. But if we get it or not, it's not life or death," Wranglers center Tyler Mosienko said. "We want to go into the playoffs on a roll. We've got to play better and we've got to play harder. There are a lot of sloppy things we need to clean up."

Las Vegas lost its fourth in a row at home in its first game at the Orleans Arena since Feb. 13.

The Wranglers will play seven of their final 11 games at home, including three against the Aces on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday. Las Vegas is 5-5-1 this season against Alaska, which has won six in a row overall.

Former Wranglers forward Curtis Fraser lifted a shot over Ouzas (35 saves) to give Alaska a 1-0 lead with 1:07 left in the first.

Jerry Pollastrone scored from in front at 8:12 of the second to tie it at 1.

■ NOTE -- Las Vegas was missing five injured players: forwards Blake Gallagher, Chris Higgins, Matt Price, Dan Bertram and Geoff Paukovich. Also, forward Blair Riley was loaned to Peoria, Alaska's American Hockey League affiliate.

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