Composed Wranglers top Victoria

With Victoria on the verge of getting swept by the Wranglers in their three-game weekend series at the Orleans Arena, Salmon Kings defenseman Peter Vandermeer took out his frustration in violent fashion on Las Vegas captain Tyler Mosienko.

Fortunately for Mosienko, he and the Wranglers emerged unscathed, beating Victoria 3-1 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

"They were predictable at times," Las Vegas coach Ryan Mougenel said. "They're a frustrated team, and we took advantage of their frustration."

Right wing Milan Gajic scored for the Salmon Kings (6-7) with 29 seconds left to spoil a shutout bid by Wranglers goalie Joe Fallon (1-2-1), who stopped 40 shots.

Mosienko and Vandermeer jawed at each other when Vandermeer was sent to the penalty box for slashing with 3:54 left in the second period. When his penalty expired, Vandermeer headed for Mosienko and speared him from behind in his groin area, sending him to the ice.

As the 5-foot-8-inch, 175-pound Mosienko crouched on the ice near the boards, the 6-foot, 210-pound Vandermeer pounced on him with a cross-check and continued to try to hit him after the officials intervened.

In addition to getting penalized five minutes for spearing, Vandermeer received a game misconduct and match penalty for attempting to injure, for cross-checking, and also received a second game misconduct for resisting the officials, giving the Wranglers a 10-minute power play in which they failed to score.

Right wing Ned Lukacevic gave Las Vegas (6-3-1) a 1-0 lead 3:54 into the game when he skated ahead of the pack in the slot and ripped the puck past Victoria goalie Daren Machesney (24 saves).

Lukacevic leads Las Vegas in scoring with 10 points in nine games.

Vince Bellissimo made the score 2-0 at 7:29 of the second period when he took a pass from Mosienko, broke in on the net alone and beat Machesney with a backhander.

Greg Collins' goal on an odd-man rush put the Wranglers up 3-0 with 5:52 left.

Las Vegas will start a seven-game trip Friday in Bakersfield, Calif., and return home Dec. 10 to face Idaho.

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