Cyclones’ three-goal wave sinks Wranglers in Game 3

The plan for tonight's Game 4 of the Kelly Cup Finals is simple for the Wranglers.

"Play 60 minutes," Las Vegas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We played 40 good minutes tonight, and (Cincinnati) played 60 good minutes. We changed our game for 20 minutes, and it cost us the game."

The Wranglers took a two-goal lead over the Cyclones early in the second period, but Cincinnati stormed back, scoring three goals in a 6-minute, 18-second span late in the period to take the lead en route to a 4-2 win over Las Vegas in Game 3 of the Finals on Thursday night at the Orleans Arena.

ECHL Most Valuable Player David Desharnais had two assists and added an empty-net goal with eight seconds left for the Cyclones, who will take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series into tonight's Game 4, set for 7:05 at the Orleans Arena.

"We were up 2-0, and we took things for granted a little bit," said Wranglers goalie Kevin Lalande, who hadn't surrendered a goal in the series for close to two hours -- 114 minutes, 48 seconds to be exact -- before Cincinnati's surge. "We didn't stick to our game plan, and they did, and that's what hurt us. They shoved it right up our, I don't want to say the word. (Tonight) it's 60 minutes, not 55."

Jean-Michel Daoust started the spurt, lifting the puck past Lalande from the slot, where he was left all alone, to cut Cincinnati's deficit to 2-1 with 7:26 left in the period.

"One of our defenseman made a bad play," Gulutzan said. "It was a simple two-on-two, and he backed up and screened (Lalande)."

Matt Syroczynski tied it 2-2 with 4:54 left when he took a pass in the slot from Daoust and lifted the puck into the top of the net, off the crossbar, on Cincinnati's lone power-play goal in five tries.

The speedy Cyclones took their first lead since Game 1 with 1:08 left when Olivier Latendresse scored on a left-handed rocket shot from the left circle, near the boards, that blew by Lalande and ripped into the side of the net.

"It was a nice shot, but I've got to make that save," said Lalande, who stopped 21 of 24 shots on the heels of a 1-0 shutout in Game 2.

The Wranglers had plenty of chances to tie it, with four power plays in the third period, including a 32-second two-man advantage and another power play with 3:07 left, but they couldn't crack the Cyclones.

"We had lots of chances and lots of shots through; we just couldn't get any second or third pucks. We never got any bounce to go in," Gulutzan said. "They front the net very well, and they make it hard to get shots through."

The Wranglers finished 2-for-8 on the power play and are 3-for-20 in the series.

Las Vegas right wing Brandon Kaleniecki scored a power-play goal with 7:46 left in the first period, on a nice feed from Kelly Czuy, to give the Wranglers a 1-0 lead.

Tyler Mosienko scored a power-play goal at 2:48 of the second period to make it 2-0, rifling a slap shot from the left circle past Cyclones goalie Cedrick Desjardins (26 saves) into the top of the net.

"When we got that second goal, we changed our style a little bit and gave them chances," Mosienko said. "They're a skilled team, and boom, three goals were in the net. ... (Tonight) we're going to have to come out and play 60 minutes."

The Wranglers were bolstered early by their largest crowd of the postseason as 6,713 fans showed up at the Orleans Arena, the vast majority dressed in red for the team's "Red Sea in Game Three" promotion.

But Las Vegas ended up getting beat by the team wearing red, the Cyclones.

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