Facing sweep by Aces, Wranglers vow to ‘put it all on the line’ to extend series

Few teams in pro sports history have overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 playoff series. Doing so requires four straight victories in elimination games, and it has never been done in the ECHL.

That's the size of the task that awaits the Wranglers starting tonight at the Orleans Arena.

Having begun the National Conference finals against the Alaska Aces with losses of 2-0, 4-1 and 3-1, Las Vegas has no choice but to begin climbing out of the hole in Game 4.

Though history and common sense aren't on the Wranglers' side -- nor is their 0-for-18 power play in the series -- there was plenty of brave talk coming out of their dressing room Wednesday.

"The character in our room, it's unbelievable," center Chris Neiszner said. "We're going to scratch and claw and do everything we can to get back in it. We've got to go out and put it all on the line. There's nothing to save it for."

Center Dan Riedel disregards the unprecedented nature of the Wranglers' task.

"If you don't think you can come back, then why are you playing?" he said. "We still think we can win. It's going to be tough, but it's definitely something that can be done."

The Wranglers' loss in Game 3 on Tuesday was still gnawing at Riedel. He felt they played well enough to win the game in which they took an early 1-0 lead and were tied at 1 until Alaska's Josh Soares scored with 4:11 remaining.

"We definitely know we're capable of beating them," Riedel said.

Las Vegas has been outscored by the Aces 9-2 in the series, and outshot in each game and 96-76 overall.

"The bottom line is we have to score goals. That's the key," Riedel said. "We've played hard, competed and gotten good goaltending, but it comes down to scoring goals."

The Aces are led by J.P. Lamoureux, the ECHL Goalie of the Year who is 11-2 in the playoffs with a league-low 1.61 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.

The 5-foot-10-inch, 155-pound rookie has allowed 21 goals on 405 shots in the postseason, but Riedel said the Wranglers have only themselves to blame for their lack of scoring.

"I think it's more us than anything," he said. "We're getting the chances, but we aren't executing."

Led by defenseman Dan Spang, Las Vegas transformed its power play from one of the ECHL's worst during the regular season to the best through the first two playoff rounds, going 16-for-63 (25.4 percent).

But the Wranglers have yet to score with a man advantage against Alaska, which has the top penalty-killing unit in the postseason, allowing six goals in 74 chances (91.9).

"We need to try to get the power play going a bit. It's been frustrating," Spang said. "I don't think they're doing anything special. It's probably more us than them. We just have to start burying our chances."

The league's top remaining seed in the playoffs, the Aces (11-2) are undoubtedly the best team the Wranglers (8-9) have faced in the postseason.

But Las Vegas center Tyler Mosienko said that shouldn't matter.

"They've got some good defensemen and some good goaltending, but it's playoff time," he said. "You've got to find a way to out-think them, out-heart them, out-something."

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