Grand finale: Wranglers’ victory clinches best record in ECHL

Things looked awfully bleak for the Wranglers as time started to run out on their regular season Saturday night at the Orleans Arena.

Needing a win to clinch the Brabham Cup, which goes to the ECHL team with the best regular-season record and comes with home-ice advantage in the playoffs, Las Vegas trailed Stockton 1-0 midway through the third period.

But in a span of less than three minutes, misery turned to ecstasy for the Wranglers as they netted a pair of power-play goals and went on to defeat the Thunder, 2-1.

It was Las Vegas' franchise-record 13th straight win and sealed the best record in the ECHL at 46-12-14 for 106 points.

Defending ECHL champion Alaska (49-16-7, 105), which routed Utah on Saturday, will have to settle for the second-best mark in the league a year after edging Las Vegas by a single point.

"I'm just real proud of them. They didn't have much in the tank tonight, but they just kept going," Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan said. "They did it themselves. (Assistant coach) Brent (Bilodeau) and I have just been opening the gate the last 13 games. They wanted it themselves.

"Now the real season starts. I'd really like to win 16 in a row, starting now."

Ironically, because of a lack of ice availability in Phoenix, the Wranglers will open the playoffs on the road Tuesday night. Las Vegas also will play in Phoenix on Thursday before returning home for the next four playoff games, if necessary.

The Wranglers can tie the ECHL record for most consecutive wins by posting a victory in their playoff opener.

Derek Edwardson has led Las Vegas in scoring for most of the season, and he delivered his most important goal of the year on Saturday, snapping the go-ahead goal into the back of the net from the right circle with 7:49 remaining to give the Wranglers a 2-1 lead.

Linemates Steve Crampton and Shawn Limpright assisted on the score.

Crampton and Limpright also assisted on the tying goal by defenseman Aaron Power, who ripped a slap shot from the left point at 10:29 of the third period.

"That just shows the character of our team," Edwardson said. "We came out a little slow, then we got a little spark from Power's goal and we just kept going from there. We weren't going to stop. It's just an unbelievable feeling."

Stockton took a 1-0 lead at the 11:20 mark of the second period when Brendon Hodge buried a rebound in front of the net. Colin Pepperall set up the score with a shot from the goal line that bounced off the chest of Wranglers goalie Mike McKenna, who stopped 16 of 17 shots and improved to 27-4-7.

Las Vegas outshot Stockton 35-17 but couldn't solve Thunder backup goalie Cam Ellsworth until late in the game.