Huddy goal in second overtime lifts Wranglers in playoff opener

Playoff hockey has arrived in Las Vegas in dramatic fashion.

Ryan Huddy scored an unassisted goal with 2:16 left in the second overtime period to lift the Wranglers to a thrilling 1-0 victory over Idaho on Tuesday at Orleans Arena in Game 1 of the ECHL Western Conference quarterfinals.

After the Steelheads turned the puck over in their own end, Huddy took off the other way with it on a 2-on-1 with defenseman Jamie Fritsch. Huddy skated into the left circle before snapping a shot between the legs of Idaho rookie goalie Jerry Kuhn to end 97 minutes, 44 seconds of scoreless play.

"I looked at (Fritsch) a couple times to go to him, but their (defenseman) stayed with him, so I just had the shot, went five-hole with it and luckily it went in," said Huddy, who led Las Vegas in scoring in the regular season with 64 points and had a team-high 10 points against Idaho.

"I just kind of snapped it," Huddy said of the winning shot. "I was kind of running on fumes there, so I just wanted to make a good shot and not try anything too fancy.

"I think it caught (Kuhn) a little off guard. Luckily we finally found a way to get it past him."

Kuhn, making his fourth start for Idaho out of Western Michigan, stopped 48 of 49 shots.

Wranglers goalie Michael Ouzas turned away all 29 shots he faced to notch a shutout in his first professional playoff game.

"In the playoffs you need your goalie to stand on his head, and he did that for us tonight," Huddy said.

Game 2 of the best-of-5 series is today at Orleans Arena.

Both teams had a bevy of strong scoring bids.

Huddy was stopped on a breakaway early in the second overtime and Wranglers center Geoff Paukovich hit the post with 11:05 left.

Las Vegas had a great chance to score in the opening seconds of the first overtime, but Blair Riley, Paukovich and Greg Collins were each stoned by Kuhn in a scrum in front of the net.

The Wranglers went 0-for-5 on the power play, their final one coming with 2:28 left in the first overtime, when they failed to put a shot on net.

Las Vegas outshot Idaho in every period and 49-29 overall, including 12-3 in a dominant first period. But it couldn't generate many quality chances and came up empty on three power plays.

Idaho, which had the ECHL's top power play in the regular season, went 0-for-2 with the man advantage, including one late in the third period.

The Steelheads had the best scoring bid in regulation, when center Marty Flichel rifled a shot off the crossbar from the top of the right circle with 6:30 left in the second period.

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