Las Vegas unable to eliminate Stockton
For the second straight playoff game, the Wranglers quickly fell behind Stockton by three goals Sunday.
But unlike their dramatic 4-3 overtime victory Friday, the Wranglers couldn’t come all the way back in Game 5 at Stockton, Calif.
The Wranglers gave up four goals in the opening 8:17 to fall behind 4-1, then allowed two more in the third period to suffer a 6-3 loss that cut their lead in the best-of-7 series to 3-2.
Having wasted one chance to clinch the ECHL National Conference series, Las Vegas gets its next opportunity Tuesday at the Orleans Arena.
Adam Cracknell, who scored twice to pull the Wranglers to within 4-3 midway through the second period, said Las Vegas played with little urgency.
“We came out really flat, and they took advantage of us. It cost us the game,” he said. “Maybe we weren’t mentally prepared. It’s hard to explain. It’s happened two games in a row now. We can’t let that happen on Tuesday.”
Facing elimination, the Thunder came out strong and chased Wranglers goaltender Kevin Lalande only 8:17 into the game. He gave up four goals on 11 shots.
“We didn’t come out prepared,” Lalande said. “They wanted it more than we did, and that’s why there’s going to be a Game 6. The numbers speak for themselves.”
Stockton got on the board only 1:02 into the game on Brandon Schwartz’s snap shot. Stephane Goulet, whose empty-net goal capped his hat trick, made it 2-0 five minutes later by scoring on a rebound.
The Wranglers answered 38 seconds later on Kelly Czuy’s backhander from the slot, but the Thunder soon struck for goals by Jacob Micflikier and Goulet 20 seconds apart to chase Lalande.
Las Vegas backup netminder Tyler Sims stopped 14 of 15 shots, but the save he didn’t make was crucial. With 9:58 to play, Ryan O’Mara (goal, three assists) flicked a soft wrist shot from the left point that floated over Sims’ glove to give Stockton a 5-3 lead.