Lukacevic shoots Wranglers into playoffs

When Ned Lukacevic left Las Vegas three weeks ago to play in the American Hockey League, the Wranglers were left to battle for a playoff berth without their leading scorer.

But Lukacevic returned this week, just in time to help Las Vegas clinch its sixth ECHL playoff berth in seven seasons.

The left wing notched his first hat trick for the Wranglers on Thursday in their 5-2 victory over Ontario in front of a crowd of 4,149 at the Orleans Arena.

Lukacevic scored a tiebreaking goal with one second left in the second period to give Las Vegas a 3-2 lead.

Ryan Weston set up the score, driving hard to the net and faking a shot before slicing a pass through traffic to Lukacevic, who jammed it inside the post with 0.2 seconds on the clock.

"That was the turning point, definitely," said Lukacevic, who kept tabs on the Wranglers during his stint with the AHL's Providence Bruins.

"I watched all the games online, so it was still a big part of me," he said. "They did well without me, but we can get three lines clicking now and we're going to be a dangerous team in the playoffs."

Las Vegas (33-29-8, 74 points), which advanced to the National Conference finals the last two seasons, overcame a 9-14-1 start and inconsistency to earn its fifth straight playoff trip.

"There were times we struggled and times I didn't think we had the right personnel," coach Ryan Mougenel said. "But I truly believe in the character and type of people we have in that (locker) room.

"At times, we were the 'Bad News Bears,' but in the end, didn't they win?"

The Wranglers are 9-0-3 against the Reign (30-30-10, 70 points), who trail Victoria (33-31-6, 72 points) by two points with two games to play for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Las Vegas and Ontario meet again here today and Saturday.

Lukacevic scored midway through the third period to give the Wranglers a 4-2 lead, and Andrew Orpik added an empty-net goal.

Ontario's Tim Kraus opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 6:13 of the first, but Adam Miller and Lukacevic answered with power-play goals 65 seconds apart midway through the period.

Kraus scored again late in the period to make it 2-2, beating Jimmy Spratt soon after the Wranglers goaltender made a terrific glove save. Spratt (8-3-2) stopped 26 of 28 shots, and Curtis Darling allowed four goals on 33 shots for Ontario.

■ NOTES -- Miller was named to the All-ECHL second team. ... Wranglers goalie Michael Ouzas was transferred to the 21-day injured reserve with a high right ankle sprain but hopes to return for the playoffs.

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