Rookie keys Wranglers’ win

Matt McKnight made sure Thursday was a good night for the Wranglers.

McKnight, a rookie center from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, scored the first goal of the game and the last -- netting the lone goal of a shootout to lift Las Vegas to a 5-4 victory over Bakersfield (Calif.) in front of a small crowd at the Orleans Arena.

The second shooter for the Wranglers, who squandered an early 3-1 lead in their only preseason home game, McKnight put a nice move on Condors goalie Joey Perricone and beat him with a backhander into the back of the net.

McKnight, who scored 25 goals in four seasons at Minnesota-Duluth, also buried a rebound in front of the net, on the power play, to give Las Vegas a 1-0 lead early in the first period.

"I thought he played well tonight, but it's too early to tell on anybody," Wranglers coach and general manager Glen Gulutzan said. "You get a three-game (preseason) snapshot of the guys and go from there.

"But I thought (McKnight has) been good in camp, and he's actually more skilled than I thought he'd be."

Rookie goalie John DeCaro struggled in regulation for the Wranglers in his ECHL debut, giving up four goals on 17 shots, but he stopped all five Bakersfield shots in the shootout to preserve the win.

"A couple of those goals he'd have liked back," Gulutzan said. "It was not the sharpest game he could've played."

The Wranglers, the defending Pacific Division and National Conference champions, scored three goals in the first period to take a 3-1 lead, but the Condors netted two goals in the second period to tie the score.

The teams exchanged goals in the third period to send the game into overtime, with Las Vegas center Tyler Mosienko scoring a game-tying goal in front of the net with 7:04 remaining in regulation.

Chris Neiszner and Peter Ferraro also scored goals for the Wranglers, and Mike Hamilton and Sean Owens added two assists apiece.

Las Vegas will play preseason games on the road Saturday and Sunday before opening its regular season Friday at the Alaska Aces. The Wranglers will host Ontario on Oct. 23 in their home opener.

• NOTE -- Defenseman Adam Pardy became the first former Wranglers skater to play in the National Hockey League when he took the ice Thursday for the Calgary Flames -- Las Vegas' NHL affiliate -- in their season opener against the Vancouver Canucks. The 6-foot-4-inch, 218-pound Pardy, 24, was a sixth-round draft pick of Calgary in 2004. He played 41 regular-season games and 10 playoff games for the Wranglers in the 2005-06 season.

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