‘Stupid’ Wranglers fall

CINCINNATI -- Stupid. Undisciplined. Idiots.

Those were the words Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan and his players used to describe their performance in Game 1 of the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Arena.

Las Vegas, which hadn't allowed more than three goals in its five-game playoff win streak, gave up three power-play goals in the first period and never led in a 4-2 loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be played in Cincinnati at 4:30 p.m. (PDT) today.

"We were the most undisciplined I've seen us all season," Gulutzan said. "We can't give them that many opportunities on the power play. We were a bunch of idiots. Our skilled guys were idiots. We just never gave ourselves a chance to win the game.

"We weren't winning battles; we were too preoccupied with getting in yelling matches, chirping matches and pushing matches."

Cincinnati took only a minute to score and whip its playoff-high, $1 beer-fueled crowd of 8,676 into a frenzy.

Las Vegas forward Kelly Czuy was penalized for boarding 22 seconds into the game to give the Cyclones a man advantage, and league Most Valuable Player and scoring leader David Desharnais cashed in, punching a rebound in the crease into the back of the net to give Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.

"That was huge," said Desharnais, who had two goals and an assist to give him a league-best 25 playoff points. "We have to send a message that when they have penalties, they're going to have to pay for it, and we made them pay tonight right off the bat."

The Wranglers tied it 1-1 at 6:33 when right wing Peter Ferraro deflected a point shot from defenseman Mike Madill past Cyclones goalie Cedrick Desjardins (22 saves), but Cincinnati answered with a pair of power-play goals 1:06 apart later in the period.

With Las Vegas center Tyler Mosienko already in the penalty box for a cross-checking minor, left wing Bruce Mulherin was whistled for a slashing minor, giving the Cyclones a long two-man advantage.

Defenseman Bryan Schmidt rifled a shot from the high slot past Las Vegas goalie Kevin Lalande (19 saves) with 5:11 left in the first period to give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead. Then, with the Cyclones still on the power play, Mathieu Aubin banged home a rebound of a shot from the slot by Jason Deitsch to make it 3-1.

"We shot ourselves in the foot," Lalande said. "They're a very skilled team, and if we're going to be in the box all night, they're going to make you pay, and that's what they did.

"We know we're a better hockey club than we showed tonight. I think you'll see a different hockey team (today)."

The Wranglers, who outshot the Cyclones 10-8 in the first period, still were within striking distance in the second period. But Desharnais scored his second goal of the night with 2:14 left in the period to give Cincinnati a 4-1 lead, poking the puck past Lalande from a scrum in front of the net.

Las Vegas, which went 1-for-8 with the man advantage, pulled within 4-2 with 13 minutes left on a power-play goal by defenseman Jason Jozsa, but that was as close as the Wranglers got.

"The good thing is we have the ability to take the night to think it over and let it burn inside and come out (today) with the effort we need," Ferraro said.

• NOTES -- The team that wins Game 1 has gone on to win 12 of 19 Kelly Cups. ... Cincinnati, which had the league's top power play (22.2 percent) in the regular season, finished 3-for-7 with the man advantage after starting 3-for-3 and scoring three goals on its first seven shots.

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