Wranglers complete sweep of rival Aces

Playing without three of their top four scorers Tuesday night, the Wranglers didn't miss a beat against the Alaska Aces.

Greg Collins scored two goals and Joe Fallon recorded his second shutout of the season as Las Vegas capped an impressive three-game sweep of Alaska with a 4-0 victory at the Orleans Arena.

The Wranglers (23-10-3, 49 points) claimed the best record in the Western Conference with the win. They outscored the Aces (21-14-2) 13-3 in the series, winning 4-1 Saturday and 5-2 Sunday.

Las Vegas was missing leading scorer Ryan Huddy (32 points) and forward Ned Lukacevic (18), who on Monday joined Wranglers forwards Jamie Bates (31) and Tyler Mosienko (17) in the American Hockey League with the San Antonio Rampage.

"We're missing some offensive guys, but that's not the makeup of our hockey club," coach Ryan Mougenel said. "What I'm about and what I've tried to create here is that hard work equals success.

"Our team just works hard."

Eight players scored in the sweep for Las Vegas. Collins had three goals and Blake Gallagher, Jonathan Milhouse and Justin Bernhardt had two apiece.

The Wranglers, who scored on their first two shots Sunday, also scored on their first attempt Tuesday.

Collins netted an unassisted goal at 1:09 to give Las Vegas a 1-0 lead. He streaked in from center ice and beat Alaska goalie Adam Courchaine (19 saves) with a blast from the right circle.

Collins, third on the team in goals (11) and points (20), made the score 2-0 with 9:15 left in the first period when he buried the rebound of a point shot by Barry Goers.

Milhouse made it 3-0 at 7:39 of the second period when he drove hard to the net along the goal line and deked Courchaine with a nice move.

Gallagher capped the scoring at 5:56 of the third period when he scored in front of the net off a nice feed from behind the net from Bernhardt.

"We're playing outstanding," Fallon (12-7-1) said. "Every night we have a chance to win."

Fallon, who made 20 saves, has five professional shutouts after notching 20 at the University of Vermont.

"In college, shutouts came pretty easy, but in pro hockey, shutouts have been hard to come by," he said.

n NOTES -- Wranglers goalie Michael Ouzas and forward Dan Bertram were activated from the injured reserve. ... Las Vegas signed forward Don Maloney Jr., whose father played 13 seasons in the NHL.

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