Wranglers confident taking 2-0 series lead to Anchorage

Two down, two to go.

The Wranglers are halfway home in their quest to reach the ECHL National Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.

Top-seeded Las Vegas, which has a 2-0 series lead over No. 5 seed Alaska, looks to gain a bigger advantage at 8:15 p.m. today in Game 3 of the conference semifinals at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage -- which also will be the site of Game 4 on Thursday and, if necessary, Game 5 on Friday.

The Wranglers dominated the Aces in the first two games, outshooting them 89-43 and winning by a combined score of 11-1 at the Orleans Arena.

Las Vegas coach Glen Gulutzan said after Game 2 that his team needs to win at least one game in Alaska, but his players are hoping to close out the best-of-7 series on the road.

"We're not looking for just one (win) here, we're looking for two," said rookie center Curtis Fraser, who has four goals in three playoff games and scored late in Game 2 to seal a 3-1 victory. "I feel very confident in our team. We feel really good going into the next set of games."

With the series shifting to the spacious Sullivan Arena, where the ice surface is 15 feet wider than the one at the Orleans Arena, the style of play might change.

"It makes it a lot more difficult to play a physical style of game. If you go out of your way to hit a guy, you might take yourself out of the play," said Fraser, who added that he prefers an "up close and personal, rough and tough" style of play.

"You have to pick your spots to be physical, but I don't think it changes our game much," he said. "We're a pretty fast team and skating is one of our best assets. The bigger ice is only going to help us."

Alaska defenseman Lee Green, who played for Las Vegas the past two seasons, disagrees.

"Vegas plays a real defensive style in their rink," he said. "They clog up the neutral zone real well, but I think that will be more of a problem in a bigger rink to play that style.

"Our forwards will have a little more room, and they have their skill level back and the extra jump they need to beat this team. Our confidence level is still high."

Green attributes Alaska's 8-0 loss in Game 1 to "a little bit of rust" from having almost two weeks off after its first-round sweep of Idaho.

"I didn't feel like we played our game until the second period of the second game," he said. "We need to keep that same momentum going in our building here the next three games.

"(Tonight) is a huge game in the series for both teams. It's a big momentum swing if we can get this game and make the series 2-1 instead of 3-0."

The Wranglers lost all three games in Alaska this season in shootouts.

"Every game's going to be a battle," said Las Vegas forward Kelly Czuy, who played at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks with Fraser and Aces forward Cam Keith. "We've just got to stick to our game plan and play a full 60 minutes of hockey, and we'll be all right."

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