Wranglers continue unbeaten start

It hasn't taken long for Las Vegas to serve notice to the rest of the ECHL that it will again be a force to be reckoned with this season.

The Wranglers raised their record to 3-0 with a 3-2 victory over Stockton on Tuesday at the Orleans Arena, getting two goals by Bruce Mulherin and a stellar performance by rookie goaltender John Curry.

Las Vegas, which plays at Victoria on Friday and Saturday and returns home Nov. 2 to play Utah, also got a goal by Peter Ferraro.

The Wranglers finished a two-game sweep of the Thunder (0-3) for their 16th consecutive regular-season victory. The first 13 came last season, of course, but Las Vegas is again showing it will be one of the ECHL's top teams.

"We wanted to set a tone and let other teams know this is going to be a tough place to play again," said defenseman Jason Jozsa, who had two assists.

Curry, named ECHL goaltender of the week Tuesday, stopped two early breakaways and then helped hold off a furious push by the Thunder in the final minute.

"That last flurry we were pretty sound defensively and we had some good wall battles," Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan said. "When you get a goalie playing well, it gives the whole team confidence, and that's half the battle. I thought he was really good tonight."

Curry made 25 saves, including one late in the first period against right wing David Rohlfs, who stole the puck from Wranglers defenseman Mike Madill at the blue line on a Las Vegas power play and raced down the ice, only to be stoned by Curry.

Early in the second, Curry blocked a shot by center Brandon Schwartz on another shorthanded breakaway.

"Those breakaway saves were key, and hopefully we can eliminate those mistakes by year's end," Gulutzan said. "Those were big saves at critical times. That's what you need from a goaltender, and he certainly gave them to us."

Mulherin scored two goals 2:29 apart early in the second period to give Las Vegas a 3-1 lead. He banged home a rebound on a power play at the 4:04 mark, then beat Thunder goalie Cam Ellsworth from the right point at 6:33.

"Bruce got those goals the old-fashioned way. He went to the net and he worked hard to get them," Gulutzan said. "He gave us some juice tonight."

Jesse Bennefield got Stockton within 3-2 with 5:04 to play when he beat Curry on a power play from out front, but the Wranglers held on.

• NOTES -- Curry, from Boston University, earned the ECHL honor after winning his first two pro starts, 2-1 in overtime at Fresno on Friday and 4-1 against Stockton on Sunday. He carried a 0.97 goals-against average and .966 save percentage into Tuesday. ... The Wranglers put defenseman Sean Owens on the three-day injured reserve list and activated Tyson Strachan, a rookie defenseman from Ohio State. Rookie forward Curtis Fraser is on the seven-day IR with an upper-body injury. ... Former Wranglers enforcer Adam Huxley was whistled for a charging major in the first period and got a game misconduct.