Wranglers fall in 3OT this time

Elation one night, agony the next.

The Wranglers experienced both extremes in a pair of marathon ECHL playoff games against Idaho on Tuesday and Wednesday at Orleans Arena.

A night after outlasting the Steelheads 1-0 in double overtime, Las Vegas suffered a 3-2 loss in triple overtime Wednesday.

Idaho defenseman Dustin Friesen scored from the blue line at 8:13 of the third extra period for the Steelheads, who tied the best-of-5 Western Conference quarterfinal series at a game apiece.

Friesen's shot sailed into the top left corner of the net over the shoulder of Wranglers goaltender Michael Ouzas, who was using defenseman Craig Switzer's stick after losing his own moments earlier.

The game, which last 108 minutes, 13 seconds, was the sixth longest in ECHL playoff history. Game 1, which Las Vegas won on Ryan Huddy's unassisted goal, lasted 97:44.

Las Vegas, which outshot Idaho 46-43, came up empty on power plays in each of the first two overtimes and finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

Steelheads rookie goalie Jerry Kuhn, a night after making 48 saves, stopped 44 Wednesday. Ouzas, who stopped 29 shots in Game 1, made 40 saves.

Game 3 of the series is at 6:10 p.m. Friday in Boise, Idaho.

The Wranglers went on a power play with 3:13 remaining in the second overtime -- when former Las Vegas forward Adam Huxley was penalized for boarding -- but they couldn't generate any quality chances.

The Steelheads made several strong bids during a power play at 10:16 of the first overtime. But the Wranglers blocked five shots, and Ouzas stopped several others to preserve the 2-2 tie.

Idaho tied it 2-2 at 9:48 of the third period, when Marty Flichel scored on a power play from the left circle. Evan Barlow set up the score with a crisp cross-ice pass from the right circle.

The Steelheads, who had the ECHL's top power play during the regular season, went 0-for-2 in Game 1, but converted 2 of 5 man advantages Wednesday.

Las Vegas took a 2-1 lead at 2:01 of the third period when Chris Higgins took a quick pass in the right circle from Justin Bernhardt and lifted it into the top left corner.

Idaho's Mark Derlago tied it 1-1 with 38 seconds remaining in the second period, when he buried a rebound of a point shot by Friesen. The power play snapped the Steelheads' scoreless stretch of 2 hours, 17 minutes, 6 seconds in the series.

The game was scoreless until 8:19 of the second, when Las Vegas' Blair Riley rifled a one-timer past Kuhn.

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