Wranglers finish off Thunder

One series down, three to go.

That's the mind-set of the Wranglers, who eliminated Stockton from the ECHL playoffs Tuesday night with a 4-1 victory at the Orleans Arena.

Top-seeded Las Vegas captured the National Conference quarterfinal series 4-2 to advance to the conference semifinals, where it will face a well-rested Alaska squad.

The Aces swept defending league champion Idaho 4-0 in their first-round series and have been off since April 13.

Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-7 conference semifinals will take place here at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

"Our goal isn't to win just one round," said Wranglers goalie Kevin Lalande, who made 31 saves Tuesday. "We're happy, but Alaska is going to be a difficult test and we've got to be ready for that."

After falling behind by three goals in each of its last two games, Las Vegas started strong Tuesday, scoring two goals in 31 seconds early in the first period to take control.

Tyler Mosienko gave the Wranglers a 1-0 lead at the 4:56 mark and Curtis Fraser, in his first game back from the American Hockey League, made it 2-0 at the 5:27 mark.

"That was our game plan right there," said Mosienko, who also had an assist. "In the two games prior, we came out flat and it bit us in the butt, so we came out hard and got pucks in the net."

Fraser scored his second goal of the game on an empty-netter in the final minute and has 13 points in six games this season for Las Vegas, which advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year.

"It gives the team a little bit of a mental lift to have a guy like Curtis come back and play," Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We played a little bit more like ourselves.

"We're getting our feet under us in the playoffs, but we're taking on a different animal come Friday and it's certainly going to be a test."

Bruce Mulherin gave the Wranglers a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.

The Thunder made it 3-1 with 6:35 left in the third period on Stephane Goulet's fourth goal in two games, but Lalande helped keep Stockton scoreless the rest of the way.

"Finally Kevin played the game he's played all year," Gulutzan said. "He got his feet under him tonight. I thought he was shaky the first five games of the series, but tonight he looked in control of his game."

Lalande, who gave up four goals in the first 8:17 in Game 5, said he "was focused all day" for "a must-win for us."

"They always say don't judge a goalie by how he falls, but by how he gets back up," Lalande said. "It was real important for me and for my teammates that I came back strong tonight. They worked hard enough to win this series and I owed them a good game tonight."

There were no penalties called in the game.

"Both teams were disciplined and ready to play," Gulutzan said. "The refs let them play."