Wranglers’ No. 1 line puts away Bakersfield

After the Wranglers' 5-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors on Friday at the Orleans Arena, coach Ryan Mougenel repeated what has become a familiar refrain this season.

He praised the play of his top line of Greg Collins, Blair Riley and Geoff Paukovich.

"I thought that was the best line on the ice tonight," he said. "That line has been carrying us."

Riley had a goal and two assists and Collins scored his fourth goal in three games for Las Vegas, which has won four in a row and leads the ECHL Western Conference with 51 points (24-10-3).

"It seems to be a good blend right now," Riley said of his line. "We're all defensive minded, and from there we try to get our offensive game going.

"Collins has been on fire -- everything he shoots on the net seems to be going in -- and Paukovich (6 feet 4 inches, 215 pounds) is a big body."

Las Vegas led 2-0 after the first period before Bakersfield (20-18-1) came back to tie it 2-2 at 9:36 of the second.

The Wranglers regained the lead for good 1:22 later when Collins took a pass in stride in the slot from Centennial High product Eddie DelGrosso and scored to chase Condors goalie Brian Stewart.

Stewart, who gave up three goals on 12 shots, was replaced by Josh Tordjman, who allowed one goal on 18 shots.

Blake Gallagher, who had a goal and an assist, gave Las Vegas a 4-2 lead with 2:38 left in the second, when he snapped in a shot from the high slot.

The Condors closed to 4-3 with 11:41 to play when Michael Gergen scored his second goal of the game, but the Wranglers sealed the victory when Chris Higgins scored an empty-net goal with 1:01 left.

"We did what we needed to do to win," Mougenel said.

Riley gave Las Vegas a 1-0 lead with 6:49 left in the first period, netting a one-timer from the high slot during a two-man advantage.

Colin Long made it 2-0 with 47 seconds left in the period when he scored in front of the net off a drop pass from Justin Bernhardt (two assists).

Las Vegas goalie Joe Fallon (13-7-1) made 25 saves, including a penalty shot by Condors center Joel Broda late in the first.

Bakersfield closed to 2-1 early in the second when Gergen converted on an odd-man rush.

The Condors tied it 2-2 when Jean-Francois David skated hard to the net and slipped the puck inside the post for a power-play goal.

Bakersfield forward Adam Naglich, a Bonanza High graduate, assisted on the play.

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