Wranglers respond, regain ground on Aces with 2-1 win

Challenged by their coach after losing the opener of a key three-game series against Alaska, the Wranglers responded with an inspired effort Friday at Orleans Arena.

Josh Lunden scored a tiebreaking power-play goal at 6:13 of the third period, and the Wranglers killed three penalties down the stretch to earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Aces before a crowd of 5,254.

Las Vegas (29-14-4, 62 points), which beat Alaska (32-10-6, 70) for the first time in four meetings this season, pulled within eight points of the Aces in the race for the top seed in the Kelly Cup playoffs.

The Wranglers recovered quickly after being beaten 4-2 in Thursday's series opener.

"The guys have a lot of pride," Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel said. "I was hard on them last night, and I think they got the message and responded."

Jeff May set up the winning score, taking a fluttering shot from the left point that Lunden redirected past Alaska netminder Adam Courchaine (21 saves).

"I managed to get a stick on it and it found its way in the net somehow," Lunden said.

Alaska, which finished 0-for-5 on the power play, squandered three man advantages in the final 12:40, the final one with 3:48 remaining, when Michael Busto went off for roughing.

The Aces outshot the Wranglers 12-5 in the period, but Las Vegas, which owns the ECHL's second-best penalty kill, was up to the task.

"We gave up a lot of chances at the end, but our penalty kill stepped up and our power play stepped up," Mougenel said. "It's a testament to the guys that block shots: Jamie Fritsch, Barry Goers, Geoff Paukovich. All those guys block a ton of shots. They were awesome."

Goalie Joe Fallon also played well, making 26 saves, none bigger than a spectacular kick save of a point-blank shot by Dan Kissel, who had an open net with 40 seconds to go.

"That was a breakdown. That shouldn't happen," Fallon said. "Luckily he didn't get what he wanted on it."

Alaska took a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the second period when Jordan Kremyr deflected a shot from the point by Steve Ward past Fallon.

Las Vegas tied it 67 seconds later, when Ryan Weston skated behind the net and dropped a behind-the-back pass in front to Paukovich, who buried it.

The teams wrap up their series at 7:05 p.m. today.

"This was a character win," Lunden said. "Everybody was working for each other and blocking shots. We came together collectively as a team, and that's what it takes to win games like this."

■ NOTE -- Eric Lampe, the league's leading goal scorer (34), missed his second straight game for Las Vegas with a lower-body injury.

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