Wranglers score first-period KO

Staggered by Alaska in a Game 1 loss, the Wranglers landed all the big blows early in Game 2 and scored a knockout by the end of the first period.

Las Vegas scored twice in the opening 4:06 and added another goal in the final minute of the first period to chase Aces goalie Gerald Coleman en route to a 3-0 victory Friday night at Orleans Arena.

The win evened the best-of-7 ECHL Western Conference finals at 1-1, with the first of a potential four straight games in Alaska slated for 8:15 p.m. Sunday at Sullivan Arena.

"They basically called us out, just with their play, and we wanted to come out and respond and answer the bell, and I thought we did that tonight," Wranglers left wing Scott Campbell said. "It was huge. We didn't want to go down 2-0 having to go up there winning at least three in their barn."

Campbell, who scored Las Vegas' goal in its 2-1 series-opening loss Thursday, delivered two goals Friday for a team-leading seven in the playoffs.

"He's an amazing player," Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel said. "He can play in the NHL. I'm confident in that."

Josh Lunden had a goal and two assists, Pete MacArthur had two assists, and Joe Fallon stopped all 23 Alaska shots to deal the defending Kelly Cup champion Aces their first shutout loss in the playoffs since 2009.

Las Vegas came flying out of the gates, scoring 88 seconds in when Lunden buried a rebound of an Ash Goldie shot in front of the net. MacArthur also assisted.

Campbell made it 2-0 at 4:06, taking a pass in front from Lunden before beating Coleman, and the Wranglers were in control the rest of the way.

"That's the start we needed, and that's what we got, and we got the stops we needed from Joe Fallon. He was phenomenal," Mougenel said. "They really gave it to us (Thursday). It really should've been 5-1 or 6-1. But maybe it was a good wake-up call for us. Maybe it was a blessing."

Campbell gave Las Vegas a 3-0 lead with 42 seconds left in the first, scoring after MacArthur zipped a pass to him from the left circle to the right circle.

"The first two minutes and last two minutes of each period are crucial to setting the tempo for the game," Campbell said. "I thought that was big to get that lead and really clamp it down."

Coleman, who suffered his third loss in his past 20 playoff games, gave up three goals on 15 shots before getting replaced by James Reid to start the second period.

Alaska went on a two-man advantage for more than a minute midway through the second, but Las Vegas killed penalties on Lunden and Geoff Paukovich as the crowd of 3,508 came alive.

Games 4 and 5 will take place Tuesday and Wednesday in Alaska, with Game 6, if necessary, scheduled for Friday at Sullivan Arena, which features an Olympic-sized sheet of ice.

"We want to go up there and skate the tar out of them," Mougenel said. "We're looking forward to the big ice."

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