Wranglers squander leads but win in OT

Although the Wranglers never trailed Bakersfield on Friday night, they also were never able to build a comfortable lead over the Condors, who came from behind three times to tie the game.

Las Vegas and the announced crowd of 4,183 at the Orleans Arena weren't able to exhale until 2:04 into overtime, when defenseman John Schwarz scored to lift the Wranglers to a 6-5 victory.

Adam Miller centered a pass from the corner to a streaking Schwarz, who dived for the puck and fired it into the back of the net before sprawling onto the ice.

"The pass was a little in front of me, so I just kind of dove at the puck and tried to slap it as hard as I could," Schwarz said of his second goal this season in 42 games. "I don't score too many goals, so when they come, they're nice."

The win wrapped up a 2-1-1 homestand for the Wranglers (20-23-5) against the top two teams in the National Conference, Idaho and Bakersfield.

"It just proves that when we play our hockey, we can beat any team in this league," Schwarz said. "That's the most frustrating part of this season: We've been so inconsistent."

Las Vegas, 11-1-2 in its past 14 home games, will try to improve on its 5-16-3 road record tonight at Bakersfield (26-15-5). But after Friday's game, Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel wasn't sure who his starting goaltender would be.

Las Vegas goalie Michael Ouzas missed Friday's game with a concussion and won't be available tonight, and Wranglers goalie Joel Gistedt (2-5-1), who stopped 31 of 36 shots Friday, was recalled by the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage after the game.

Las Vegas squandered leads of 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 against Bakersfield.

Mick Lawrence scored on a one-timer in front of the net on the power play to give Las Vegas a 5-4 lead with 7:44 left in regulation. But Bakersfield tied it with 5:57 left when Eric Regan's wrist shot from the blue line got past Gistedt.

Jason Krischuk and Alex Bourret scored 99 seconds apart in the second period to give Las Vegas a 4-2 lead with 10:23 left. But Condors forward Mathieu Aubin answered a minute later to make it 4-3, and former Bonanza High School student Adam Naglich scored with 57 seconds left in the period to tie it at 4.

Chris Neiszner gave Las Vegas a 1-0 lead early in the first, and Kyle Hagel made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal. He stole the puck from Regan at center ice before beating goalie Timo Pielmeier (34 saves).

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