Wranglers start quickly, gain fourth straight win

Apparently, there was no post-New Year's hangover for the Wranglers.

A sharp first period Saturday gave Las Vegas a 3-0 cushion against Utah, and that was good enough to get the Wranglers past the Grizzlies 4-1 at the Orleans Arena as Ryan Mougenel's team started 2010 on a positive note in front of a crowd of 4,252.

"I can't think when we've had three in the first period," Mougenel said. "But they're a really good team and even up three goals, you can never get comfortable."

The win, the Wranglers' fourth in a row, was a rare one over the Grizzlies (15-12-3). In 10 meetings between the teams this season, Saturday's victory was the second for Las Vegas (13-14-3).

The Wranglers will try to make it three wins against the Grizzlies when the teams meet at 2:05 p.m. today in the second game of a back-to-back series.

Las Vegas got strong special teams play Saturday, getting an early power-play goal from Mick Lawrence, as the team's top sniper unleashed a slap shot from just inside the top of the right face-off circle that handcuffed Utah goalie Beau Erickson and sailed over his left shoulder for Lawrence's 11th goal of the season.

"He's made more of a commitment to play all over the ice," Mougenel said. "He's going real well for us right now. When he hits, he's involved, and he's creating scoring chances for himself."

Ned Lukacevic made the score 2-0 as he took advantage of a puck-handling miscue by Erickson and scored from near the goal line on the right side. Kyle Hagel then made the score 3-0 shortly after he returned to the ice following a fight with Ryan-James Hand, one that came after Utah coach Kevin Colley called timeout and a brawl Mougenel said he thought was premeditated.

The Wranglers also did a good job killing penalties. That unit got plenty of work, thanks to a constant parade to the penalty box. Utah was 1-for-6 on its power play, and the goal came on a 5-on-3 advantage early in the second period.

"We got away from what made us successful early in the second period," Mougenel said. "We were careless, and it cost us."

But thanks to Las Vegas goalie Michael Ouzas, the cost to the Wranglers didn't come at a premium. Ouzas, who won his 10th game of the season, had another strong game Saturday, stopping 28 of 29 shots as the Wranglers won their seventh straight at home.

"It's about giving the team a chance to win," Ouzas said. "We took some bad penalties, but we stayed in there and the boys did a good job of killing them off."