Wranglers strike early in opener

Before the playoffs started, Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan said there were three keys to success: getting on a roll, good goaltending and puck luck.

Las Vegas entered Game 1 of the National Conference finals on a roll and got great goaltending and plenty of puck luck on its way to a 5-2 win over Utah on Monday at the Orleans Arena in front of a playoff-high crowd of 4,299.

The Wranglers, who have won 11 of 12 games against the Grizzlies this season, will try to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series at 7:05 p.m. today in Game 2 at the Orleans Arena.

Kevin Lalande (8-3) made 31 saves -- many in spectacular, spread-eagle fashion -- and Las Vegas scored two power-play goals, a short-handed goal and an empty-net goal in a game that was much closer than the final score suggests.

Utah pulled within 3-2 at the 2:17 mark of the third period on a goal by Michael Haley, who beat Lalande in front of the net.

The Wranglers, who led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 after two, regained their two-goal edge with 5:11 left when defenseman Jason Jozsa scored a power-play goal from the right point.

The puck deflected off a Grizzlies player and sailed under the crossbar, giving Las Vegas a 4-2 lead.

"Their forward went down to block it and it hit him in the pants or foot, went up a little bit and got underneath the bar for us," Jozsa said. "It's good to be lucky and lucky to be good. Sometimes when you work real hard, you get those bounces.

Tyler Mosienko sealed the victory with an empty-netter with 18 seconds to go.

"We capitalized on two power plays, got a short-handed goal and an empty-net goal,'' Jozsa said. ''Those four goals for us went our way. They had their chances, but Lalande made a couple huge, huge saves at crucial times for us."

Utah cut its deficit to 2-1 at the 7:40 mark of the second period when Tyler Haskins lifted a rebound of a wraparound shot by Ryan Kinasewich into the top of the net.

But Shawn Limpright scored with 1:20 left in the second period to give Las Vegas a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.

Adam Miller helped set up the score, rifling a shot from the right circle that hit a Utah defenseman's skate and caromed off the boards behind the net to the goal line. Limpright then fired a blind back-hander from near the bottom of the left circle that deflected off the skate of Grizzlies goalie Mike Mole into the net.

"I knew their goalie was way out on the other side and just tried to throw it there," Limpright said. "It was kind of a fluke goal, but I'll take it."

Limpright also set up a short-handed score by Curtis Fraser to give Las Vegas a 2-0 lead late in the first period.

Limpright, who had streaked down the left side of the ice and was set up near the boards, was covered closely by two Utah defenders, but somehow found enough room to slide a cross-ice pass to Fraser, who lifted it into the top of the net.

"I saw a little bit of room and kept carrying it along the wall, saw (Fraser) and tried to slide it under the guy's stick. I managed to get it there and he made a great play to finish it off," Limpright said.

Las Vegas took a 1-0 lead 5:33 into the game on a power-play goal by Adam Cracknell, who lifted a rebound of a shot by Kelly Czuy into the top of the net.

The Wranglers went 2-for-4 with the man advantage and the Grizzlies went 0-for-5.

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