Wranglers tumble to Everblades in Game 2

The Clark County Commission declared Tuesday was "Las Vegas Wranglers Day."

But it definitely wasn't their night.

Leading 2-0 after the first period, the Wranglers gave up seven straight goals to Florida, which evened the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals at a game apiece with a 7-2 victory over Las Vegas in front of 5,569 at Orleans Arena.

The next three games of the best-of-7 series will take place in Estero, Fla., with Game 3 scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday at Germain Arena.

"We're just going to forget about this game," said Wranglers forward Judd Blackwater, who scored a goal. "This game's a wash. It's 1-1 and a best-of-5 (series) going into Florida."

Las Vegas - 7-1 on the road in the playoffs - was tied 1-1 in the Western Conference finals against Alaska before reeling off three straight victories in Anchorage to win the series.

"It's been done before. Hopefully we can do it again," Blackwater said. "We really click on the road. We're a bunch of road warriors in there. We're all confident going into Florida."

The Wranglers, who had allowed only seven goals one other time this season, had limited their playoff opponents to two goals or fewer in 13 of 14 games before Tuesday.

Florida, the league's highest-scoring playoff team, netted seven goals for the third time in five games, snapping Las Vegas' five-game win streak.

"It's disappointing, but if you're going to lose, maybe that's what we needed," Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel said. "Maybe we thought we were better than what we've been. Maybe it's good we got our tails handed to us."

Seven players scored for the Everblades, who netted five goals in less than 13 minutes spanning the second and third periods.

Mathieu Roy started the comeback with a power-play goal at 2:22 of the second, and Florida tallied two goals in 2½ minutes late in the period to take a 3-2 lead.

Justin Shugg tied it 2-2 with a blast from the point that hit a post before landing behind Joe Fallon (21 saves) and bouncing across the goal line. The Everblades hit four posts Monday in a 2-1 loss in Game 1.

Matt Marquardt put Florida ahead with 3:18 left, scoring a one-timer from the right circle with a man advantage.

Florida, which had the ECHL's top power play in the regular season, went 2-for-9 on Tuesday as Las Vegas incurred 54 penalty minutes on 15 infractions.

"We got away from our game," Blackwater said. "A couple calls could've went either way, they capitalized, and we never really responded, and they kind of just poured it on."

The Wranglers came up empty on a power play to start the third period and finished 0-for-5.

Moments later, David Rutherford - who lost five teeth in Game 1 after getting hit with a high stick - scored at point-blank range to make it 4-2, sparking a spurt of three goals in less than four minutes to put the game away.

Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll scored at 5:10 and Brandon MacLean at 7:03.

Leigh Salters, who received a 10-minute misconduct midway through the second for attacking Fallon, capped the scoring with a goal with 1:45 left.

"I don't know how that guy stays in the game after he baseball swings my goalie and cross checks him in the head," Mougenel said. "If (Wranglers agitator) Adam Huxley does that, he gets 10 games."

Florida is 8-0 at home in the playoffs and 19-1-2 dating to the regular season. But Mougenel is confident his players will respond.

"We always do," he said. "We're a resilient bunch. They'll bounce back."

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