 |
POWER
PLAY |
18TH
- 15.7 |
PENALTY
KILL |
23RD
- 79.5 |
FORWARDS |
SCOTT
BURT |
27-33-60
(+2) |
RYAN
KINASEWICH |
23-37-60
(+11) |
KEITH
JOHNSON |
27-26-53
(-4) |
DEFENSEMEN |
JAMES
SANFORD |
9-24-33
(-1) |
SEAN
OFFERS |
2-19-21
(-3) |
JEFF
DWYER |
3-14-17
(-13) |
GOALTENDERS |
MIKE
MOLE |
18-13-1
(0 SO)
3.29 GA
.897 PCT |
|
NATHAN
LAWSON |
17-9-0
(2 SO)
2.91 GA
.906 PCT |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Utah
vs Las Vegas |
|
|
SCHEDULE |
| 1 |
MAY
12 |
UTAH
2 - LAS VEGAS 5 |
SEED
6 |
2 |
MAY
13 |
UTAH
3 - LAS VEGAS 4 (OT) |
SEED
1 |
32-30-2
(74) |
3 |
MAY
15 |
LAS
VEGAS 3 - UTAH 2 (OT) |
47-13-5
(106) |
| |
4 |
MAY
16 |
LAS
VEGAS 5 - UTAH 2 |
|
| |
5 |
MAY
18 |
LAS
VEGAS at UTAH |
|
| |
6 |
MAY
20 |
UTAH
at LAS VEGAS |
|
| |
7 |
MAY
21 |
UTAH
at LAS VEGAS |
|
| Las
Vegas Wins Series 4-0 |
|
SERIES
PREVIEW |
| |
Las
Vegas
This will be the first post-season meeting in history
between the two clubs. During the regular season, the
Wranglers had dominated the Grizzlies with a record of
10-1-0 and an all-time record 16-5-4.
The Wranglers finished the regular season in first place
in the Pacific Division advancing to post-season for their
fourth time since their inaugural season in 2003-04. In
the first round of playoffs, Las Vegas defeated the Stockton
Thunder in six games. The Wranglers faced the Alaska Aces
in the second round; a team that had swept the Idaho Steelheads
in only four games in their first round. Las Vegas defeated
the Alaska Aces in five games to earn their way into the
third round of the Conference playoffs for the first time
in Wranglers history.
The National Conference Finals will begin on Monday, May
11 in the Orleans Arena for Games 1 and 2 those games
will be the first of four games in five nights. The Wranglers
will be led by Captain Peter Ferraro, who has shown his
power and leadership over the last two series with seven
goals and 10 assists in only ten games. Ferraro also led
the team in the regular season with 36 goals and 37 assists.
The offensive point leaders on the Wranglers that the
Grizzlies must overcome are Adam Cracknell (4g, 10a),
Tyler Mosienko (4g, 10a), Adam Miller (3g, 9a), Kelly
Czuy (5g, 5a) and Shawn Limpright (5g, 5a). Limpright
has only appeared in seven of the eleven games due to
an injury that occurred early in the first series against
Stockton.
The Wranglers blue liners have been key contributors.
Jason Jozsa, who had some time on the AHL Grand Rapids
Griffins towards the end of the regular season, has two
goals and four assists, while fellow defenseman Jason
Krischuk has seven assists. Krischuk and Jozsa lead defensemen
in points, but Gerry Burke isn’t far behind with two goals
and three assists.
The Wranglers lines are aggressive and hard-hitting and
have been able to get the puck deep into the opponents’
ice and out-play them all the way around. Even when the
Wranglers’ have the disadvantage, they have an 89 percent
success rate on the power-kill. This will come in handy
since the Grizzlies lead on the power-play for the post-season.
Utah has scored on the advantage every one of four opportunities.
The man in the net and key to most of the Wranglers’ wins
during the post-season has been Kevin Lalande. Lalande’s
record of 7-2-1, with a 2.71 goals-against and a .901
save percentage isn’t quite as impressive as his regular
season record, in which he ranked second overall in the
ECHL with a .932 percent in the net and goals-against
average of 2.05. The back-up goalie Daniel Manzato, back
from the Albany River Rats (AHL) for the second round
will be a strong addition to provide rest time for Lalande
for the back-to-back games in this third round. The Wranglers
definitely have strong goaltending on their side for this
series.
The Wranglers team has shown drive and determination,
not to mention domination in most of their games to date.
I suspect this to continue into the third round against
the Utah Grizzlies. I project the Wranglers to advance
to the Kelly Cup playoffs within six games.
Utah Grizzlies
Utah enters this series against the Wranglers flying high
with confidence. Their offense has generated 40 goals
in just 11 games. This is the first time that the Grizzlies
(ECHL) have advanced past the first round in the postseason
with their 4-2 victory over Fresno in a hard-fought series.
Their second round victory over Victoria was a bit easier
as they took it to the Salmon Kings with some blowout
victories and finished up with an 8-3 victory that was
never in doubt in Game 5.
One big plus for the Grizzlies they lead the postseason
in power play goals with 14 and power-play percentage
with 25.9.
On the down side for the Grizzlies, on the three nights
in the first two rounds when they’ve been off their game,
it’s been way off, exhibited by a pair of shutouts against
and a pair of games in which they gave up sox goals. It
leaves you scratching your head how a team so strong some
nights can have an off night so bad?
Forwards: The Grizzlies were led in the regular
season by veteran captain Scott Burt (voted MVP by his
teammates) and Ryan Kinasewich who both notched a club-leading
60 points. Kinasewich’s numbers were especially impressive
as he only played in 44 contests and had a +11 on a team
which had a lots of goals scored against them. Both are
wily forwards who bury the puck when the chance is there
and are both creative passers. Kinasewich is leading the
club in goals in the playoffs with seven. Burt is playing
his normal grinding, steady style of game but has yet
to break out on the score sheet, but you get the feeling
it‘s only a matter of time until he does. Keith Johnson
was a steady contributor with 53 points in the regular
season and has continued in the playoffs with 13 to lead
the team. Pesky speedster Olivier Labelle notched nearly
a point-per-game with his grinding style and bursts of
speed during the regular season and has continued in the
playoffs with nine points in 11 games. Rookies Rob Sirianni
and Michael Haley have been exceptional so far in the
playoffs with nine points each. Justin Bourne scored a
clutch critical goal in the first round with a perfectly
executed deke move to end the three overtime thriller
in Game 2 against Fresno and is always a threat. Tyler
Haskins has also contributed 10 points in 11 games.
Utah has a tendency to storm the zone and then make a
drop pass to a trailing forward that Victoria and Fresno
both couldn’t find a way to consistently stop. They are
strong in front of the net and provide a lot of traffic
that confounds the opposing net minder.
What is most puzzling is how they can just disappear offensively
at times when at others they are unstoppable. Fortunately,
so far they have been able to flip a switch when they
really need the production and it has been more than enough
to get the job done.
Defense: Utah plays defense as a team and blocks
a lot of shots. They have been exceptionally strong at
playing the trap and keeping the opposing forwards very
frustrated when they dump the puck to the corners to race
around the trap. If the Grizzlies get a lead they are
very tough to come back against.
James Sanford has been an assist whiz so far during the
playoffs contributing 10 and a pair of goals as well.
Andrew MacDonald has also had the touch with two goals
and seven assists. Jeff Dwyer, Jordan Hart, Sean Offers
and the Ian Forbes have all been more than solid on most
nights at keeping the space in front of their goaltenders
clear and getting the puck out of the zone without making
mistakes.
Goaltending: Utah is fortunate to have a pair of
solid goaltenders both capable of winning in the playoffs.
Nathan Lawson had been spectacular throughout the playoffs
and had all the starts until Game 4 of round two when
he was replaced by Mike Mole. Lawson was almost unbeatable
at times though his style can give the Utah fans a few
heart murmurs. He did have a couple nights that weren’t
his best.
Mike Mole took over in the middle of Game 3 against Victoria
and all but shut out the Salmon Kings the rest of the
series. He is expected to see him in net for Game 1 against
Las Vegas. Mole gave up a goal on the first shot he faced
against the Salmon Kings and then only one over next two
games until Victoria scored a pair of garbage goals late
in their final period of the season. Mole plays the puck
exceptionally well and is positionally solid with a glove
that can be spectacular he has gotten several looks from
the higher levels. Lawson is in his first full professional
season, having played four years of Division One hockey
at the University of Alaska-Anchorage and has proven to
be solid.
What to Expect: This is a pair of high flying teams
coming off solid victories in round two. I’d expect some
fireworks on the ice as neither team takes losses easily.
I’d expect some overtimes, perhaps long ones and I’d expect
a lot of goals despite some very strong defensive play
from both squads, they are both loaded.
Prediction: This is a really tough one as Utah
has outplayed expectations twice so far but the Wranglers
should win in six or seven games. Las Vegas has been the
more consistent team both in the regular season and playoffs.
The Wranglers will be in for a real battle though and
if Utah shows up with fire in their eyes every night this
could be a real nail biter.
|
|
| Game
1 |
Utah
2 - Las Vegas 5 |
| by Shellie Lima -
PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Las
Vegas Leads Series 1-0 |
Las
Vegas, NV
- In what promised to be an intense, physical game, the
Las Vegas Wranglers came out on top in Game 1 of the best-of-seven
of the National Conference Finals. The Utah Grizzlies
played a tough, hard-fought game at Orleans Arena but
the incredible goaltending by Kevin Lalande dominated
to give Las Vegas the win with a final score of 5-2.
Early in the first period, the Wranglers’ Adam Cracknell
scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, with assists by
Kelly Czuy and Aaron Power. Then again, at 16:48 into
the first, a short-handed goal by Shawn Limpright to Curtis
Fraser for a slap-shot past Utah’s goalie, Michael Mole
for Fraser’s sixth goal of the playoffs. Tyson Strachan
also received credit for an assist on this goal. The period
ended 2-0 Wranglers.
In the second period, a hard hit on Utah’s Ian Forbes
sent him to the locker room, assisted by his fellow teammates,
as play continued. Then at 7:40 into the period, Utah’s
Ryan Kinasewich held the puck behind the net and as he
used his body to shield the puck, passed to Tyler Haskins
to score his fifth goal of the playoffs; Andrew MacDonald
received an assist on the play, as well. But, late into
the period a goal by Limpright (his sixth), with assists
from Adam Miller and Peter Ferraro ended the period, 3-1
Las Vegas. Utah out shot the Wranglers 15 – 12 during
this period, but they just couldn’t get the puck past
Lalande.
 |
Utah turned it up, with more hard hits, but a few mistakes
proved detrimental in spite of a goal at 2:17 into the
period by Michael Haley (his fifth of the playoffs), with
assists from Rob Sirianni and Sean Offers to close in
on Las Vegas at 3-2. But a high-sticking minor by Offers
gave Jason Jozsa a power-play opportunity to score, with
assists from Bruce Mulherin and Kelly Czuy at 14:49 into
the period. With 1:07 left in regulation, Las Vegas’ Peter
Ferraro was called for tripping, giving Utah the edge.
Mole was pulled from the net, but an intercepted pass
by Tyler Mosienko and a wrist-shot into an empty net gave
Las Vegas a short-handed goal with only 11 seconds left.
Las Vegas scored on two of four power-play opportunities;
Utah failed to score in five attempts. Mole was dealt
his first loss of the playoffs by the Wranglers tonight.
With the win Lalande improved to 8-2 for the playoffs.
There is no reason not to believe the same hard-hitting
intensity will continue in Game 2 on Tuesday, May 13 in
Las Vegas. |
|
| Game
2 |
Utah
3 - Las Vegas 4 (OT) |
| Las
Vegas Wranglers |
Las
Vegas Leads Series 2-0 |
Las
Vegas, NV
- The Las Vegas Wranglers' defeated the Utah Grizzlies
4-3 in overtime in Game Two of the National Conference
Finals on Tuesday night in front of 4,310 fans at the
Orleans Arena. Forward Aki Seitsonen scored 1:36 into
overtime to lift Las Vegas to a 4-3 victory over Utah.
Utah forward Olivier Labelle forced overtime by scoring
with under one second remaining. Seitsonen and right wing
Adam Cracknell each scored twice as Las Vegas gained a
2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven series. Las Vegas
goalie Kevin Lalande stopped 22 of 25 Utah shots for his
tenth playoff victory. Defenseman Mike Madill and left
wing Marco Peluso each handed out two assists in the win.
Grizzlies forward Michael Haley scored twice and added
an assist in the defeat. Utah goalie Mike Mole suffered
the loss, stopping 34 of 38 Las Vegas shots.
The series shifts to West Valley City, UT for Games Three, Four and Five (if necessary). Game Three is scheduled for Thursday, May 15th at 6:05 pm (PDT) at The E-Center.
After a scoreless first period, Utah's Michael Haley broke the drought by scoring the first goal of the evening. Utah center Rob Sirianni set up Haley's sixth of the playoffs just 2:32 into the middle frame. Las Vegas would answer back late in the second period with a pair of goals 2:22 apart. Las Vegas forward Aki Seitsonen scored off a rebound at 13:24. His fourth goal of the playoffs tied the game 1-1. A few minutes later at 15:46, the Wranglers pulled in front of the Grizzlies 2-1 with Adam Cracknell's first goal of the night. Left wing Shawn Limpright set up the play, finding Cracknell cross-ice in the right-wing circle for a redirected shot past Utah's Mike Mole.
Haley tallied for the second time on the evening just 3:31 into the final period, tying the game 2-2. Haley's unassisted tally was his seventh of the post season. The Wranglers answered back at 8:02 with Cracknell's second goal of the night. Madill spotted Cracknell streaking up the left wing. Cracknell took the pass and snapped a wrist shot from the left wing circle, beating Mole glove side and giving the Wranglers a 3-2 lead. Utah forced overtime late in the third period with the goalie pulled for the extra skater. Off a face-off in the Las Vegas zone, Utah's James Sanford played the puck to the Wranglers net in the last five seconds of the game. Right wing Olivier Labelle scooped up a rebound and poked it into the back of the net with the buzzer sounding. Labelle's fourth goal of the playoffs tied the game 3-3 and forced overtime.
In the extra session, the Wranglers worked the puck deep in the Utah zone early in the overtime. Defenseman Jason Krischuk found Seitsonen in the high-slot. The second-year Wranglers fired the puck to the Utah net while falling down. The backhand shot weaved through traffic and into the back of the net giving Las Vegas the 4-3 overtime victory.
The best-of-seven series shifts to West Valley City, UT for Games Three,
|
|
| Game
3 |
Las
Vegas 3 - Utah 2 (OT) |
| by Mike Canady -
PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Las
Vegas Leads Series 3-0 |
West
Valley City, UT
- Bruce Mulherin jammed home a rebound of a shot by Aaron Power off the back glass at 5:46 of overtime to give the Las Vegas Wranglers a commanding 3-0 series lead in the National Conference finals and a 3-2 victory on the night. The goal came on a powerplay after a critical interference penalty was called on Utah’s Keith Johnson. An assist was also awarded to Kelly Czuy who was also poking away at the puck in the crease. For Mulherin the game winner was his third of the playoffs.
The Grizzlies had hoped that returning to the E-Center would change their fortunes after losing the first two games of the series in Las Vegas. For Glen Gulutzan’s Wranglers they were looking to keep things as they had been, shutting down the offensive weapons of the Grizzlies for most of the first two games and they succeeded holding the Grizzlies to just three or less goals for the third straight game.
Aki Seitsonen opened the scoring on the evening with his sixth goal of the playoffs, near the midpoint of the first period finishing a pass from Tyler Mosienko past goaltender Michael Mole (25-28). For Seitsonen it was his sixth of the playoffs and the second consecutive goal in the series as he had buried the game winner in overtime of Game 2. The Grizzlies answered back with a powerplay goal at 15:09 from Micahel Haley, his seventh of the playoffs to even the score 1-1 at the first intermission. Both teams notched 11 shots in the stanza.
The second period had no scoring despite a parade of minor penalties with three against the Wranglers and two against the Grizzlies. Both teams excelled at penalty killing and kept the opportunities to a minimum. The Wranglers did get the better of the shots in the period by a 10-4 bulge.
Utah got a crack at the powerplay early in the third period and forced Kevin Lalande (25-27) to make several nice saves to keep the score tied as Utah moved to a 7-1 shots advantage over the first ten minutes. The momentum appeared to be swinging Utah’s way for most of the period until Tyler Mosienko suddenly tapped in a rebound of a shot off the stick of Jason Josza at 14:25 to give the Wranglers a 2-1 lead and silenced the Utah crowd of 2,918. The Grizzlies were fighting for their playoff lives down the stretch but the Wranglers were effectively closing it down with clearance after clearance. Mole left the net for an extra attacker with ninety seconds remaining leading to defenseman Andrew MacDonald scoring his third of the playoffs to tie the game 2-2 in the dying seconds, as in Game 2, on a screened shot from the point at 19:01 and sending the game to overtime. Shots on goal through regulation were also tied at 27.
Total shots on goal for the night were in the Wranglers favor by a 28-27 count with the only shot on goal of the overtime period being the game winner.
The Grizzlies will be looking to close the gap in the series on Friday night in Game 4 at the E-Center with the puck drop at 7:05PM MDT. The Wranglers will of course be looking to close out the series. Game 5, if necessary, will played Sunday at 4:05 at the E-Center.
Contact the author at Mike.canady@prohockeynews.com
|
|
| Game
4 |
Las
Vegas 5 - Utah 2 |
|
by Mike Canady - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Las
Vegas Leads Series 4-0 |
West
Valley City, UT
- Utah Head Coach Jason Christie tried to get some momentum
going in Game 4 by switching out goaltenders to Nathan
Lawson (10-14) after Mike Mole (17-18) had been unsuccessful
in the last two overtime losses. The move backfired as
Lawson got absolutely bombed when the Wranglers offense
exploded for four first period goals to chase him from
the game after the first period. Las Vegas held on from
there to cruise the rest of the way to a 5-2 victory and
swept the series before an E-Center crowd of 3,982.
Mike Madill scored his first of the playoffs and opened
the scoring for the Wranglers just 2:19 into the game.
Ryan Kinasewich answered back for the Grizzlies to tie
the score 1-1 at 7:59. The Wranglers then took control
and roared out to a 4-1 lead on goals by Curtis Fraser,
Adam Cracknell and Kelly Czuy.
Utah controlled play early in the second period on a pair
of power play opportunities that saw them gain a 12-2
shot advantage over the first nine minutes. They finally
capitalized on the chances and closed the gap to 4-2 on
a powerplay goal from James Sanford who rifled a one-timer
past Kevin Lalande (27-29) who had made several spectacular
saves before finally giving one up. Utah started to get
the momentum going but the Wranglers managed to take it
away on a blast from the stick of Jason Krischuk, scoring
his first of the playoffs late in the period with both
teams skating a man short.
A parade to the penalty box ensued in the third period
that virtually took away any chance the Grizzlies had
to close the gap as they had six consecutive calls against
them, led off by a misconduct and unsportsmanlike call
to Michael Haley for disputing a call of high sticking
on Andrew MacDonald at 7:26. The Wranglers were unable
to capitalize on all the opportunities but they were content
to take the minutes off the clock and move on to the finals.
The Wranglers advance to the Kelly Cup Finals and will
face the winner of the South Carolina vs. Cincinnati series.
For the Grizzlies and head coach Jason Christie it was
a season that definitely exceeded expectations and they
will start making plans to carry over their strong playoff
showing into next season.
Contact the author at Mike.canady@prohockeynews.com |
|
|
 |
|
 |
POWER
PLAY |
4TH
- 20.5 |
PENALTY
KILL |
7TH
- 84.4 |
FORWARDS |
PETER
FERRARO |
36-37-73
(+25) |
ADAM
CRACKNELL |
29-30-59
(+12) |
TYLER
MOSIENKO |
22-37-59
(+12) |
DEFENSEMEN |
AARON
POWER |
9-27-36
(0) |
SEAN
OWENS |
5-9-14
(+8) |
MIKE
MADILL |
4-10-14
(+7) |
GOALTENDERS |
DANIEL
MANZATO |
24-5-4
(3 SO)
2.37 GA
.921 PCT |
|
KEVIN
LALANDE |
17-5-1
(3 SO)
2.05 GA
.932 PCT |
|
|
|
