Wranglers stymie Stockton with 4-2 victory

By Ed Hauth

Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 | 1:18 a.m.

Las Vegas forward Adam Miller ripped a slap shot by Stockton goaltender Olivier Roy with 2:42 remaining in regulation to secure a 4-2 victory for the Wranglers Tuesday evening at the Orleans Arena.

The Wranglers (12-6-1-3) took an early 1-0 advantage on a Ryan Weston power-play goal at the 4:24 mark of the first period and played with the lead the remainder of the night. Weston was assisted by center Ash Goldie and defenseman Barry Goers on his fourth goal of the season.

Las Vegas added to its scoring margin early in the second period when forward Scott Campbell cleaned up a rebound in front of the cage and slapped the puck into the back of the net to hand the Wranglers a 2-0 lead.

“I thought Scott Campbell, Robbie Smith and Chris Francis were outstanding tonight,” Wranglers head coach Ryan Mougenel said. “They really embraced our team identity. They worked extremely hard and got pucks deep, and outworked everybody on the ice. I thought they were great.”

Stockton’s Matt Foy deflected a puck near the net into the cage at the 13:53 mark of the second period to get the Thunder on the scoreboard and trim their deficit in half.

The Wranglers quickly responded as Goldie received a pass just outside the Thunder crease and drilled the puck into the back of the net to give Las Vegas a two-goal advantage just 16 seconds after Foy’s goal.

Stockton right winger Kevin Baker pulled the Thunder back within a goal of the Wranglers when he scored his eighth goal of the season with 1:21 left in the second period.

Las Vegas held onto its 3-2 lead for the majority of the third period before Miller put the game out of reach with his 10th goal of the season in the waning minutes of the contest.

Stars of the game: 1. Ash Goldie (1 goal, 1 assist); 2. Adam Miller (1 goal); 3. Joe Fallon (26 saves).

Top of the Pacific: With the victory, the Wranglers extended their lead in the Western Conference Pacific Division to five points over Stockton and six over Ontario. They will have a chance to extend their division lead even further later this week as they face Ontario for three consecutive games starting on Thursday.

Blackwater and Lampe continue to score: Judd Blackwater and Eric Lampe each recorded a point Tuesday with assists in the third period. Blackwater currently ranks fifth in the ECHL in scoring with 25 points on 10 goals and 15 assists while Lampe ranks seventh with 24 points, including an ECHL best 17 goals.

Next up: The Wranglers return to action on Thursday as they host the Reign at 7:05 p.m. They host the Reign again on Friday at the same time before traveling to Ontario, Calif., on Saturday for the third game of the three-game set with the puck scheduled to drop at 6 p.m.

Final word: “He’s as steady as they come,” Mougenel said of Fallon. “He always makes the saves that he needs to make and he’ll make spectacular saves too. I think the guys feel a lot of confidence in Joe. They like Joe a lot and they play hard in front of Joe.”