Wranglers end home winning streak, fall to Colorado, 6-4

By Ed Hauth

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011 | 11:33 p.m.

Las Vegas surrendered five first-period goals to Colorado on Tuesday as the Eagles held on to win 6-4, snapping the Wranglers’ six-game home winning streak.

“I obviously didn’t get the guys ready to play. It’s disappointing,” said Ryan Mougenel, head coach for the Wranglers (16-8-1-3). “But I love how we battled at the end. We have to take something out of it. There’s a lot of lessons to be taken from this game.”

Colorado defenseman Jon Landry scored two goals in the first period to help the Eagles win their fifth consecutive game.

Landry opened the scoring with a goal at the 1:54 mark when he lifted the puck towards the net from close to the blue line and the puck found a way through the legs of Wranglers goaltender Joe Fallon.

Landry capped a five-goal first period for Colorado as he scored his 10th goal of the season with only a second left in the opening frame.

In between Landry’s two goals, the Eagles scored three goals in just over a three-minute stretch of action to quiet the Wranglers home crowd.

Colorado defenseman Kyle Peto fired in a centering pass from Kevin Ulanski at the 10:21 mark of the game to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

Just over two minutes later, Eagles forward Michael Forney received a pass near the right crease and blasted the puck top shelf to beat Fallon.

Fallon was relieved of his duties after allowing three goals on eight shots in less than 13 minutes of action.

Backup goaltender Mitch O’Keefe didn’t fare much better than Fallon, as he allowed a goal to Jason Beatty on the first shot he faced of the night.

After allowing another goal midway through second period to fall behind 6-0, the Wranglers showed some signs of life the final 25 minutes of the game to close the game strong.

Las Vegas forward Adam Miller scored two goals in the final five minutes of the second period to trim the deficit to 6-2.

“We have to come out better,” Miller said. “We were a little lackadaisical in the first period. We just need to be more prepared and more detailed. When we have a detailed, strong game like we did in the second and third, there’s not a lot of teams that can beat us.”

Forward Eric Lampe and defenseman Mike Madill added goals in the third period to help the Wranglers score the final four goals of the contest.

Stars of the game: 1. Jon Landry (2 goals); 2. Michael Forney (1 goal, 2 assists); 3. Adam Miller (2 goals, 1 assist).

Colorado avenges lopsided loss: The Eagles avenged their largest loss of the season when they were defeated 9-3 by Las Vegas on Oct. 28 with Tuesday’s victory. Colorado scored six goals in just over half of the contest. Prior to Tuesday, the Wranglers had allowed five goals at home just once on the year.

Miller and Lampe each score three points: Miller scored three points on two goals and an assist while Lampe scored three points on a goal and two assists. The Wranglers now have the third, fourth and fifth leading scorers in the ECHL with Judd Blackwater (32 points), Lampe (31) and Miller (30).

Next up: The Wranglers return to the ice on Wednesday as they travel to Utah to face the Grizzlies at 6:05 p.m. Las Vegas returns to the Orleans Arena on Monday for a 7:05 p.m. showdown with Ontario.

Final word: “It’s 60 minutes not 40. That’s a lesson learned,” Mougenel said. “That’s a lesson learned for me and a lesson learned for our team. They are bright enough guys. They can figure that out as well.”