David Shantz records 28 save shutout in 2-0 victory over Las Vegas

February 12, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Las Vegas, NV - In a Friday night match-up at the Orleans Arena the Victoria Salmon Kings took on the Las Vegas Wranglers in the first of a two game set. The Salmon Kings started Manitoba Moose contracted goaltender David Shantz, while the Wranglers went with ECHL All-Star Michael Ouzas between the pipes.

The game started with an early power play opportunity for the Wranglers, but the Salmon Kings' penalty kill unit was able to shut them down. Seconds after the penalty expired the Salmon Kings countered up the ice. Ryan MacMurchy fired a shot that beat Ouzas cleanly, but went off the crossbar and bounced out. Minutes later, the Salmon Kings broke out in a 3-on-2 rush. Matt Siddall skated down the right side and passed the puck to the middle man Rob Hennigar. The former Windsor Spitfire then in turn fired the puck to Chad Painchaud on the right side. Painchaud got a backhand off, but Ouzas slid over to make the right pad save. The Wranglers then tried to break out, but Siddall rushed back and rocked Nick Ross with a clean open ice hit as the physicality picked up. Matt Stefanishion then came into the left corner and threw a huge hit on Wranglers' defenseman Mathieu Brodeur. The hit caused the puck to come loose as it found its way in front of the net to Derek Couture. The Victoria forward shot the puck past Ouzas, but Brodeur came to the rescue and stopped the puck on the goal line. The teams remained scoreless heading into the second after a hard-fought, physical period.

The second period opened as the teams exchanged end-to-end chances. Las Vegas thought they had opened the scoring after they took a shot on net that Shantz made the initial save on, but the rebound came right out in the slot. The Salmon Kings' goaltender followed the puck perfectly and recovered to make the second save. Five minutes into the frame Wranglers' captain Tyler Mosienko took a penalty with Greg Collins already in the box, which awarded the Salmon Kings a 5-on-3 power play. Victoria would get a couple of shots on net with the two man advantage, but could not crack the Las Vegas crease. Right after the penalties expired, the Wranglers broke in on an odd man rush. Josh Lunden got the puck off a rebound to right of the net, but Shantz stretched across to make an incredible right pad save. As the teams continued to look for the opening goal, Painchaud and Barry Goers looked like they were going to drop the gloves after a scrum in the corner. Goers put the Salmon Kings' forward in a headlock until the linesman came in to break them up. Painchaud received a double minor as the only infraction on the play. Victoria's penalty kill unit was able to stand tall once again as they were able to keep Las Vegas to outside and kill the penalty off successfully. Stefanishion continued to throw his body around after he rocked Blake Gallagher with an open ice hit in front of the Wranglers' bench. The goaltender's duel continued as the game remained scoreless after two periods. Las Vegas held a 22-17 shot edge over Victoria.

David Shantz kept up his stellar play early in the final period after Colin Long and Gallagher broke in on an odd man rush. Long threw the puck over to Gallagher on the right side, but Shantz slid over to make the left toe save. That save was crucial as the Salmon Kings broke the deadlock on the very next play. Rick Cleaver was the recipient of a nice tic-tac-toe play from Ryan Turek and Tim Kraus. Cleaver took the puck in the high slot from Turek and wired a shot past Ouzas at 5:06 for his 18th of the season. The period saw very few whistles as Las Vegas looked to even the score, but the Salmon Kings were able to shut down any offensive opportunity. As Victoria pushed to extend their lead, MacMurchy broke in on shorthanded breakaway with just over five minutes remaining. The University of Wisconsin grad deked to his right side and waited for Ouzas to react, but the Wranglers' goaltender got his glove on the puck to keep it a one goal game. The Wranglers pulled their goaltender with just over minute remaining for the extra attacker, but Ryan Dingle would add an empty net marker to insure the victory. Salmon Kings 2 Wranglers 0

Victoria went 0/2 = 0.0% on the power play, while Las Vegas was 0/7 = 0.0%. The Wranglers outshot the Salmon Kings 28-27.

Victoria will finish off their two game set with the Las Vegas Wranglers Sunday February 13th at 2:05 pm. The Salmon Kings will then travel to Bakersfield, CA for a single game Tuesday February 15th. Game time is at 7:05 pm at the Rabobank Arena. To watch or listen live to Salmon Kings hockey visit www.salmonkings.com.



ECHL Stories from February 12, 2011


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