Fallon Denies Stockton in Shootout

December 31, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Las Vegas Wranglers News Release


Las Vegas, Nev- In their last game in 2010 the Las Vegas Wranglers defeated the Stockton Thunder in a shootout in front of 6,480 at the Stockton Arena. For the second night in a row forward Jamie Bates was awarded with the first star of the game honor to go along with his goal, assist, and game-winning lone shootout tally. Bates also fought Chris Lawrence in the contest earning him the illustrious "Gordie Howe Hat Trick".

Ryan Huddy netted two goals in the contest including the game- tying goal in the third period and Sean McMonagle had two assists in the win. Huddy now leads the Wranglers in goals scored with fifteen, and total points with twenty-four. Both teams tallied on the power play, Las Vegas had two man-advantage opportunities while Stockton had four.

For the second time this season the Wranglers goaltending stole one in Stockton as the shots on net for Las Vegas never exceeded more than seven in a period. Stockton was able to tally 42 shots on net while the Wranglers managed 19 including the extra overtime frame. Goaltender Joe Fallon was epic in net for the Wranglers turning away 39 of those 42 shots and denying all five Thunder bids in the shootout. Fallon increases his record to 6-4-1 with his back-to-back wins in Stockton.

Thunder net minder Garrett Zemlak tallies another shootout loss on the season and falls to 2-6-3 in his time with the Thunder. With the win the Wranglers are now riding a two-game winning streak and have increased their lead in the Pacific division to seven points over Stockton and eight points over Bakersfield. Stockton falls to 12-10-6 on the season and continues on their 0-5-2 skid while Las Vegas improves to 17-7-3 overall, 8-3-2 on the road, and 3-0 against Stockton.

Las Vegas opened the scoring at 15:02 of the first period when Ryan Huddy tallied his fourteenth goal of the season assists going to Blake Gallagher and Sean McMonagle. Stockton tied the game at 19:57 of the first period with Garet Hunt's power plat goal assisted by Mark Arcobello and Fraser Clair. After one period of play the game was knotted at one.

Jamie Bates' power play goal at 10:43 of the second period assisted by Sean McMonagle and Ryan Huddy put Vegas back on top 2-1. Stockton tied it back up at 11:14 of the second period with Jesse Gimblett's seventh goal of the season assisted by Chris Lawrence and Craig Valette. After two periods of play the game was tied at two.

Stockton tallied early in the third period to take their only lead of the game. Chase Ryan netted his first goal of the season with the lone assist going to Pierre- Andre Bureau. At 9:45 of the third period Center Ryan Huddy scored his team leading fifteenth goal of the season assisted by Jamie Bates and Kevin Schaeffer to knot the contest at three and send it to overtime.

Neither team was able to score in the sudden death extra frame as the game headed to a shootout. Stockton shot first in the shootout, but it did not matter. The first three shooters for both teams were blanked as the fourth round approached. Chris Lawrence represented the Thunder's fourth attempt and was denied by Joe Fallon leaving the door wide open for Las Vegas and sniper Jamie Bates who was the only skater to tally in the shootout. The Wranglers did not take a fifth shot in the shootout as Joe Fallon turned away all five attempts from the Thunder and iced the victory for Vegas, 4-3.

The Wranglers now head to Alaska for a three-game set starting on January 5th. Las Vegas does not return home to the Orleans Arena until January 14th when they host the Ontario Reign.

The Las Vegas Wranglers© are the ECHL affiliate to the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes and the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage.

2010-11 season seat packages are on sale now at (702) 471-PUCK. The Wranglers play all 36 regular season home games at the Orleans Arena, located adjacent to the Orleans Hotel and Casino at 4500 W. Tropicana Avenue.



ECHL Stories from December 31, 2010


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