Salmon Kings Double up Wranglers

January 30, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Victoria Salmon Kings News Release


Victoria, BC - In a Sunday afternoon regular season contest at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Victoria Salmon Kings took on the Las Vegas Wranglers in the final game of a three game set. The Salmon Kings started David Shantz, while the Wranglers gave Michael Ouzas the call in net, which was his first game since he started in goal at the 2011 ECHL All-Star Classic.

Victoria's Kiel Mcleod's sprung teammate Milan Gajic on a beautiful off the boards feed in the game's opening minutes. Gajic looked to have his defender beaten on the outside before he was dragged down in front of Ouzsas negating the scoring chance. Later in the frame, while on the penalty kill, goaltender David Shantz had to act quickly as a close range shot from Jerry Pollastrone rung off the cross-bar. The puck bounced through the blue crease directly to Wranglers forward Colin Long who had an easy tap in but couldn't beat Shantz who dove back into position to keep the game scoreless. Ryan Turek looked to give the home team an early lead as he intercepted an early pass at the blue line and tried to go top shelf, but was stopped by the shoulder of Ouzas. Both teams exchanged chances in the following minutes as Victoria's Jeff Caister's snap shot was stopped by Ouzas on a 2-on-1; at the other end the Wranglers' Blair Riley tried to go five hole, but was denied by Shantz. The Salmon Kings took an early lead after sustained offensive zone pressure as they worked the cycle down low before Turek's point shot stunned Ouzas and went top shelf. Assists on the goal were from Derick Martin and Ryan MacMurchy. The assist was MacMurchy's 100th career ECHL point. After 20 minutes the Wranglers outshot Victoria 13-10 but the Kings had a 1-0 lead.

Victoria continued their offensive pressure and doubled their lead just 3:42 into the second period when Turek kept the puck in at the blue line and beat one defender before looking at the net. Turek faked a quick snap shot and instead slap-passed the puck to Matt Butcher in front who deflected it between the legs of the Las Vegas netminder. As the Salmon Kings looked for their third marker, Wranglers' captain Tyler Mosienko took a costly holding penalty as Jamie Fritsch was already in the box, which resulted in a Victoria 5-on-3 power play. Just 15 seconds into the two-man advantage, Tim Kraus sent a crisp pass from below the goal line to Rick Cleaver in the slot who one-timed home his 15th goal of the season. While still on the man advantage, David Shantz made a long saucer pass from his crease over the head of two players to a Matt Butcher at the far blue line who looked to move in on a partial break but the play was broken up by Wranglers' defenseman Barry Goers. As the Salmon Kings had the Wranglers hemmed in their own zone for several minutes, Las Vegas' counterattack got on the board at the 15:29 mark of the second after Jerry Pollastrone's shot gave up a big rebound in front and Mosienko was there to finish it off for his eight tally of the season. At the end of the second frame Victoria outshot Las Vegas 26-24 and held a 3-1 advantage into the second intermission.

The Salmon Kings looked to open the third period strong and put away the contest early. Gajic got the frame rolling for the Salmon Kings just 3:25 after puck drop when he finished off a 3-on-1 past Ouzas after Couture's shot found his stick. Just over five minutes later, Las Vegas responded to finish off a strong shift as Geoff Paukovich walked out and tried a wrap around which was stopped by Shantz before Blair Riley tapped in his tenth goal of the season. As Las Vegas built momentum from their second goal of the night, the Salmon Kings slowed the game down in the late stages of the period to halt a comeback. Wranglers' head coach Ryan Mougenel tried to get his team back in the game by calling a time-out in the final two minutes, but the visiting squad was denied any scoring opportunities on net by the Victoria defenders. Salmon Kings 4 Wranglers 2.

Victoria went 1/3 33.3% on the power play, while Las Vegas was 0/3 00.0%. The Salmon Kings outshot the Wranglers 32-31.

The Salmon Kings will now host the Alaska Aces in a three game series next week on Wednesday February 2nd, Friday February 4th and Saturday February 5th with puck drop being at 7:05 for all those games. On Friday February 4th the Victoria Salmon Kings are teaming up with the BC Breast Cancer Society for the fourth annual 'Pink in the Rink' Fundraiser. The players will be wearing pink jerseys that fans can bid on during the game and at a special post-game live auction. For more information on the 'Pink in the Rink' fundraiser and ticket information for the three game series against Alaska, please visit www.salmonkings.com. For tickets call 250-220-7777 or visit www.selectyourtickets.com.



ECHL Stories from January 30, 2011


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