The announced crowd of 4,899 at Sullivan Arena was poised to erupt in ecstasy. Instead, there was only the silence of sorrow.
The Las Vegas Wranglers swarmed Eric Lampe in jubilation - they enjoyed sudden life. The Alaska Aces glided off the rink forlornly - they were pierced by sudden death.
Overtime hockey is often a crapshoot, and Sunday night the Wranglers came out on the celebratory side when Lampe's rebound strike 3 minutes, 11 seconds into extra time delivered a 3-2 victory that swung momentum their way in the ECHL's Western Conference finals.
Lampe, the league's leading sniper in the regular season, furnished the Wranglers a 2-1 edge in the best-of-7 series that continues Tuesday night at Sullivan.
Lampe's goal capped a chaotic sequence in the Aces zone. Stationed near the right post, he snared a rebound of Barry Goers' shot from the right circle on his backhand, transferred the puck to his forehand and flicked it past Aces goaltender Gerald Coleman.
"It was just a bouncing puck,'' Lampe said. "In overtime, you just want to throw pucks at the net. I was in the right place at the right time.
"It's just about who is going to make the first mistake, and then it's in the back of your net. Fortunately, it wasn't us.''
Coleman, who was tremendous in making 31 saves and keeping the defending Kelly Cup champions in the game until they found their stride, smiled wryly afterward.
"That's playoffs, and that's the way it goes,'' he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "End of story.''
The Aces, who lost consecutive games for the first time this postseason - the Wranglers won Game 2, 3-0, in Nevada on Friday - enjoyed two chances, one late in regulation, the other a minute before Lampe struck, to come out on the joyous side of things.
With 9.5 seconds left in regulation, defenseman Steve Ward carried the puck low into the right circle as Wranglers goalie Joe Fallon (29 saves) was sprawled on his left side at the top of his crease. With the puck in front of him and his stick extended, Ward couldn't generate enough leverage to lift six ounces of vulcanized rubber. He slid a shot into Fallon's armpit, where the puck was smothered for a whistle.
Fallon was also able to track Nunn's long wrister on a rebound two minutes into overtime, stopping it after it squeezed through traffic, and again getting a whistle.
Just as the Aces grabbed Game 1 in Las Vegas with a 2-1 victory at Orleans Arena, the Wranglers, who never trailed Sunday, came north and seized the series' first game at Sullivan.
After playing three games in four nights in two states, and traveling on the "off'' day of the series Saturday, the teams get a practice day Monday before Tuesday's Game 3 and Wednesday's Game 4.
The Aces forced overtime when winger Scott Howes, the reigning Kelly Cup Most Valuable Player, scored a goal that brought to mind his explosive performance last spring. Coming off the goal line on right wing midway through the third period, Howes cut right to left across the slot, used his right hip to hold off Scott Campbell and slid a shot inside the left post to forge a 2-2 tie.
"It was a deserved 2-2 tie, for both teams,'' said Aces coach Rob Murray. "Both teams did a great job, especially with goaltending, to make it 2-2.''
Coleman made arguably his biggest save of the night about 13 minutes into the third period, when he reached back with his stick to stop former Seawolves winger Josh Lunden. Earlier in the period, he denied Wranglers defenseman Jamie Fritsch coming down the slot and snuffed Lampe's rebound at the right post.
In the first period, Coleman made three consecutive stops on Lampe from point-blank range and near period's end stacked his pads to deny Campbell. And in the second period, he reached back with his stick to rob Campbell.
"Those are the kind of games you want to get for your goalie because he's playing so well,'' lamented Aces defenseman Kane Lafranchise.
Fallon, who has surrendered just four goals in the three series games, obviously was no slouch either.
The teams traded first-period, power-play goals from defensemen, with Jeff May scoring five minutes into the game and Lafranchise, the rookie, answering four minutes later with his first playoff goal as a pro.
Former Ace Judd Blackwater, who figured in all three Wranglers goals, furnished a 2-1 lead midway through the second period with a wrister from the left circle.
After Howes' goal prompted overtime - the Aces have lost both OT games this postseason, falling 3-2 as well to Stockton in the previous round - the game came down to the first team to cash in on a bounce.
"It sucks when it's a crazy bounce,'' said Aces winger Wes Goldie. "You hope it's a nice play in overtime, but it's usually a crazy bounce.''
But just as the Wranglers redeemed themselves in Game 2 after their Game 1 loss, they expect the Aces to push back in Game 4.
"They're a good team, and we know they're going to bounce back,'' Lampe said.
Murray expects as much after Sunday's disappointing ending.
"You're going to win some of those and lose some of those,'' he said. "That's why it's a seven-game series.''
Shuffling the deck
Underwhelmed with his team's attack in the Game 2 shutout loss, Murray shuffled his lines to create three new ones.
Ryan Cruthers centered Howes and Goldie, Nick Mazzolini moved from wing back to the pivot to center Dan Kissel and Nunn, and captain Brian Swanson centered rookies Tim Hall and Jordan Kremyr. Center Chris Langkow became the 10th forward and also skated some shifts at wing.
Hall replaced Zach Harrison in the lineup and rookie defenseman Brock Shelgren moved into the lineup for the injured David Shields (lower-body injury). Defenseman Brandon Gentile (upper-body injury) missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury.
Wranglers coach Ryan Mougenel again went with 11 forwards and five defensemen.
Lampe and Blackwater led all shooters with six shots on goal each. Las Vegas' Campbell and Alaska's Kissel and Cruthers each fired four shots.Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
Las Vegas 1 1 0 1- 3
Aces 1 0 1 0 - 2
First Period - 1, Las Vegas, May 2 (Lampe, Blackwater), 5:01 (pp); 2, Aces, Lafranchise 1 (Cruthers, Nunn), 9:01 (pp). Penalties - B. Miller, Aces (slashing), 3:30; MacArthur, Las Vegas (slashing), 8:06.
Second Period - 3, Las Vegas, Blackwater 2 (A. Miller), 9:25. Penalties - Cruthers, Aces (slashing), 4:43; Goldie, Aces (tripping), 12:03; Fritsch, Las Vegas (cross-checking), 15:10.
Third Period - 4, Aces, Howes 1 (Shelgren, Goldie), 9:04. Penalties - None.
Overtime - 5, Las Vegas, Lampe 4 (Goers, Blackwater), 3:11. Penalties - None.
Shots on goal - Las Vegas 12-8-10-4-34. Aces 7-9-12-3-31.
Power-play Opportunities - Las Vegas 1 of 3. Aces 1 of 2.
Goalies - Las Vegas, Fallon, 4-1 (31 shots-29 saves). Aces, Coleman, 5-3 (34-31).
A - 4,899 (6,399). T - 2:39.
Referee - Ryan Murphy. Linesmen - Steve Glines, Travis Jackson.
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