The Las Vegas Wranglers® defeated the Utah Grizzlies 6-4 tonight to take Game One of the best-of-five series.  Las Vegas forward Kyle Hagel scored two goals and added an assist for three points in the win.  Wranglers netminder Jimmy Spratt stopped 20 of 24 shots, while Utah goalie Mikko Koskinen took the loss, stopping 10 of 15 shots before being replaced by Mike Morrison.

The first period began with Utah leading 1-0 after center Matt MacMillan scored just 35 seconds into the contest.  Alex Bourret tied the game up just under five minutes later on a goal assisted by Mick Lawrence and Adam Miller.  The score remained 1-1 at the end of the period.

In the second period, Utah came out firing to take a quick 3-1 lead.  Tim Maxwell scored a Utah power play goal just 20 second into the period, while Tim Crowder tipped one in from Matt Clarke and James Sixsmith just one minute and 23 seconds later.  The Wranglers answered right back, with an unassisted wristshot scored by Kyle Hagel followed by a goal from Chris Neiszner 11 seconds later to tie up the game.  The Wranglers continued on their hot streak, with Kyle Hagel’s second goal of the night and a top shelf wristshot from Josh Prudden to end the period with Las Vegas up 5-3.

The Wranglers capped their scoring with a Ryan Weston breakaway goal at 10:18 in the third period.  Utah’s effort to catch the Wranglers ended with Tim Maxwell’s second goal of the night just over one minute later.  With that, the Wranglers came out on top 6-4 at game’s end and lead the series 1-0.

The Wranglers will host the Utah Grizzlies again Wednesday night for Game Two of the best-of-five series and the puck drops at 7:05 pm at the Orleans Arena.