Wranglers give up 8 goals in loss to Idaho

By Anthony Fenech

Sunday, Jan. 2, 2010 | 11:36 p.m.

After overcoming an early deficit, the Las Vegas Wranglers couldn't hold up defensively Sunday night and lost their second straight game to the Idaho Steelheads.

The team allowed eight goals on 45 shots in an 8-5 loss in front of 3,026 fans at Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho.

Both Tyler Spurgeon and Evan Barlow recorded hat tricks in the victory, as the two scored successive goals in each period.

The scoring opened 2:38 into the game with a short-handed goal from Michael Olson — the first of two short-handed Steelheads goals in the game.

Five minutes later, Barlow, the Idaho left-winger, scored his 16th goal of the year to give the Steelheads an early two-goal lead.

The Wranglers then responded with three consecutive goals from Jeff Hazelwood, Alex Bourret and Matt Kang in the final 10 minutes of the first period and took a lead into intermission.

After Las Vegas's goals, Steelheads goaltender Ronald Bachman was relieved of his duties in favor of Rejean Beauchemin.

The teams then traded a pair of goals each, with Spurgeon and Barlow striking again for the Steelheads to take a one-goal lead before Shay Stephenson and Adam Miller answered to reclaim the lead.

With 2:15 on the clock in the second period, Olson pushed a goal past Wranglers goalie Michael Ouzas to tie the game.

Idaho opened the third period with another quick goal, scoring in the first three minutes of the period.

Mark McCutcheon's short-handed goal just 2:08 into the period put the Steelheads ahead for good. They scored three times on eight shots in the third period.

The Wranglers (17-20-3-1) now have failed to record double-digit shots in a period in two games. They went 0-for-4 on the power play.

Spurgeon scored at the 6:59 mark of the third period and Barlow scored on an empty net to ice the game.

The eight goals were the most allowed by Ouzas this season.

Las Vegas returns to action Friday when it faces the Utah Grizzlies for three games at the end of a 10-game road trip.