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West Valley City, Utah - The Las Vegas Wranglers defeated the Utah Grizzlies 3-2 in overtime Thursday night at the E-Center to take a 3-0 series lead in the ECHL's National Conference Finals. For the second-straight game, Utah tied the game in the final minute of regulation.
Utah first tied the game at one 15:09 into the first period as Tyler Haskins knocked in a rebound on a power-play goal. Las Vegas took a 1-0 lead 5:54 earlier with an Aki Seitsonen goal as Utah had trouble clearing the puck in their own end.
The second period saw Las Vegas outshoot Utah 10-4 as the Grizzlies went 4-4 on the penalty-kill.
In the third, Utah had two power-play opportunities but was unable to score. Following a face-off, Tyler Mosienko knocked home a goal with 5:35 left to give Las Vegas a 2-1 lead.
Utah Head Coach Jason Christie used his timeout with just over a minute to go in regulation and it paid dividends for Utah. Tyler Haskins won a face-off to Keith Johnson who got the puck to Andrew MacDonald in the high-slot to give Utah the 2-2 tie.
Utah took the first four shots in overtime before the Wranglers were awarded a power-play and Bruce Mulherin knocked in a puck off of the back glass to give Las Vegas the 3-2 win 5:11 into the overtime. The win was Las Vegas' second-straight overtime win in the series versus Utah after winning 4-3 in overtime Tuesday.
The Grizzlies will look to keep their 2007-2008 season alive Friday when they will play host to Las Vegas again at the E-Center at 7:05 p.m. Game five, if necessary, is scheduled for Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
