Las Vegas Review-Journal - Sports

Lalande made that mistake when these ECHL playoffs began, and it took him five games to overcome it. He has done so in terrific fashion.

His eighth win of the playoffs Monday evening was richly deserved, and in stopping 31 of 33 shots he allowed Las Vegas to open its best-of-7 National Conference final series against Utah with a 5-2 victory that was far closer than its score.

It was a performance surely good enough to keep Lalande on the ice for tonight's Game 2, but a goalie's starting role at this level is always a fragile existence. He knows the truth well.

Lalande received the opening nod as much for his success against the Grizzlies this season as anything else, but his journey over the last month also played a part.

Simply, he didn't crumble when things got heated under that mask, when his confidence was shaken in a first-round series against Stockton like all those macaroni-and-cheese noisemakers at the Orleans Arena on Monday.

It is a far different Lalande than the one who quietly predicted great success against Stockton and then struggled to stop much of anything.

But he found something in a series-clinching 4-1 win and then gained three of the team's four victories against Alaska in the second round. What he discovered is anyone's guess, other than it probably saved Las Vegas from yet another disappointing early exit.

"I hate to try and dive into what a guy is thinking, but Kevin obviously struggled (early) in the playoffs," coach Glen Gulutzan said. "He was shaky. He wasn't himself. You could see his confidence wobbling a bit. I don't know if he wasn't intense enough. I don't know if he misjudged anything.

"Kevin has a little bit of a cocky personality. Good goalies have a bit of swagger to them. Kevin has that. ... The biggest difference tonight was Kevin Lalande. He made some of his best saves of (the playoffs)."

The Wranglers fashion themselves a side capable of winning no matter an opponent's style, but if Game 1 is any indication of how things will go over the next week or so, they can pretty much scratch any of those finesse concepts.

Las Vegas grinds as well as anyone in the ECHL, which is a good thing given the other guys. Utah is hardly your minor league version of the Red Wings. The Grizzlies are as elegant as a John Deere tractor. They're not going away anytime soon and they're certainly not going to stop chucking and hitting and introducing the faces of Las Vegas players to the boards.

Which means games are likely to be close and whom Gulutzan chooses to crouch in goal each night just became more significant than usual.

How's this for irony: Lalande began playing better in the postseason when fellow rookie goalie Daniel Manzato returned from time with Team Switzerland near the end of the Stockton series.

Crazy. He began producing better results when his main competition all season was back fighting for time.

"We get along great off the ice, and had Danny been here the first couple of games of playoffs, he would have taken over because I didn't deserve to be out there," Lalande said. "But luckily for me, the guys played unreal against Stockton and gave us a chance to win when I wasn't at my best.

"I don't want to use the rookie thing as an excuse. After six or seven months, no one is a rookie. But obviously there is some learning to do and I'm just picking up as I'm going."

Utah's two goals each came off crisp passes in close, the first when Lalande slid to cover a potential wrap-around shot. The chances were far too good for the goalie to solely be assigned blame, which means Las Vegas should discuss how better to contain traffic.

For his part, Lalande made his biggest saves at the most crucial times. There were a few potential back-door chances where he threw a leg out to deflect potential disaster, where he went crazy acrobatic to deny shots.

"If you're going to make a run in the playoffs," defenseman Jason Jozsa said, "you need a goalie doing that for you."

Some rookies never learn.

It's safe to say Lalande has, and then some.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.