Ice Dogs Barely Lose to Las Vegas

Todd Gillingham appeared to beat Las Vegas goalie Rick Knickle but not the final buzzer and Thunder beat the Ice Dogs, 3-2, Saturday night in front of an announced 4,287 at the Sports Arena.

Trailing by two goals, Ice Dog Coach John Van Boxmeer pulled goalie Dave Littman at 17:15 to try to nullify a Las Vegas power play and eventually give the Ice Dogs a man advantage.

It nearly worked.

Patrik Augusta scored with 37 seconds left to bring the Ice Dogs within one. Exactly 37 seconds later, Gillingham was dancing on the ice by the Thunder net, only to see that referee Kelly Sutherland rule no goal. Van Boxmeer said that his players told him it might not have been a goal even had the play beat the clock.

Indeed, the telling statistic was the power play: Las Vegas converted three of its seven opportunities while Los Angeles was 0-7.

In the Western Conference playoff race, the Ice Dogs slipped to a tie for seventh place. Eight of the conference’s 10 teams make the playoffs. Given the strength of the opponents down the stretch--half of the Ice Dogs’ final 10 games come against IHL division leaders plus 47-game winner Utah--the Ice Dogs (31-30-12) have their work cut out for them.