Lance Galbraith frequents the sketchiest precincts on the rink -- unpleasant things happen in front of the net, along the boards and in the corners -- and his visits usually explain whatever cut, bruise or abrasion his face bears at the moment.

And those are just the marks you can see. At times like these, deep into hockey's postseason, the Alaska Aces' veteran winger sometimes walks with the labored gait of a man double his 29 years.

Saturday night, prosperity soothed his pain. Galbraith's power-play strike from the edge of the crease late in the second period helped deliver the Aces' 2-0 win over the Las Vegas Wranglers in Game 1 of the ECHL's best-of-7, National Conference finals.

The rugged play in front of an announced crowd of 5,757 at Sullivan Arena -- the Aces and Wranglers traded thundering hits -- was just the reason Aces coach Keith McCambridge plucked Galbraith from the Central Hockey League earlier this season. He wanted more grit, and figured Galbraith, who won Kelly Cups in 2004 and 2007 with Idaho, where Aces captain Scott Burt was his teammate, could provide it. After all, through eight regular seasons as a pro, Galbraith's resume includes 153 goals and 2,188 penalty minutes.

Galbraith's goal was vintage stuff from the winger, who was the only guy to crack razor-sharp Las Vegas goaltender Glenn Fisher (30 saves). Alaska's other goal came on Matt Stefanishion's empty-net job with 18.1 seconds left.

With the Aces on a power play late in the second period, Galbraith stationed himself in front of the Wranglers' net, got knocked to the ice, got back up to shovel Alexandre Imbeault's feed just inside the left post and promptly got knocked on his can again.

"Keith puts me in front of the net to do the dirty work, and I love doing it,'' Galbraith said. "Screening, and if there's a loose puck, get to it. Imbeault made a great pass.''

Aces rookie goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who set a league record with eight regular-season shutouts, stopped 18 shots for his fourth shutout of the postseason. That leaves him one bagel shy of the league record for shutouts in a playoff season.

Game 2 is tonight at 7:15 at Sullivan.

Galbraith's goal was his fifth in 11 playoff games this season and his 26th in 63 career pro playoff games. He averages .32 goals per game in the regular season as a pro, but .41 goals per playoff game.

"We've been in the trenches the last few years, and these are the games we love to play,'' Burt said. "These games play into our style.''

Still, it takes two teams to rumble, however honestly -- Saturday's series opener between clubs meeting for the third time in the last four postseasons featured just 34 penalty minutes, 16 of which came at the final horn.

Las Vegas, coming off a Game 7 win over Stockton in the Pacific Division finals on Wednesday, played its fifth game in eight days, and nonetheless looked very fresh. Granted, the Wranglers only managed eight shots on Lamoureux in the first two periods, but they staged a 10-shot rally in the third, when they often carried play.

"The last 20 minutes, we came out and played hard,'' said Las Vegas coach Glen Gulutzan. "We needed to be better in the second period, but we had chances in the third.

"(Fisher) gave us a chance, and we pushed back. That was just a good hockey game.''

Fisher, whose .945 save percentage in the playoffs is just fractionally lower than Lamoureux's .945, impressed his counterpart.

"Fish played awesome, and he's been playing great,'' Lamoureux said. "His numbers are no fluke. He was the first star. He was the best player on the ice.''

The Wranglers nearly notched a tying goal several times in the third. The closest they came to piercing Lamoureux occurred with about seven minutes left, when Lamoureux lunged to his left to get his glove on Scott McCulloch's diving backhand of a rebound.

"I didn't do a good job of controlling the rebound -- the puck sprang off my chest,'' Lamoureux said. "I was lucky to recover and get across.''

The Aces, though, have become accustomed to such saves, particularly when a team surges like Las Vegas did.

"They seemed like they got their legs under them and made a great push in the third,'' McCambridge said. "But J.P. made the saves he's been making all season for us.''

That left Galbraith's goal-mouth strike on Fisher as the only shot that got past a goalie Saturday night.

"And he almost stopped that one,'' Galbraith said.

Shuffling the deck

The ceremonial first puck was dropped by Anchorage's Scott Gomez, the New York Rangers center and two-time Stanley Cup winner. Gomez played for the Aces in 2004-05 during the NHL lockout.

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

Las Vegas 0 0 0 -- 0

Aces 0 1 1 --2

First Period -- None. Penalties -- Stefanishion, Aces (holding), 15:57; Madill, Las Vegas (hooking), 19:37.

Second Period -- 1, Aces, Galbraith 5 (Imbeault, Soares), 16:12 (pp). Penalties -- Owens, Las Vegas (holding), 5:12; Shasby, Aces (hooking), 5:35; Stefanishion, Aces (elbowing), 10:54; Neiszner, Las Vegas (tripping), 14:46.

Third Period -- 2, Aces, Stefanishion 2 (Soares, Turek), 19:41 (en). Penalties -- Shasby, Aces (hooking), 5:52; Limpright, Las Vegas (boarding), 10:04; Turek, Aces (slashing), 10:04; Makway, Las Vegas (roughing), 20:00; Burt, Aces (roughing), 20:00; Stefanishion, Aces, major (roughing), 20:00; McCulloch, Las Vegas, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 20:00.

Shots on goal -- Las Vegas 4-4-10--18. Aces 11-11-10--32.

Power-play Opportunities -- Las Vegas 0 of 4; Aces 1 of 3.

Goalies -- Las Vegas, Fisher, 6-3 (31 shots-30 saves). Aces, Lamoureux, 9-2 (18-18).

A -- 5,757 (6,396). T -- 2:20.

Referee -- Francis Charron. Linesmen -- Steve Glines, Will Moran.

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