Wranglers’ Manzato adjusts

Daniel Manzato honed his goaltending skills on the spacious ice rinks of his native Switzerland, where he spent the past four seasons in the Swiss-A league.

But the 23-year-old has had no problem adjusting to the smaller ice surfaces of the ECHL. Manzato started his first North American professional season by winning his first two starts for the Charlotte Checkers, and he’s 4-0 since joining the Wranglers on Nov. 10.

Manzato is 6-0 overall and will take a 1.81 goals-against average — second in the league — into tonight’s 7:05 game against Phoenix at the Orleans Arena.

“You can tell he’s getting used to the smaller ice surfaces,” Las Vegas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Once he gets that down, he’ll be a very solid goaltender.”

Gulutzan said Manzato’s best quality as a goalie is how he controls rebounds.

“Every shot that comes to him goes off into the corner,” he said. “It makes (the game) a lot easier.”

Manzato, who took part in training camp with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and the AHL’s Albany River Rats this year before getting let go by Charlotte in a contract crunch, will split time in net for the Wranglers with Tim Boron.

Las Vegas, which went 5-0 on its road trip to Phoenix and Bakersfield, has won six straight and is 10-2-0 heading into its six-game homestand against Phoenix, Bakersfield and defending Kelly Cup champion Idaho.

Adam Cracknell leads Las Vegas with 15 points and 10 goals after missing most of last season with a broken left ankle, which limited him to 22 points in 31 games.

Cracknell, 22, was one of the last cuts this season, along with Wranglers teammate Ryan Donally, by the AHL’s Quad City Flames. He said he’s using the slight as motivation.

“I definitely had to use it to prove them wrong again and show I deserve to be up there,” Cracknell said. “They said I had to be more consistent and play hard every night, and that’s what I’m focusing on. I feel I’ve gotten a lot better.”

Gulutzan agrees.

“If he keeps going on this pace, he’ll get an opporunity back in the (AHL) to see if he can stay,” Gulutzan said. “I see him working a little harder to improve.”

Peter Ferraro and Chris Ferraro are tied for second on the squad in scoring, with 13 points apiece.

• NOTE — Wranglers rookie center Curtis Fraser signed a professional tryout agreement with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage after totaling eight points in four games with Las Vegas.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0354.