Laurie Keys Bullfrog Victory Over Coyotes : Roller hockey: Goaltender stops 41 shots and Wetzel scores winner on power play to upend last-place Oklahoma, 5-3.

On a night when the hot-shooting Bullfrogs went cold, goaltender Rob Laurie stopped 41 shots and shut out the league’s leading scorer to defeat last-place Oklahoma at The Pond, 5-3.

Playing perhaps his finest game of the season and certainly his best since a shootout loss in Oakland a month ago, Laurie held the punchless Coyotes to one first-half goal and his teammates rallied in the final quarter to win in front of an announced crowd of 11,054.

Todd Wetzel scored the winner in the Roller Hockey International contest with just more than four minutes left, capitalizing on a two-man advantage because of consecutive Coyote penalties. Darren Perkins added an empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining.

Doug Lawrence, the league’s leading scorer, did not score but had two assists. The Bullfrogs (16-2-1) lead the Pacific Division with 31 points, 13 more than second-place Phoenix. Oklahoma (7-11) remains in last place, 17 points behind the Bullfrogs.

Oklahoma goaltender Lance Carlsen also was brilliant. Oklahoma desperately needed a victory to get back in contention for a playoff spot and Carlsen almost got it. He stopped 40 shots against the league’s highest-scoring team.

Laurie made several effortless saves in the final minutes.

“Lately it seems that I have let in a few needless goals and so now that the playoffs are coming up, I decided to focus a bit more and stop that,” Laurie said.

Bullfrog Coach Grant Sonier saw a silver lining in the close victory for a team that averages nearly 10 goals per game.

“We can expect nothing less than tight hockey games when the playoffs come around,” he said. “This was a good experience for us.”

Laurie’s performance was a bonus for the Bullfrogs, who will need him and Chris Gordon, who shares goaltending duties, to pick up the pace as the team heads into the playoffs. The Bullfrogs, who already have locked up the top-seeded spot for the postseason, often play as if they believe the best defense is their high-powered offense. And Laurie and Gordon have had their share of letdowns when the Bullfrogs have big leads.

The score was tied, 3-3, in the fourth when the Coyotes lost George Zajankala and Todd Harris to the penalty box. Wetzel wasted little time, flicking in a pass from Victor Gervais with 4:17 to go.

“Victor just told me to stand at the corner of the net and the puck came my way,” Wetzel said of his goal. “There wasn’t a lot we could do tonight the way Carlsen played.”

Carlsen made a crucial mistake with 36 seconds left that took Oklahoma out of contention. With the Coyotes working on a power play, he came out of the net. Perkins intercepted a Scott Drevitch pass, skated toward the midline, and hit the back of the net with his 12th goal of the season.