Ice Dogs Advance By Defeating Las Vegas

Kay Whitmore stopped 31 of 32 shots on goal Saturday as the Long Beach Ice Dogs defeated the Las Vegas Thunder, 3-1, advancing to the Western Conference semifinal of the International Hockey League playoffs.

Andrei Vasilyev, Patrik Augusta and Doug Ast scored for the Ice Dogs, who beat the Thunder, three games to one, in the best-of-five first-round series.

The Ice Dogs will face the Kansas City Blades in the second round, beginning Friday at Long Beach Arena.

“A shutout tonight would have been nice, but we’ll definitely take the win and begin to prepare for Kansas City,” Ice Dog Coach John Van Boxmeer said.