Blaine, MN – The Amarillo Wranglers hot start to the season continued as they took down the New Hampshire Mountain Kings by the final score of 4-1 on Friday to improve to 6-0 and tie a franchise record for the best start to a season.
Will Lubimov made his first start between the pipes for the Wranglers as the Mountain Kings turned to Sam Scopa in net. It was the third day of the NAHL Showcase, with Amarillo entering with a 5-0 start, while the Mountain Kings at 1-5 has lost their last 5 games.
Amarillo opened the scoring early in the first period when Sal Cerrato scored off of a rebound to the high slot 1:56 in. Cerrato’s second goal of the year was assted by Jacobson and gave the Wranglers an early 1-0 lead. The Wranglers added another goal 11:55 into the period when Corson Maguire potted his third goal of the year from Grayson Gerhard and Emils Skeltins to extend his point streak to five games and a 2-0 Wranglers lead. After one period of play the Wranglers dominated the shot count 16-5.
The Wranglers continued to pour it on offensively in the second period, as Cerrato scored another just 3:48 into the period on a steal and rush into the New Hampshire end with Andrew Morton to put Amarillo up 3-0. On the power play with 5:45 left in the period the Wranglers made it a 4-0 game with Trace Day scoring his third goal of the year from Maguire and Gerhard. Amarillo ended the third period outshooting New Hampshire 25-10.
In the third, New Hampshire aggressively tried to turn the tide of the game and were able to sneak a puck past Lubimov to cut the Wranglers lead to 4-1. Kim Hilmersson spoiled Lubimov’s shutout bid 3:53 into the final period, but the Wranglers goaltender and defense were able to jeep the Mountain Kings off the scoresheet for the rest of the game for their 6th straight win to open the campaign. Lubimov stopped 18/19 in his first NAHL start for the victory.
The Wranglers will wrap up the 2024 NAHL showcase at 9 AM CDT on Saturday when they meet the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Day 4. You can watch the game on NAATV or listen to the audio on the Wranglers YouTube channel.