Oklahoma City, OK – The Amarillo Wranglers completed an improbable comeback at Blazers Ice Centre against the Oklahoma Warriors on Saturday night to keep their playoff hopes alive, defeating the Warriors 4-3 in overtime. Kirill Evstigneev scored twice, including the game winner, to lift Amarillo to victory.
After falling to the Warriors 4-1 on Friday night, the Wranglers felt like they were capable of more and set out to prove it in a must win game on Saturday night at Blazers Ice Centre. Amarillo finished the month of February with a record of 4-2, and looked to post an even better record in March as they continue their push for the playoffs. Charles-Antoine Girard made his first start in net for the Wranglers since January 31st in El Paso, looking for his second win of the season. Oklahoma also opted to make a change in net, as Jeffrey Kreidler made his third NAHL start and his second vs Amarillo on Saturday night.
Amarillo came out buzzing to start the first period. The Wranglers were able to cycle the puck around the offensive zone to create some chances, which led to the first goal of the game. Mason Lupo slammed in his first goal as a Wrangler and his 4th of the season from Will Welburn and Marc LaFrance to put the Wranglers ahead first 3:47 into the game. A long shot from Welburn was initially stopped by Kreidler, but the Warriors netminder was unable to locate the loose puck at the top of the crease before Lupo jammed it in for the score. With 9:19 left in the first period, Oklahoma got on the board to tie the game at 1-1 with Paul Wiczek’s 5th goal of the season. Wiczek bounced to the top of the left circle and fired a shot that went bar down for the tying goal. The first period ended with the Warriors on the power play, and the shot count tied at 11 apeice.
The Wranglers killed off the penalty to start the second period and got to work offensively, but couldn’t beat Kreidler. The Warriors pressured Girard but the Wranglers netminder made a series of highlight reel saves to keep it a tie game. Oklahoma eventually broke through to take their first lead of the game with 8:00 left in the middle period when Wiczek tipped in a shot from the near wall for his second goal of the night, giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead. The Wranglers had two chances on the power play in the second period but came up empty handed. The period ended with the Warriors up 2-1 and on the power play. Amarillo outshot Oklahoma 24-20 through two periods.
In the remaining time from their power play left over from the second period, the Warriors were able to score 57 seconds into the third period to take a 3-1 lead. Trent Burlison scored his 6th goal of the year to put the Warriors up by two. Amarillo did not back down and continued to put pressure on the Warriors offensively. Kirill Evstigneev was able to make magic happen 7:49 into the third period, scoring his 6th goal of the season from Morley Phillips after bursting down the left wing and scoring from an impossible angle to make it a 3-2 game. Now with the game within reach, the Wranglers found their groove and tied the game with 8:06 left on the clock. On the power play, precise passing set up Marc LaFrance for his 4th goal of the season on a backdoor one timer to tie the game at 3-3. Alexander Aleslov and Will Welburn earned the assists on the tying goal. For the remainder of regulation both squads furiously tried to take the lead, but Girard and Kreidler put on a show, making the necessary saves needed to send the game to overtime.
Overtime opened with an early chance for the Warriors, but Girard was up to the task and the Wranglers got possession. Heikki Peipinen moved down the left wing and was able to connect with Evstigneev all alone in front of Kreidler. Evstigneev dangled around the Warriors netminder and plugged the puck in five-hole for the game winner 1:02 into overtime to complete the comeback for the Wranglers, who took the game by the final score of 4-3.
Evstigneev finished the night with two goals, as LaFrance (1 goal and 1 assist) and Welburn (2 assists) also ended the night with multi-point games. Girard shone bright in his second win of the season, stopping 25/28 in the victory. Amarillo went 1/4 on the power play and 1/2 on the penalty kill. The Wranglers earned their second win of the season when trailing after two periods, and their first on the road with the comeback. Amarillo’s gutsy win puts it eight points back of the final playoff spot with an opportunity to make the postseason with the schedule ahead of them.
Next weekend the Wranglers travel to Albuquerque, NM to take on the New Mexico Ice Wolves for a two game set on Friday and Saturday. Both games will be critical in the Wranglers playoff hunt, and are set for a 7:30 PM CST puck drop. Amarillo will make it’s first trip to Outpost Ice Arenas since being eliminated there in the 2024 Robertson Cup Play-In last April, with the stakes as high as ever. Fans can watch the game on NATV by going to nahltv.com or listen in on the Wranglers YouTube Channel.