El Paso- The Wranglers battle back Saturday night to earn a 3-to-2 victory in overtime, completing the weekend sweep of the Rhinos.
The game would strongly resemble Friday nights, where both goalies again shut the door in the first period facing grade-A chances. Neither team would find the back of the net. El Paso would throw 17 shots on Gutjahr in the opening period but could not end their scoreless streak.
Amarillo would get the game’s first goal when Kristaps Skrastins scored a powerplay goal at the 3:13 mark of the second period. Aidan Carney and Nikolas Campbell would pick up the assists on the goal. El Paso would have a chance to tie the game on the power play in the second but could not convert as the Wranglers would hold onto their one-goal lead going into the third period.
El Paso would finally find the back of the net early in the third period when Matt Johnson scored his sixth of the season at the 3:52 mark. The goal ended the 164-minute scoreless drought of the Rhinos. El Paso would claim their first lead just a few moments later when Frank Tafelski scored on a breakaway 7:20 into the third.
Amarillo would tie the game when Skrastins buried his second goal of the night, again on the powerplay at the 9:56 mark of the third period. The Wranglers would find themselves shorthanded late in the game when Bryson Russel was assessed a five-minute major penalty with the final 4:50 of regulation time, setting up an elongated penalty kill. The Rhinos would come close to netting the go-ahead goal, but Max Gutjahr would keep the door shut and help power Amarillo to overtime.
The Wranglers would kill off the five-minute major and find the late-game heroics from defenseman Jakob Peterson who would score his third goal of the season and secure the come-from-behind victory for Amarillo.
The win marks the third sweep on the road this season for the first-year Wranglers as they pick up a three-point lead for the top spot in the division. Gutjahr earns his league-leading 14th win on the season as Amarillo improves to 16-and-5. The Wranglers will set their sights on the struggling Shreveport Mudbugs next weekend.