El Paso, TX – The El Paso Rhinos defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 4-2 on Friday Night at El Paso County Events Center in the third straight game between the two clubs.
The scene shifted to El Paso for the second half of the home & home series between the Wranglers and the Rhinos after El Paso swept the weekend at the Budweiser Bull Pen last week. The Wranglers made plenty of changes from then to the start of Friday’s game, as five new faces made their Wranglers’ debut in this game. Amarillo forwards Kirill Evstigneev, Ty Izadi, and Cole Saterdalen, along with defenseman JS Pack and backup goaltender Matt Schoephoerster all made their team debuts in El Paso.
The Rhinos started reigning South Division First Star of the Week Logan Hughes in net after stopping 66/68 shots faced last week, while the Wranglers went with Charles-Antoine Girard in goal for the second straight game.
The Rhinos put the first shot on net in the game, which was followed by eight straight shots from the Wranglers. The first period featured five combined penalties; three on Amarillo and two on El Paso, featuring a full two minutes of 4 on 4 action. All in all, the opening frame produced no scoring and saw the Wranglers outshoot the Rhinos 11-6. While Girard wasn’t too busy early on, he made some timely saves in the late stages of the period to keep it a scoreless game heading into the second period.
The Rhinos opened the scoring 7:33 into the second period when Paavo Hiltunen located Kyle Arias for a one-timer in the high slot that went bar down for the score. Arias’ 5th goal of the season was assisted by Hiltunen and AJ Reed, giving El Paso a 1-0 lead. Amarillo retaliated with a goal 2:58 later, as Daniel Rassega muscled away incoming Rhinos at the end wall and connected with Kirill Evstigneev in front of the net for a backhand score to tie the game at 1-1. Evstigneev’s 2nd goal of the season was his first as a Wrangler, with assists coming from Rassega and Noah Ribeiro. The Rhinos wasted no time striking back, as just 21 seconds after Evstigneev’s goal, a cross-crease pass from Harper Lolacher found Ben Winklemann backdoor to put the Rhinos up 2-1. Through two periods of play the Rhinos had the lead at 2-1 despite being outshto by the Wranglers 23-17.
The Rhinos added some insurance in the third period, first with a power play goal from Andrew DellaDonna 8:32 into the final period. The Wranglers had killed off 3:30 of a double-minor penalty before DellaDonna ripped a shot on net that got deflected past Girard to put El Paso up 3-1. The goal was assisted by AJ Reed and Jakub Jerman. The Wranglers tried to claw back but a late goal from Roope Tuomioksa sealed their fate with 3:52 left in regulation to extend the Rhinos lead to 4-1. The Wranglers were able to punch in a goal with 2:45 left on the clock to try and get some good vibes going heading into Saturday’s game, as Noah Ribeiro put in his third goal of the year. Evstigneev fired it toward the net and Riberio cashed in on the rebound. Evstigneev and Ribeiro both ended the night with a goal and an assist, while Cru Hanas hit the 10 point mark on the season with the secondary assist. Girard stopped 23/27 in the loss, while Hughes stopped 32/34 for the Rhinos. Amarillo went 0/3 on the power play and 4/5 on the penalty kill.
The Wranglers and the Rhinos will wrap up the season series on Saturday night at El Paso County Events Center. Puck drop is set for 8:00 PM CST. Fans can watch the game live on nahltv.com, or listen in to the audio feed on the Wranglers YouTube Channel. Make sure you follow the Wranglers on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube to stay up to date with the latest news and promos.