Amarillo, TX – The Colorado Grit defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 4-2 at the Budweiser Bull Pen on Saturday Night. Three first period goals helped Colorado to their first ever regulation victory against Amarillo.
The Wranglers and the Grit met on Saturday for the second game of a three-game set and the 11th game of the season series between the two clubs. Amarillo had previously won 4-3 on Friday night in the set opener. Connor McDonough got the start between the pipes for the Wranglers making his 50th appearance of the season. With the start, McDonough became just the 23rd goaltender in NAHL history to play in 50+ games in a single season. McDonough entered play with a record of 26-26-5-2, a 2.49 GAA, and a .907 save percentage. Colorado went with Jack Erickson for the second straight night, who entered the contest with a record of 9-22-2, a 4.08 GAA, and an .876 save percentage on the season.
Colorado opened the scoring 3:29 into the contest when George Poirier redirected a slap pass from Bowen Burke past McDonough for the game’s first tally. It would end up being the first of three straight for the Grit, all coming in the first period. On the man advantage, Chris Gaves scored off of a strange bounce off of a dump-in, where the puck ricocheted off of the far corner and into the net with 10:18 to go in the period; and Quinn Bowden scored similar to the way Poirier did by redirecting a slap pass from Wilder Jacober with 2:34 left in the period to give Colorado a 3-0 lead after one period of play. Despite trailing 3-0, the Wranglers outshot the Grit 13-10 through one period.
Amarillo got on the board with 6:39 remaining in the second period to make it a 3-1 game thanks to TJ Richey’s first NAHL goal. Richey fired the puck from the left point into a screen that beat Erickson far corner for the score. Roman Zap picked up the lone assist. The Grit found a way to restore their three-goal lead and make it 4-1 with 1:28 left in the second frame with a goal from Noah Grolnic.
Amarillo looked to tie the game and mount a comeback in the third period. Roman Zap received a pass from Topi Puikkonen between the circles and popped a quick shot past Erickson for his 17th goal of the season to make it a 4-2 game. However, the comeback bid fell short, as the Grit were able to hold the fort and keep the Wranglers off the board to win 4-2.
One game remains on the regular season, as the Wranglers will wrap up the 2023-24 regular season at the Budweiser Bull Pen on Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Grit. Puck drop is set for 3:00 PM CDT. You can get your tickets for the regular season finale at panhandletickets.com or tune in by watching on NATV or listening in on YouTube.
With the loss, the Wranglers will finish the season in 5th place in the South Division and will travel to Outpost Ice Arenas to take on the 4th place New Mexico Ice Wolves in a best-of-three series in the Robertson Cup Play-In next weekend. Make sure you follow the Wranglers on Instagram, Facebook, and X for details on the dates and times. All games will be available to watch on NATV and listen on YouTube.