Amarillo, TX – The El Paso Rhinos defeated the Amarillo Wranglers on Friday night by the final score of 5-2 at the Budweiser Bull Pen. Three goals in the second period helped fuel the Rhinos’ first-ever win against the Wranglers at the Bull Pen.
The Wranglers and Rhinos met for the 7th time of the season in the first game of a three-game set of the Budweiser Bull Pen. The Wranglers started goaltender Connor McDonough in net, while the Rhinos went with Michael Manzi between the pipes.
The Rhinos scored the game’s opening goal 8:21 into the first period when Medrick Bolduc fired a loose puck toward the net for the score. Tristan Zarsky and Mason LeBel earned the assists on the goal. Amarillo responded with 5:26 left to go in the opening frame when Topi Puikkonen scored to tie the game at 1-1. Roman Zap and Kyle DeMarco earned the assists on the tying tally. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and El Paso led the shot count 14-9.
In the second period, the Rhinos hit their stride with three straight goals. The first came 4:42 into the second period from Camden Bajzer. Medrick Bolduc and Kyle Arias picked up the assists on the goal that made it 2-1. Two more quick strikes from the Rhinos extended their lead as with 6:58 to go Eddie Shepler scored to make it 3-1, and then 50 seconds later Tory Lund scored to make it 4-1. Amarillo was able to cut down the El Paso lead to 2, as Ben Ivey powered toward the net and beat Manzi to make it a 4-2 game. El Paso led 4-2 after two periods and outshot the Wranglers 19-9 in the second period and 33-18 for the game to that point.
The Rhinos smothered the Wranglers’ hopes of a comeback early on in the third period, as Frank Tafelski scored just 21 seconds into the period from Tory Lund to put El Paso up 5-2. The Rhinos were able to fend off the Wranglers for the rest of the game and secure the 5-2 victory. El Paso outshot Amarillo 42-23 for the game.
The Wranglers and the Rhinos will meet for the final time in the regular season on Saturday night at the Budweiser Bull Pen. It is Hockey and Hot Rods Night, and the Wranglers will be auctioning their specialty jerseys off following the game. You can get your tickets at panhadletickets.com or watch on NATV or listen on YouTube.