El Paso, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the El Paso Rhinos 4-1 at El Paso County Events Center on Friday night in a big matchup with both teams in the playoff race. Luke Morris scored twice as the Wranglers scored three power play goals in the second period.
Amarillo entered the contest with a record of 23-13-5-2 and occupied the 4th spot in the South Division, while the Rhinos were 27-10-2-2 and held the 3rd place spot in the division. The Wranglers were just 5 points back of the Rhinos with a chance to make up some ground with a win.
Connor McDonough got the nod in net for the Wranglers making his 36th appearance of the season. McDonough had a record of 19-10-4-2, a 2.39 GAA, a .910 save percentage, and one shutout on the season entering play. Joey LoVullo started in goal for the Rhinos, carrying a record of 7-1-1-1, a 2.35 GAA, an .897 save percentage, and one shutout on the year into the matchup.
There was no scoring in the first period, and only two penalties overall – one on each side. Both penalty kill units went 1/1 in what was a pretty evenly played period with a low shot volume. Shots were 5-4 in favor of Amarillo after the first period of play.
Things opened up in the second period, as Tristan Zarsky went to the box early on to give Amarillo a power play 1:07 in. The Wranglers made the Rhinos pay, as Luke Morris rifled home his sixth goal of the season on the man advantage to put Amarillo up 1-0, 2:49 into the second period. Kyle DeMarco and Topi Puikkonen earned the assists on the goal. The Wranglers then got some more power play time with an abbreviated 5 on 3 about midway through the period and cashed in for another goal right as the 5 on 3 expired. This time it was Roman Zap scoring on the power play to make it 2-0 Amarillo with 9:20 to go in the period. But the Wranglers weren’t done yet. With another power play chance late in the period, Luke Morris found the back of the net for his second of the game off of a beautiful bit of passing from Connor McNaughton and Topi Puikkonen. The Wranglers ended the second period up 3-0 thanks to three power-play goals. El Paso led the shot count 10-9 through two periods.
The Rhinos got two power play opportunities in the third period and the Wranglers shut them down on both attempts. The Rhinos were looking for something to help them get their offense jump-started but the Wranglers seemingly had an answer for everything. However, rallying late, the Rhinos’ Camden Bajzer scored with 4:31 left in regulation to spoil McDonough’s shutout bid and make it 3-1. With the Rhino net empty, Nolan Gagnon sealed their fate with an empty net goal with 1:12 to go, settling the score at 4-1.
The Wranglers’ special teams units played a key role in the victory, as the power play went 3/5 and the penalty kill went 3/3. Amarillo’s victory snaps their three-game losing streak and moves them to 24-13-5-2 on the year, now sitting just three points back of El Paso for third place in the South Division. Connor McDonough had yet another great performance, stopping 14/15 shots faced in the victory.
The Wranglers and Rhinos will face off one more time in El Paso on Saturday, before the scene shifts to the Budweiser Bull Pen on 2/16 and 2/17. Puck drop is at 8:00 PM CST, and you can watch it all on NATV or listen in on YouTube.