Blaine,MN-Three Wranglers tallied their first NAHL career goals in Amarillo’s 5-to-1 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears Thursday evening.
The Wranglers looked to start the season with a 2-and-0 record heading into the matchup against the Brown Bears and held their opponent to just one goal for the second straight game.
Amarillo would start the scoring just over seven minutes into the game when Jack McDonald won a net mouth scramble and buried a rebound for his second goal of the Showcase. Kenai River would pepper 11 shots on Wranglers goalie Carter Clafton in the first but would not find the scoresheet.
The Brown Bears would strike early in the second period when Hayden Walters deflected home a Ben Monson shot on the power-play to pull even. The tie would not last long as just two minutes later; Jack Ivey scored his first career goal after being set up by his brother Ben Ivey. The Wranglers would head to the penalty kill twice in the period and keep Kenai River off the board to hold a one-goal lead going into the third period.
4:30 into the third frame, the Wranglers would add some insurance when Ryan Ginger deflected a shot from Rihards Simanovics for his first career NAHL goal. Moments later, Roman Zap would collect his first goal, also assisted by Simanovics, to give the Wranglers a 4-to-1 advantage. At 8:48 of the period, Trevor Faucher would join the party with his first goal after an odd-man rush with Logan Cleary.
Amarillo would silence the Brown Bears for the remainder of the game and hold on for the 5-to-1 win. Clafton would make 24 saves on 25 shots faced. The Wranglers will battle the Minot Minotauros Friday at 8 p.m. The action will be live on HockeyTv.