By Guy Chiarenza
Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the El Paso Rhinos 4-1 at the Budweiser Bull Pen on Saturday night to complete the weekend sweep after winning 3-2 in overtime on Friday.
This was the 6th meeting of the season and the fourth straight matchup between the Wranglers and the Rhinos, with the two clubs splitting last weekend at El Paso County Events Center and the Wranglers winning on Friday night in overtime. Amarillo led the season series 3-2 coming into this matchup.
Connor McDonough made his eighth consecutive start between the pipes for the Wranglers, boasting a record of 21-11-4-2, a 2.29 GAA, a .910 save percentage, and one shutout on the season. The Rhinos turned to Joe LoVullo in goal, who entered play with a record of 7-2-1-1, a 2.41 GAA, an .889 save percentage, and one shutout on the campaign.
The Rhinos got on the board first 10:11 into the first period when Medrick Bolduc scored his 12th goal of the season from Tory Lund and James Hooley III. It looked like the Rhinos were going to head into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, but a late power play opportunity opened the door for the Wranglers to score their first goal of the game. Defenseman Kyle DeMarco fired a slapshot from the blue line on the man advantage to beat LoVullo with just 59 seconds remaining in the first period. DeMarco’s goal was assisted by Nick Troutwine and Luke Morris to tie the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.
Amarillo continued their scoring ways in the second period, starting with Topi Puikkonen scoring 1:28 into the period to give the Wranglers a 2-1 lead. Both teams traded chances in the second frame until Amarillo scored on the power play late in the period. Similar to the Wranglers’ previous power play goal, Kyle DeMarco rifled a shot from the blue line toward the net that ended up beating LoVullo. But this time the puck was deflected into the back of the net by Connor McNaughton for his 9th goal of the year to put the Wranglers up 3-1 with 2:54 to go in the period. DeMarco and Troutwine earned the assists on the goal.
With the two-goal lead in hand, the Wranglers did an excellent job of shutting down the Rhinos offense in the final period holding El Paso to just six shots in the third period. With 5:55 remaining in regulation, El Paso’s Tristan Zarsky was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for head contact to Wranglers forward Ben Ivey. The Wranglers later scored on the power play as Topi Puikkonen cashed in for his 21st goal of the season and his second of the game to settle the score at 4-1.
The Wranglers went 3/5 on the power play and 1/1 on the penalty kill en route to the victory. Connor McDonough stopped 30/31 shots faced in the victory and picked up his 22nd win of the season – tying him for the league lead among goaltenders. With the win the Wranglers improve to 26-14-5-2 and now sit just two points back of the Rhinos for third place in the South Division.
Next weekend the Odessa Jackalopes come to the Budweiser Bull Pen with matchups on Friday, 2/23, and Saturday, 2/24. Friday night is College Night, where students can purchase $5 tickets by showing their student ID at the box office. Saturday Night is Teacher Appreciation Night, where teachers can get in for free by showing their school ID at the door. On Saturday the Wranglers will also be honoring Amarillo hockey legend Jason Chafe with a Community Hero Banner Ceremony pregame, honoring Chafe for an outstanding playing career and his efforts in helping grow youth hockey around the Texas Panhandle.
You can get your tickets at panhandletickets.com, or watch live on NATV and listen on YouTube.