Amarillo, TX – The Odessa Jackalopes defeated the Amarillo Wranglers by the score of 2-1 in overtime at the Budweiser Bull Pen Friday night.
This was the first meeting of the season between the Wranglers and the Jackalopes, and the first in the Austin Hose Rivalry Series – where the Wranglers, Jacks, and Warriors will battle in a points-based system with the team with the most points at the end of the season taking home the Hoser Cup. In games in which the Wranglers play the Jacks or Warriors, the victor will earn 1 point. In games where the Jacks play the Warriors, the victor will earn 2 points, due to those teams meeting only 4 times.
Connor McDonough made his sixth start of the season for the Wranglers, posting a record of 3-2, a 2.6 GAA, and a .900 SV%. The Jackalopes turned to Quentin Sigurdson in goal, who had a record of 3-4, 2.57 GAA, and a .922 SV% coming into the game.
The first period was scoreless and only saw two penalties committed – both on the Wranglers. But the Wranglers penalty kill unit was up to the task and got the kill both times. Both goaltenders were excellent in the first period as both teams were able to generate a decent amount of shots on goal, with 14 coming from the Wranglers and 15 from the Jackalopes.
The Wranglers killed off another penalty in the early stages of the second period. With 12:44 to go in the period, Amarillo would get their first power play chance of the game – but were unable to capitalize. With 8:54 to go in the second frame, Odessa’s Matvey Ivanov muscled his way between the Wranglers defense and was able to beat McDonough on the second attempt after McDonough made the initial save. Ivanov’s goal gave the Jacks a 1-0 lead and was unassisted.
After killing a penalty in the opening moments of the third period, the Wranglers would get more chances on the power play – including some 5 on 3 action. Amarillo tied the game up on the 5 on 4 man advantage when Topi Puikkonen put home his sixth goal of the season, with assists coming from Nolan Gagnon and Jack McDonald. Both teams would get a few more looks on the man advantage, but regulation ended with the score still tied 1-1, sending the contest to 3 on 3 overtime.
In overtime, the Jackalopes quickly got to work and scored just 23 seconds into the overtime session when Michael Kadlecik rifled a shot past McDonough to win the game 2-1. Trevor Mitchell picked up the secondary assist on the game-winner.
With the loss, the Wranglers fall to 4-4-1-0 on the season – but do pick up one standing point due to losing in extra time. The Wranglers will look for revenge tomorrow when they take on the Jackalopes on Barbie Night, where the Wranglers will be wearing their Barbie specialty jerseys. The Barbie jerseys will be up for auction after the game at the Civic Center. You can get your tickets at panhandletickets.com or you can catch the game on NAHLTV.com or YouTube for the audio stream.