Albuquerque, NM – The New Mexico Ice Wolves defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 3-2 on Saturday night at Outpost Ice Arenas in the final game of a four game road trip.
After falling 4-0 on Friday night to the Ice Wolves, the Wranglers looked to rally back and earn a weekend split to remain in the South Division playoff race. Charles-Antoine Girard got the start in net for the Wranglers, while the Ice Wolves stuck with Jackson Fuller between the pipes.
The Wranglers went onto the power play 35 seconds into the game but were unable to convert on it. Amarillo got another chance on the power play 8:48 into the first period, but ran into some trouble. Toivo Laaksonen swiped the puck away on a drop pass at the Wranglers blue line and went down the ice and scored a short handed goal to put New Mexico up 1-0 10:22 into the first period. Still on the power play, the Wranglers were able to make up for their mistake, as Marc LaFrance punched in a loose puck at the top of the blue paint for his 3rd goal as a Wrangler from Jacob Miller and Will Welburn to tie the game at 1-1 with 9:19 left in the period. The opening period ended with the game tied at 1-1 and the Ice Wolves outshooting the Wranglers 11-9.
Both squads traded goals again in the second period, with the Ice Wolves striking first again to take a 2-1 lead. With 3:27 left in the second period the Ice Wolves retook the lead off of Andrew Earl’s 21st goal of the season from Andrey Moskvitin and Nyan Pai. Moskvitin took the initial shot that was stopped by Girard, but the rebound was available for Earl who put it in. It looked like the Ice Wolves would take the 2-1 lead into the locker room, but with just 18 seconds left in the period, Morley Phillips redirected a Cole Saterdalen shot into the back of the net to tie the game up at 2-2. Alexander Aleslov also earned an assist on Phillips’ team leading 12th goal of the year.
The Ice Wolves snatched the momentum back with a goal in the opening moments of the third period to take a 3-2 lead. Just 15 seconds into the final frame, Sean Smith scored his first NAHL goal, and the eventual game winner. Herman Asberg and Andrew Earl earned the assists on the go-ahead goal. Asberg took the initial shot that was stopped by Girard, but the rebound went directly to Smith on the opposite wing who put it in for the score. The Wranglers rallied to try and tie the game, but Fuller stood on his head and was able to close out the game and earn his team the 3-2 victory.
Girard was sensational in a losing effort, stopping 26/29, as the Wranglers went 1/4 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill.
Next weekend the Wranglers return home to take on the Lone Star Brahmas for a three game set on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All games will be critical in the Wranglers playoff hunt, with Friday and Saturday set for a 7:15 PM CDT puck drop, and Sunday’s puck drop at 3:00 PM CDT. Fans can watch the game on NATV by going to nahltv.com or listen in on the Wranglers YouTube Channel. Make sure you’re following the Wranglers on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube to stay up to date with all the latest news and promos.