North Richland Hills, Tx: The Amarillo Wranglers notched their third consecutive victory with a 5-to-2 win over the Lone Star Brahmas. However, the game would turn in the third period with big hits and a line brawl halfway through the final frame.
Amarillo would break the ice with a Dominick Schimizzi power-play goal at the 11:31 mark of the opening period. The Brahmas would answer just a minute later with a Nicholas Niemo power-play goal to even the game. The scoring would continue just three minutes later when Schimizzi netted his second power-play goal to regain the advantage for the Wranglers going into the middle period.
At 7:29 of the second, Schimizzi intercepted a Brahmas pass and connected with a wide-open Logan Cleary, who scored his first goal of the season to extend the Wranglers lead to 3-to-1 and chase Brahmas goalie Arthur Smith. Max Gutjahr would impress with another solid series of saves to persevere the two-goal lead going into the third.
The Wranglers would strike again when 6’8″ defenseman Matej Palfey beat Graham Burke on a breakaway to open a 4-to-1 lead just 2:54 into the period. The Brahmas would turn to the physical game when Collin Kleiser laid a dangerous hit on Schimizzi along the boards.
Moments later, a full line brawl would break out after Yaroslav Samadov got hit from behind, and Kristaps Skrastins retaliated for his teammate. Multiple fights would break out in the Lone Star zone, and Skrastins got escorted away from the action by one of the officials. The top-scoring forward got tracked down by Jack Collins, who got shots in on Skrastins. Eventually, the referees would gain control of the first brawl, but the fireworks were not over.
Drayton Todoroff would spar with Sam Antenucci following a significant collision behind the Lone Star goal. The fight resulted in a 4-on-3 man advantage for the Brahmas, who would pull their goalie for a fifth skater. The Brahmas would score to make it a two-goal game with an Arthur Turansky goal.
Amarillo would regain their three-goal lead late when Cleary buried his second goal of the night and helped secure the Wranglers’ third consecutive win. Gutjahr would pick up his sixth win of the season as Amarillo improves to 8-3 on the season and are even with Odessa for the top spot in the South division. The Wranglers will go for their fourth straight win on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.