Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Corpus Christi IceRays 5-4 in a shootout to improve to 4-1 on the season.
After opening the season in Blaine, MN at the NAHL Showcase and having last weekend off, the Wranglers were eager to play in front of their home crowd. Friday’s game was the home opener for the Wranglers, and they did not disappoint their fans.
Connor McDonough got the start in net for the Wranglers. He was 2-0 on the season coming into the game and boasted a .951% save percentage and 1 GAA. The IceRays relied on Swedish netminder Vilgot Holm, who carried a record of 1-2, a .908% save percentage, and a 3.36 GAA into the contest.
Corpus Christi opened the scoring 10:21 into the first period when Amarillo got into some penalty trouble, sending the IceRays to a 5 on 3 advantage. Billy Biedermann scored his second goal of the year from Govedaris and Cafarelli to make it a 1-0 game. The goal ended the Wranglers’ impressive streak of 24 straight penalties killed to open the season. After 20 minutes of play, the IceRays took a 1-0 lead into the 1st intermission.
The IceRays wasted no time adding to their lead, as just 37 seconds into the second period, Anthony Cafarelli made it a 2-0 game with assists coming from Sobush and Biedermann. 11:12 into the period, Amarillo’s Bryce Cooper and Corpus Christi’s Pierson Sobush got into a fight – rejuvenating the Budweiser Bull Pen crowd and turning the momentum in the Wranglers’ favor. Topi Puikkonen found the back of the net on a cross-crease pass from Colin Doherty to make it a 2-1 game. Kyle DeMarco picked up the secondary assist. Just 24 seconds later, Ben Ivey tied the game up at 2, thanks to a beautiful backhand pass from Jack McDonald out in front of the net. Heading into the 2nd intermission the score was 2-2.
Amarillo continued to pour it on in the third period, as just 37 seconds in, Jack Ivey scored to make it 3-2 Wranglers. Ivey now has 4 goals in his last 4 games. McDonald and Doherty picked up assists on the goal. 16:19 into the third, Jack McDonald was able to get a tip on a shot from Henry McRoberts from the blue line to score and make it 4-2. Jack Ivey also notched an assist. After giving up four unanswered goals, the IceRays stormed back to pull within one 10:16 into the period when Nils Forselius beat McDonough to make it 4-3. With 1:54 left in regulation, Wolfgang Govedaris was able to sneak a shot by a screened McDonough to tie the game 4-4 before the end of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, both teams exchanged scoring opportunities but nobody was able to put one home. After high-paced action in OT, the game went to a shootout.
Corpus Christi shot first in the shootout. The first frame was scoreless, as neither Gagnon or Kuznetzov were able to score. McDonough stopped Corpus Christi’s Zakhar Polshakov and Puikkonen beat Holm to give the Wranglers the edge heading into the third frame. Forselius was able to score, but it didn’t matter because Connor McNaughton later beat Holm to give the Wranglers the shootout victory.
The Wranglers will be back in action tomorrow night vs. the Corpus Christi IceRays as they finish off the homestand. Puck drop is at 7:15 PM CST, and you can catch all the action on NAHLTV. After the game, there will be a post-game party at the Amarillo Ice Ranch from 9:30 PM to 12 AM.