Amarillo, Tx: The Wranglers began their four-game homestand against the El Paso Rhinos Friday night and skated away with a blank-to-blank victory.
The Wranglers would waste no time breaking the ice when Glebs Prohorenkovs tallied his 16th goal just 1:47 into the game. Danylo Korzhyletskyi earned an assist on the goal marking nine points in fourteen games. The Rhinos would respond with a fleury of action on Carter Clafton, but the wranglers’ netminder was able to shut the door and secure the one-goal lead for Amarillo after 20 minutes.
Amarillo would double their lead in the early stages of the second period with a CJ Zezima power-play goal at 4:03 of the period. Just four minutes later, Zezima would score again when he deflected a shot from Oliver Bezick to beat the Rhinos goalie and give the Wranglers a 3-to-0 advantage. El Paso would find the scoreboard later in the period when defenseman Ian Carpenter rifled a slap shot through traffic and past Clafton to make it 3-to-1.
The Rhinos would throw many shots on the Amarillo net but could not solve Clafton in the third. With solid goaltending at one end, the Wranglers’ offense found the back of the net once more when Korzhyletskyi tucked home a rebound from Drayton Todoroff. The Wranglers would stifle the Rhinos’ attack the rest of the way and pick up their 25th win.
Goalie Carter Clafton earned his 14th win, stopping 43 of 44 shots faced Friday night. Zezima has tallied goals in his last three games with a two-goal night. The Wranglers will go for the regular-season sweep of the El Paso Rhinos Saturday at 7:05 p.m.