The reigning North American League Robertson Cup champions beat the Wranglers 5-2 on Friday and then followed that with a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
Amarillo is now 6-2-0 with 13 points, currently second place in the NAHL South Division, four points behind division leaders and untested Corpus Christi, and one point in front of the Lone Star Brahmas.
The Wranglers are off this coming weekend before hitting the road to play the Shreveport Mudbugs at George’s Pond Arena on Oct. 18-19.
NAHL releases new power rankings system
On Tuesday, the NAHL released a new power rankings system for the 2024-2025 season called the Tuesday Ten. The Amarillo Wranglers cracked the top 10 coming in at No. 9. The Bismark Bobcats (7-0-0-0) are the current No. 1 team in the power rankings.
Friday’s game
The anticipation of this game was through the roof at the NYTEX Centre.
Fresh off his NAHL Goalie of the Month, Amarillo’s Charlie Zolin stood between the pipes seeking his sixth victory in a row in this young season.
At the 12:40 mark of the first period, Amarillo forward Alexander Aleslow scored his second goal of the season, giving Amarillo it’s only lead of the game. With the Brahmas on a power play, captain Anthony Cappello laid one down to get the puck by Amarillo goalie Zolin, making the score 1-1 and that’s where it stayed throughout the first frame.
Lone Star scored two unanswered goals in the second period and never relinquished the lead. Amarillo’s disproportionate share of penalties made it very difficult for them.
Lone Star’s ability to score on the power play made the difference in this game. The last second empty netter by Lone Star put this game out of reach with a 5-2 victory.
Zolin stopped 26-of-30 shots but did suffer his first loss putting him at 5-1 overall for the young year.
Saturday’s game
After Friday night’s loss, the Amarillo Wranglers relinquished their NAHL South Division lead to the Corpus Christi IceRays by one point.
With the wagons circling, Amarillo hit the ice looking to rebound off Friday’s loss.
Amarillo goalie Charles-Antoine Girard started his second game of the season between the pipes. At the 16:38 mark of the second period, Lone Star scored on a breakaway to take a 1-0 lead.
Defense was the name of the game as the Wranglers kept their penalty minutes in check. The second period ended with the Brahmas leading 1-0. At the 11:50 mark of the third period, Carl Jacobson was able to back one by Lone Star goalie Jack Spicer tying this exciting and smashmouth hockey game.
Every whistle saw a skirmish and every play magnificent hockey between two very good programs. With more ping-pong hockey on the ice, this game went into overtime.
Five minutes of three-on-three hockey saw no scoring as both teams left nothing on the ice as the intensity level was magnificent. The overtime remained scoreless as the Wranglers found themselves yet again in another shootout.
It took seven rounds in this shootout to end this fantastic game with a win for Lone Star. Ryan Comishock of the Brahmas somehow slipped one by the Wranglers goalie to end this intense and exciting game with a 2-1 final.
Despite the defeat, Girard was fantastic between the pipes stopping 17-of-18 shots.
Editor’s Note
Please listen for Tommy Tee’s weekly recap of the Amarillo Wranglers hockey on the “Drive at Five” with Lance Lahnert every Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m., exclusively on 102.9 FM the Panhandle Sports Star.
