Amarillo Wranglers defenseman Kyle DeMarco awaits a pass during an NAHL South Division game against Odessa last Friday night. [Ben Jenkins/ Press Pass Sports]
The Amarillo Wranglers protected home ice capturing three out of four points Friday and Saturday against the Odessa Jackalopes,
Amarillo lost the first game 5-4 in an overtime Friday, but bounced back for a 5-3 win Saturday night. With Covid quarantine protocol in the rearview mirror and a team at full throttle the Wrangler looked like a team on a mission.
Friday’s game
The Jackalopes took an early lead in the first period holding the lead until the 12 minute mark in the second period. Not unlike the traffic on Bell road the week of Christmas, the Wranglers were able to create traffic in front of the net that caused confusion when Odessa’s goalie made a bad decision by playing the puck. This poor choice opened the net up when Wranglers TJ Koufis buried the puck in the back of the net with impunity. In the second period, Glebs Prohorenkovs, part of the Latvian scoring duo, was able to split the defense with a sweet, sweeping shoulder stick move and dumped the puck to the second half of the scoring duo, Kristaps Skrastins, as he buried his 20th goal of the season .
The Wranglers were able to take a 2-1 lead going into the third period. In the third, it was a Friday night hit fest with scoring, hitting and two teams that wanted to win. At the 14:46 mark of the third, Odessa was able to tie the game up and take it into overtime. Overtime was short and not so sweet when Odessa’s J.R. Peridion was able to hit the back of the net to win the game. Wranglers goalie Max Gutjhar saved 29-of-34, but did take the loss.
Saturday’s game
The atmosphere in the Budweiser Bullpen Saturday night was electric, as the Wranglers took the ice to avenge Friday night’s loss. In front of a large crowd of hungry fans, Glebs Prohorenkovs started off the scoring. Prohorenkovs won the face off (in the Jackalopes’ zone) by getting the puck to defensemen and Captain Michael Spinner. Spinner was able to feed it to Skrastins who in turn passed the puck to Prohorenkovs who hit the “one timer” like a rocket to start off the scoring. At this point, it was on like Donkey Kong. The Wranglers went on to score three more times, to take a 4-1 lead into the third period. The Jackelopes scored twice in the third period to make the game close going into the last few minutes of the period. Odessa pulled their goalie and Drayton Todoroff hit the empty netter for the Wranglers, ending it with a 5-3 victory. Max Gutjhur would save 25-of-28 shots to notch his league leading 17th victory.
The Amarillo Wranglers are 19-10-1-1 with 40 points, just two points behind the New Mexico Ice Wolves tied for second place with the
Jackalopes. The Amarillo Wranglers continue their homestand with place New Mexico Ice Wolves on Friday and Saturday at the Budweiser Bullpen.
Editors Note
With a heavy heart, we at Press Pass Sports want to express our most sincere condolences to the Balkind family. Teddy Balkind was a youth hockey player and sophomore at St. Luke’s high school in Connecticut. Teddy lost his life in a very unfortunate accident on the ice. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Teddy’s family during this time of excruciating pain. God bless the Balkind family and Godspeed.
